Your guide to Southsea Food Festival

Please note the first day (Saturday 15 July) of Southsea Food Festival has been cancelled due to a yellow weather warning of gusty winds, strong enough to damage food stalls and endanger people. The safety of residents, visitors and everyone involved in making the event happen has to come first. 

Organisers are watching the weather closely and expect to run Southsea Food Festival on Sunday 16 July.

Summer is well and truly here, which means it's also time for one of the highlights of Portsmouth's foodie calendar - the Southsea Food Festival.

For one weekend in July, Palmerston Road and the surrounds throng with suppliers, chefs, mixologists and more, to celebrate all the great food and drink available here on the South Coast. This year will be no exception, with organisers preparing to welcome a host of stallholders offering cuisine from right around the world.

Whether you're a keen amateur cook, or just want to spend the weekend sampling some of the freshest ingredients cooked before your eyes, then look no further than Southsea Food Festival.

This year's event is proudly sponsored by Lexus Hedge End, who will also be running origami and Japanese-inspired craft workshops on the Saturday.

When is Southsea Food Festival?

This year's event takes place over the weekend of 15 and 16 July. It's due to run 10am until 5pm both days, but note that some stalls prove enormously popular and sell out long before 5pm - so if there's something in particular that you want then don't delay!

Where is Southsea Food Festival?

As in recent years, Southsea Food Festival is centred on Palmerston Road, but also includes many others in the nearby area. The shopping end of Palmerston Road is typically given over to market stalls, with Love Southsea hosting on Saturday and Hampshire Farmers' Markets on Sunday. Meanwhile, the southern end typically sees all the resident pubs, bars and restaurants set up outdoor areas to serve their food and drink al fresco.

Last year Avenue De Caen was used for the first time, with stallholders lining the road that bisects Southsea Common, to provide fresh eats as well as plenty of open space in which to enjoy it.

As usual, the parts of Osborne Road nearest Palmerston Road will be full of traders selling freshly prepared dishes. This means there will also be road closures along certain parts of Osborne Road across the weekend, as well as Avenue de Caen.

Who's trading at Southsea Food Festival?

There's already more than 70 businesses from Portsmouth and beyond signed up for this year's event. Just some of who you can expect to see over the weekend include:
Amore Pizza Amore
Anevco
Armenian Family Street Kitchen
Beaky Blinders
Bonita’s Southsea
Chopper Whoppers
Churros Ole
Coastguard Studios (exhibition)
Cornish’s Cookhouse
Crêpe Britain
DbFunFoods
Fries Love
Greeka Olives
Herbal Henna Art
Itadeli
JD Wetherspoon
Just Annie’s
Kung Fu Pan
Latinofooduk
Lepapilon
Les Macarons de Pauline
M & M Leisure Events Management
Meliberry Ltd
Munchbox
Need Street Food
Nonna Tonda
Oh My Sausage
Peppercoast
RainbowIce Snowcones
Shenanigans Irish Café
South Coast Bagel Company
Southsea Brewing Co.
Southsea Catering
Spice Island Chilli
Staggeringly Good
Stones Throw Kitchen
Thai Bite
The Chip Butty Company
The Drunken Barman
The Gourmet Grilled Cheese Company
The Island Tea & Coffee Co.
The Pilsner Bar
The Portsmouth Distillery
The Waffle Market
The Monarch
Theory of Zou
Tuk Inn
UK Bratwurst Co.
Unforgettable Luncheon
Valencia Paella
Vincenzo’s Ices
Vintage Shakes
Watkins and Faux
Woosabi
YUM yum

What else is happening at Southsea Food Festival?

If all the food and drink options weren't enough, there will also be live entertainment taking place across both days, from 11am to 4.40pm. The iconic Wedgewood Rooms has put together a packed itinerary featuring top local bands and artists, among them: Waif & Stray, Southerlies, Hometown Show, and Fugitive Orchestra.

See the image below for the full line up, as well as timings.

Where can I park?

Whilst there are road closures in place across the weekend, many car parking areas around the Palmerston Road area will be open as usual. There is on-street parking available in the surrounding streets although this isn't recommended as the area is expected to be incredibly busy. Instead, there are spaces all along the seafront and around Southsea Common. Or, if you're coming in from outside the city why not use the Park & Ride service, with buses running into central Southsea.

More information on Southsea Food Festival can be found on the Rediscover Portsmouth website.