From Ottolenghi to The River Café, some of London’s most talented chefs and well-known restaurants will be offering their delectable creations this Saturday at the Fork to Fork Food Festival in Kensal Rise. The family-friendly day of feasting will include talks and tastings, craft beer, artisan wines and spirits, a world fete area, a picnic garden, live music on two stages and children’s face-painting and storytelling.
Taking place at ARK Franklin Primary, the festival will raise funds for an Open Air Classroom at the school, a place for a creative approach to the curriculum described as “a project with national ambitions to teach children resilience in how they cope in the modern world, teaching them how they can thrive and succeed in life and the work place”. The ambitious plans for the space include vegetable beds, fruit trees and a garden kitchen with a solar-powered oven; a pond to teach marine science; a beehive and a wormery; an amphitheatre; and a weather station, sundial, and compass clock. The Fork to Fork gardening club will also open the garden doors to the local community and encourage use of the space at weekends and during school holidays. The aim is for the ARK Franklin Open Air Classroom to inspire other schools nationwide.
All the participating restaurants will be offering their signature dish and their time free in support of the project, as will the craft-beer and artisan-wine and -spirits producers. The stages include theatre vignettes, live bands and kids’ disco, and the world fete will celebrate the 37 nationalities at ARK Franklin with food from all over the world.
More information: Tickets cost £8, and kids under 12 go free. The festival runs from 12pm to 6pm, with the food stalls open from 12:15pm to 4pm. For tickets and more information, visit the Fork to Fork Festival website.
