Come see, come try, come buy at Honiton Gate to Plate event

Sixty of Devon’s finest food and craft producers will be lining the High Street of Honiton on Wednesday 18 July to showcase their wares at the first-ever Honiton Gate to Plate event.

The free-to-attend celebration of some of the county and district’s most outstanding businesses is a fantastic opportunity for people to come see, come try, come buy, as the traders will be bringing along samples of the highest quality local food and drink for people to taste.

From traditional fare to the most creative – there’s something for everyone to taste and buy at this huge market which organisers hope will become an annual event for the town.

From great bakes and cakes, to cheeses and cider, there’s sauces, fine honey and marmalade, organic meats and fish produce, chocolate truffles and home-made ice cream and even edible flowers to name just a few of the food businesses attending. And how about trying some children’s edible insect snack bars and seaweed too! Crafts will include a potter, a wheelwright, framed embroideries, prints and cards and hand sewn gifts for sale.

We’re expecting two very special VIPs who will be announced a few days before the event and entertainment on the day will include Honiton Town Band and the childrens’ choir from Honiton’s Littletown Primary Academy School. The event is being organised by East Devon District Council who are supported by Honiton Town Council and Taste of the West, the largest independent regional food group in the UK.

Participants include Bees Knees, Beyond Sauce Limited, Branscombe Vale Brewery Limited, Cathy’s Bake House, Celene's Cakes & Sugarcraft, Cheesy Rinders, Chloe Morter Design, Coastal Craft Collective / Freespirit, Coffee Factory Ltd, Coldharbour Farm Shop, Common Loaf, Dalwood Vineyard, Deer Park, Denhay Farms Ltd, Devon Spotted Pig & Fine Country Lifestyle, Earl of Gravy Dumpling House, Eat the Smoke, Ebb Tides and Fancy That Caribbean Food.

Find And Foster Fine Ciders, Four Elms Fruit Farm Limited, Fowlers Farm Eggs, Frandie Macaron Ltd, Georgie Porgies Puddings Ltd, GreenBee Entomology, Hillview floristry, Honiton Chocolate Company, Janvil Dairy Goats, KLA Foods (curry pies), Littlepod Ltd, LS Apiaries, Maddocks Farm organics, Mike Rowland & Son, Natural Branscombe/In my Backyard, Norcotts Cider – CN Drinks Ltd, Norma Walton’s Little Birds, Otter Vale, Otter Valley Dairy Ltd, Porkies - Meat Products and Powderkeg Brewery.

Random Cottage, Rebel Town Pizza, Rosemary Jacks, Sweetlands Country Fayre, Taste of Sidmouth, The Bloomberry Juice Company Limited, The Pig at Combe, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Trill Farm, Ventons Devon Cyder, and West Country Farm Produce / Awestruck Country Quail. Charity stalls will also be there and include Allhallows Museum (Honiton Lace), the Honiton Memory Café and the Honiton Health Matters.

Diversions on the day will be in place in the town from 6am to 6pm and the event will be open from 9am to 4.30pm.

If you’re travelling by car, free parking is available at St Rita’s off Ottery Moor Lane and further down at Honiton Business Park and Tesco car park (limited to a specific area). A shuttle bus service will regularly run to and from the town centre from these three free car parking sites. There is a further free parking area at Allhallows Rugby Club ground which is within walking distance of the event. Special thanks to Otter View Farm for providing the St Rita’s site.

Pay-for-parking car parks are available at Silver Street, Lace Walk, Thelma Hulbert, King Street, New Street North and New Street South.

There’s plenty of ways to get to Honiton other by car too. You can arrive by train on the Exeter-London Waterlook link; National Express runs coaches from Plymouth to Honiton; a Megabus service operates from Exeter to Honiton and a variety of Stagecoach and Dartline bus services operate in the area too.

Cllr Ian Thomas, the Leader of East Devon District Council, said: “East Devon is fortunate to have such a wealth of wonderful – and in some cases, award-winning - food producers and artisans and I think we have managed to bring most of them together in the same place for Honiton Gate to Plate on July 18. It’s going to be a fabulous event, with something for everyone.”

Cllr Phil Twiss, East Devon District Council ward member for Honiton added: “There is a lot of anticipation and excitement building in the town and the surrounding villages for this major event which, without doubt, will be a very memorable day for those attending and all of the fantastic stallholders taking part. Let’s not forget though, that an enormous amount of work has gone on behind the scenes as our council works with its many partners including the town and county councils and the police to ensure that this event goes smoothly.”

Mark Tredwin, Town Clerk for Honiton Town Council, said that the town is looking forward to welcoming many visitors to the event. “It doesn’t matter if you are from Honiton, Hull or Houston - everybody who comes can be assured of a warm welcome with plenty of food and drink to sample and take home. We are very grateful that such a fantastic group of participants have agreed to come along and show what the area can produce.”

John Sheaves, Chief Executive of Taste of the West, said: “Having lived here all my life, and seen the transformation in this area to a wonderful vibrant region, I am looking forward to a fantastic creative celebration in the food and craft world, and all from Devon.”