Wimborne Food Festival: a look back at the 2026 edition

The Wimborne Food Festival is one of Dorset's busiest autumn dates, and the 2026 edition has already come and gone, so it is worth a quick look back at what the day brought. It ran on Saturday 19 September, from 10am to 4pm, and once again cost nothing to get in, which is a big part of why it pulls such a crowd into the historic market town of Wimborne Minster. The main site sat at Willow Walk, tucked behind Waitrose, and the festival spilled out across East Street, Church Street, Minster Green, The Square and the Allendale Centre, so the whole town centre was effectively part of it.

The food and drink were the obvious draw. Paul Keating's BBQ, tastings at Fluffetts, cheese boxes from The East Street Deli and special menus from local businesses sat alongside Spanish tapas at Ten Bottles Wine Bar, authentic Italian at Lovitaly and local beer at The Oddfellows, which bills itself as the smallest pub in Dorset. Live music played at Fisks on East Street and Church Street, and the artisan stalls clustered on Minster Green. Earlier in the day, the Dorset Farmers Market set up at Ellis Jones Minster Green and Wimborne Square from 9am to 1pm, with stalls inside and outside the Allendale Centre selling fresh vegetables, seasonal fruit, cheeses, artisan bread, quality meats and local fish.

A lot of the day was built around the cooking demonstrations at the Dacombe's Food Festival Theatre on Willow Walk. Cristina Cavalleri, owner of LovItaly Deli and Restaurant, opened with Sardinian family recipes for tomato sauce and amaretti; Sali Pike and Ellie Snook from the Renoufs team showed how to build a cheese and charcuterie board from a choice of over 190 cheeses; Pete Miles of Dorset Oysters traced the journey of an oyster from seeding in Poole Harbour to the plate; and Colm McKavanagh of River's Edge Bistro teamed up with Salamander Cookshop for easy Spanish cooking. Colin Nash, with more than three decades in professional kitchens, took the slot at 1.15pm, and former Great British Bake Off contestant Maggie Richardson rounded things off with the secrets to perfect choux pastry. The day closed with Wimborne's Great Choc Bake Off.

That bake-off was the grand finale. Entrants brought their most eye-catching chocolate cakes to the Festival Marquee between 3pm and 3.30pm to be judged on taste, creativity and presentation by Maggie Richardson and Colin Nash, with slices sold afterwards to raise money for the Mayor's charities, Lewis-Manning Hospice Care and Waggy Tails Rescue. The adult winner walked away with a Neff frying pan set worth over £100, while book vouchers went to the junior categories. Elsewhere, free tasters ran all day in the Garden Room at the Museum of East Dorset, Majestic Wines held a free tasting on West Borough and Salamander Cookshop ran a Lékué demo with Chris Hoyle.

Beyond the food, there was a Food Market Tent, a Country Craft demonstration area, a Chefs Showcase, Kids Food Factory zones, street performers, a vintage funfair and a literary fringe festival. Well-behaved dogs were welcome across the site, and the organisers asked people to bring a reusable cup to cut down on single-use plastic. The whole thing was put on by Dacombes of Wimborne, who run it year after year.