Festival Theme

2019 Theme

“A Feast for the Senses”

Sight | Scent | Sound | Taste | Touch

We all know the role taste plays in a good plate of food, but what about the other senses. If you lose your sense of smell (heaven forbid) then that significantly reduces your ability to taste. What does depriving or enhancing your other senses do? Do you have a sixth sense for food, can you see dead vegetables? What about common sense? Not many people have that!

Some thought starters:

Sight: Food photography, food that looks like one thing but is something else, colours, distortion of vision, augmented reality, virtual reality, projection, theatre of food. (N.B. Blind dining/dining in the dark has been done in previous years and only unique takes on this will be accepted to the programme) 

Smell: Scratch and sniff, nostalgia, smoked foods, scented air, the importance of smell with taste, freshly baked bread, coffee, fermentation

Sound: Music pairing, food inspired by music, music effecting taste, ASMR, lack of sound/silence

Taste: This doesn't need much explanation! 

Touch: Hands on classes, only eating with hands, eating without hands, gardening, mouthfeel, gut health, food fights, texture

REAL WORLD EXAMPLES: Metal Cassoulet Party, Naked Dining, Food painting, Colour & Appetite, Texture & Taste, Songs That Make You Hungry, Sound & Taste, Food Sessions, Multi-Sensory Dining,  Gastronomic Performance.

The role of the annual theme

The theme pulls the whole festival together. It will be used to influence our marketing activity and festival imagery. Events, Cocktail and Burger - use it as inspiration, a starting point for your idea. It's good to have, but not essential to your final selection.

Dine - it is compulsory to have an interpretation of the yearly theme.