The Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival first took place at Snape Maltings in 2006 to celebrate and publicise the abundance, variety and quality of food and drink in Suffolk. The organisers of the not-for-profit event also sought to reconnect people with the food provided by the landscape as a whole: the villages and market towns, the fields, woodlands and marshes, the rivers and the sea. The festival has grown in size, success and importance but its philosophy remains the same.

Our most recent survey showed that approximately 12k people attended the Festival in 2024, including 2000 visitors under the age of 16, representing a 100% increase on the year before. Approximately 40% of visitors came from outside Suffolk and 67% were repeat visitors. The average spend per person at the festival was over £59.86, which goes direct to the producers as the festival takes no commission on pitch fees. The survey deduced that the festival has an impact on the local economy of over £2 million. The festival provides the employment benefit equivalent of 17 full-time jobs to local people.

Having started as a small farmers market to showcase local produce, the festival now garners national press attention, attracts celebrity chefs such as Tom Aikens, Pierre Koffmann, Angela Hartnett and Prue Leith. The 2025 festival will be our 20th and we hope to continue fundraising to deliver another 20 years.