Festival to showcase quality of Manx produce, minister says

Thousands of people attend the festival at the Villa Marina each year

A food and drink festival is an opportunity to "really showcase the quality of products" available to the Isle of Man, a minister has said.

The annual event is set to take place in the Villa Marina gardens in Douglas.

Organised by the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA), the festival is attended by thousands of people each year.

DEFA minister Clare Barber said the versatility of the Manx food offering was "something to celebrate".

As well as products grown and reared locally, the produce on show would include "those items that have been produced using Manx ingredients", she said.

The event brings together Manx food producers

Ms Barber said the two-day event worked as a follow on from the summer's agricultural shows held in the south and west of the island and was the "culmination of bringing those local products together".

She said: "It's just an opportunity to bring a big selection of those items together and really celebrate Manx produce, and just how much actually we can do on a relatively small area of land.

"Some things that will be at the food and drink festival are the items directly produced locally, whether that be Manx meat, whether that be from the creamery, or whether that will be vegetables and some of the things from the farmers' markets.

"Anything we can do where we're really telling the story of Manx produce is just really important."

People attending the 2023 festival, which runs between 10:00 and 17:00 on Saturday and Sunday, have been asked to bring their own bags and water bottles to avoid single-use plastic.

The move is ahead of a ban on the items coming into force next month.

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