Bedford audio food trail to be created to whet appetite for memories

Radhika Aggarwal and Alex Levine sampled Lina Ognissanti's donuts from her stall in the centre of Bedford

An audio food trail in a town that is filled with Italian, Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani and Polish communities will be created.

Tastes like home, in Bedford, plans to uncover and share people's memories of food and drink, past and present, from the market town.

The heritage arts project will also feature on a digital map.

Alex Levine, its co-creator, from WordSetFree, said: "It's wetting their memories' appetite."

Restaurants, markets, cafes and stall can be included on the tour

A series of workshops will be held early 2024 with creative producer Radhika Aggarwal, to craft written material, songs, poems, short stories and dialogues inspired by the location, with the stories forming the tour.

"I want the trail to be a lasting legacy, it's about capturing the intangible," Mr Levine said.

"Food and how we eat food are vitally important parts of our culture, it's what brings us all together, at birthday parties, funerals and gatherings.

"It's the locations that we all go to and share food together - that idea of breaking bread as a way of breaking down cultural barriers to share food together."

An old Hovis bakery sign can be seen above Eats and Treats Italian food shop in the Castle Road area of Bedford

He wants to hear about markets, supermarkets, restaurants, and memories of food and drink at home.

"We've got some amazing Italian restaurants but we used to have others, they are not there forever so I want to capture those things", he added.

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"We're not feeding people, we want them to be excited about what's already here and has been here, it's whetting their memories' appetite."

The Heritage arts project has received funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England's High Street Heritage Action Zone for Bedford.