Taste North food and drink festival set to return at new venue in Wick
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The Taste North festival is returning next month as part of a series of food and drink events and activities in Caithness and Sutherland being supported by Venture North.
Taste North was last held in October 2019, at John O'Groats, but will be back for the first time since the pandemic on Sunday, November 6, at a new venue – the East Caithness Community Facility in Wick. It will run from 11am to 4.30pm with a range of exhibitors, cookery and cocktail demonstrations and the Taste North challenge.
The festival is part of a line-up that also includes the Dornoch Whisky Festival (October 28-30) and the new Far North Spirits and Beer Festival, taking place throughout November.
Businesses and venues taking part in the events include Dunnet Bay Distillers, 8 Doors Distillery at John O’Groats and the Carnegie Whisky Cellars in Dornoch.
Venture North is the destination management organisation that promotes responsible tourism in the far north. It is working with more than 250 tourism and hospitality businesses, community groups and industry partners to help extend the season and bring business to local visitor economies over the quieter autumn and winter months.
The initiative is being geared towards promoting reasons to visit and explore Caithness and Sutherland from October to March, showcasing areas that are less affected by over-tourism and can accommodate visitors in the quieter season.
Venture North board director Ellie Lamont said: “Venture North is delighted to be able to host the return of Taste North in Wick on November 6.
"We’re looking forward to seeing all our past exhibitors and visitors, as well as being able to welcome new businesses and entice a growing number of attendees to the much-anticipated festival of the best the north has to offer.
“We’re delighted to be bringing our own local chefs to the stage to cook up some delicious meals and our programme is packed with cookery and cocktail demonstrations, as well as our Taste North challenge competition and family activities.”
Lou Rollason from the Dornoch Whisky Festival said: "We’re so excited that the Dornoch Whisky Festival is coming back in full force for 2022. This year we'll be continuing to work with some fantastic brands and do some great collaborations between them and our local businesses.
"It's such a delightful wee festival emphasising knowledge and learning, regardless of someone's experience in whisky.
“Since October is such a beautiful time of year in the Highlands, we love that we play a small part in the Highland calendar to encourage people to visit outside of the summer rush."
Cathy Earnshaw is destination strategy manager for Venture North and leads the Tourism Recovery Strategy for Caithness and Sutherland.
She said: “One of the key focus areas in our Tourism Destination Recovery Strategy is to support and develop events and festivals that encourage people to enjoy and visit Caithness and Sutherland outwith the main summer season, and to encourage visitors to explore less populated parts of the region.
“We have been building a range of themed visitor itineraries to showcase the region over the autumn and winter. At this time of year, we have some globally recognised food and drink events to enjoy, including the Dornoch Whisky Festival in October and Taste North in November.
“We’re also excited to be supporting the inaugural Far North Spirits and Beer Festival throughout November, which is a locally led initiative to showcase the up-and-coming spirits and beer products and experiences in Caithness and the far north.
“I’m delighted to see that the far north is now firmly establishing itself as a world-class leader for spirits and beer that’s worth celebrating.”
Venture North is leading the development and delivery of the Tourism Destination Recovery Strategy (2021-23). Core funding is provided by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd and other funding partners.
The organisation is continuing to work in partnership with local development trusts, communities and representative bodies and tourism businesses "to ensure collective ownership and delivery of the strategy at regional level". Venture North also supports member businesses and communities across the region through effective collaboration to maximise the benefits of the visitor economy.
Venture North has devised a series of suggested themed itineraries to help visitors explore Caithness and Sutherland over the autumn and winter months, which are now available on the Venture North website.
It has also launched a series of five short films to showcase Caithness and Sutherland to visitors across the UK and beyond this autumn and winter, including "Venture North to Caithness and Sutherland".
For more information about the Dornoch Whisky Festival and for tickets, visit https://dornochwhiskyfestival.com
More information about Taste North can be found at www.venture-north.co.uk/taste-north
Details about some of the best food and drink venues, events and activities in Caithness and Sutherland this autumn and winter, including the Far North Spirits and Beer Festival, is at www.venture-north.co.uk/events
Taste North 2019 attracted a huge turnout to see demonstrations and workshops as well as a packed exhibitors' market featuring food and drink producers and artisan crafts from around the Highlands and Islands.
Acclaimed French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli was the star guest as he conducted three demonstrations in the Taste North Cookery Theatre, making use of high-quality local produce. “It’s absolutely fantastic," he said at the time. "It’s really worth the trip and the time it takes to come as far as this wonderful part of the world."
One of the exhibitors at the 2019 event, Ruth Falconer of Caithness Chocolate, said: “We’ve been coming to the Taste North festival since the first event in 2015. Taste North is a fantastic showcase of local produce with a great atmosphere and overall is an extremely well supported event.”
Trisha Sutherland of Caithness Summer Fruits was similarly enthusiastic, saying: "It’s great to speak to the end consumer at Taste North and to see people from the whole region coming together.”
The original venue for the event was Ackergill Tower.
