Dundee’s Slessor Gardens, City Square and Waterfront are set to be transformed into a food and drink haven this summer as Dundee Food Festival reveals its first line-up of events.

Organisers, Dundee City Council, will serve up a delicious offering of community-led workshops and events across multiple venues that will see residents and visitors be encouraged to eat, drink, play and think, as they explore the wonders of the city's food, drink and hospitality scene.

Taking place on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7, the two-day festival will see numerous local businesses get involved and activities will pop-up across varying locations.  They include V&A Dundee, Discovery Point, City Square, the Waterfront, Slessor Gardens, fringe events across the city and more.

Activities such as a street food market at V&A Dundee, a local producers showcase with cooking demos at The Keiller Centre with Kitchen Press, Jim’s Delhi, and Lyndsey Kitchen, and herb and flower arrangement workshops run by Verdant Works are a few not to miss events.

The family-friendly weekend will see various free activities for children to enjoy including ScrapAntics and Dundee Science Centre’s playful educational sessions in Slessor Gardens.

The main festival hub will be based at City Square with food stalls, characters on stilts, street performers, live music and more which will keep little ones busy.

For those who enjoy a tipple, The Discovery will be hosting a beer and toastie night with local firms LAW Brewing Co and Strathearn Food Co. on Saturday, July 6 from 5-8pm.

Bakers won’t want to miss the free workshop on Sunday afternoon at 4.30-5.30pm at Braw Tea Cafe in Broughty Ferry with Jeni Iannetta of Bad Girl Bakery, who is originally from Kirkton, Dundee. The well-known Scottish baker owns venues in Muir of Ord and Inverness and is held in high regard by celebrity chef Nigella Lawson who has raved about her bakes and cookbook online.

Social enterprise, The Eden Project, which is bringing Eden to Dundee, has challenged children from local schools to design a sustainable packed lunch.  The children will use knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to create a picnic that they can take to and enjoy at the festival. 

Talks and lectures from local organisations with leading scientists from University of Dundee, James Hutton Institute and Abertay University will leave attendees inspired.  Award-winning chef, Dean Banks from Arbroath, will host a talk and question and answer session on sustainability at one of the city’s newest cocktail bars, Temple Lane.

City Council Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure Convener Councillor Steven Rome, said: “I am very encouraged that so much progress is being made to deliver the first Dundee Food Festival.  Excitement will no doubt continue to build in the lead-up to July and I hope that the range of attractions on offer will prove to be popular.”

Sustainability is at the heart of Dundee Food Festival, promoting active travel with partners such as Dundee Cycle Hub providing activities at the Waterfront.

The event is designed to highlight the local larder, encourage community involvement and celebrate the food heroes of the city and surrounding area.  Dundee is abundant in quality food and drink and around 70% of Scotland’s fresh produce is located within 30 miles of the city.

It is also on a journey to become more sustainably conscious and any partners taking part are asked to pledge to the festival’s Sustainability Charter which focuses on food waste, reduction of plastic use, and using more local produce.

City Council Climate, Environment & Biodiversity Committee Convener Heather Anderson, added: “We are placing a strong emphasis on sustainability and the local reaction so far has been extremely heartening.”

Dundee Food Festival will be a highlight in locals’ and visitors’ calendars and is a great opportunity to eat, drink, play and think.

A range of local businesses will be participating throughout the event, hosting and organising food-focused activities which are yet to be announced.  These events will continue to highlight the importance of supporting local, celebrate Dundee’s food heroes, and bring together the wider community through the medium of food and drink.

The festival has been delivered in collaboration with local partners including the Dundee City Council, Eden Project, V&A Dundee, James Hutton Institute and Eat and Drink Dundee.

For additional information and to find out how to get involved visit www.dundeefoodfestival.com

A DOZEN new images of Dundee, all taken from the sky, have been unveiled at the city’s Waterfront.

The large framed pictures will brighten up the hoardings between Earl Grey Place West and Thomson Avenue on South Crichton Street into the New Year.

Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City council’s city development committee who revealed the images for the first time today (THURSDAY) said: “Our city is stunning from almost every angle, and seeing it from the air in a way that few of us gets to do adds another breath-taking perspective.

“At two metres tall and one and half metres across the scale of the images also means that as well as taking in the view, the level of detail in each one is amazing.”

Featuring the work of a pair of local photographers, Ben Hirst and Scott McBride, the exhibition has been unveiled in time for the city’s Christmas celebration, Winterfest, which will encourage visitors to the waterfront as well as other areas of the city.

Ben from Dundee who describes himself as: “A creative photographer with almost 15 years’ experience” sells his work, including images of the city, surrounding countryside of Perthshire and Angus and further afield through an on-line gallery.

Meanwhile Scott, who is also based in the city says he is: “Relatively new to photography and since picking up a camera, I have been hooked on the hobby”. He particularly enjoys taking time lapses of the local area and beyond.

Information about both, as well as the work on show, will also feature in the exhibition which will be in place until next year.

As well at the waterfront itself the aerial images also include the McManus, the Law and the Tay Road Bridge.

Condé Nast Traveller - The Scottish renaissance city

The revival of Dundee, by Danny Wallace

Dundee’s ascendance as one of the UK’s must-visit cultural destinations continues unabated after the opening of the dramatic waterside V&A, Scotland’s first design museum.

As for food, there's exciting Scottish cuisine by Masterchef winner Jamie Scott at waterfront restaurant The Newport, where you can see beautiful sunsets over the River Tay from its windows (and stay the night in one of its four bedrooms). For a longer stay, try the recently-opened Staybridge Suites, in a cleverly-converted former jute mill. And explore the town on one of the 300 new e-bikes which were installed across the city from July 2021 – keep an eye out for the redevelopment of West Ward Works, a print factory that made DC Thomson’s Beano and Dandy annuals, that will eventually host live performances, festivals and exhibitions, and become a base for designers, artists and other creative workers and companies. By Giovanna Dunmall

Picture by:-  ©HuftonCrow

Come and explore with us as Dundee Summer Street Festival returns in 2019!

Our theme this year is Explorations and we’ve got a myriad of ways for you to do that!

Highlights include:
•    Centrepiece Luminarium in City Square – don’t miss it!
•    Food and drink with Dundee’s Farmers’ Market
•    Fun in the Overgate 
•    Games on Reform Street
•    Explore Dundee tours and trails point in Reform Street
•    Amazing maze for wee ones in Albert Square
•    McManus Big Explore
•    Music and street theatre throughout!