Guernsey Food Festival programme grows

MORE events have been added to the #Guernsey International #FoodFestival programme (September 23-October 2). 

The ten day festival celebrates the quality and variety of island food with Guernsey’s producers and chefs combining forces to showcase produce and cuisine from Guernsey, Alderney, Herm, and Sark.

With its full programme of events, promotions, and local markets, there will be opportunities to sample the one-of-a-kind gastronomy which has grown from the archipelago’s geographical position between England and France, allowing it to fuse English and French cuisines.

Latest confirmed events include:

Cigars, Cocktails and Canapés (September 23) – Ziggurat, Guernsey’s Moroccan-themed hotel and restaurant, hosts an early evening reception on its terrace with views of the island’s capital and out to sea. Tickets are priced at £35. www.hotelziggurat.com

Dinner with Jean-Christophe Novelli (September 23), St Pierre Park Hotel – Chef and restaurateur Jean-Christophe Novelli returns to the festival for the second year, joining forces with chef Tony Leck of The Pavilion at St Pierre Park Hotel. The chefs will work together to create a special menu to be served at a gala dinner. Tickets from £50 to £75. www.thepavilion.co.gg

The Big Guernsey Market (September 24-25), Crown Pier, St Peter Port –
This will be the festival’s focal point in St Peter Port featuring stalls from local producers and chefs. The market incorporates the Children’s Food Festival, where little foodies can get hands-on with local produce. Guernsey’s chefs will be on the Live Food Show stage to showcase their culinary skills, alongside guest chefs from France, India, the UK, and the US, who will talk through the step-by-step preparation of their dishes before giving the opportunity to sample tasters. Free entry. www.visitguernsey.com/event/big-guernsey-market

Beach BBQ Cook-Off (September 24-25), Crown Pier, St Peter Port –
Former Masterchef contestant and Aussie barbecue supremo, Kieron James, hosts the Guernsey Beach BBQ Cook Off at St Peter Port’s Live Food Stage, where local chefs compete to produce the tastiest barbecue dish. The winner is decided by the audience, which gets to sample the meats and judge the chefs’ dishes. Free entry. www.visitguernsey.com/event/beach-bbq-cook

Guernsey Gourmet Bus Tour (October 1) Island wide – This whistle-stop tour of Guernsey’s producers goes behind-the-scenes at some of the island’s leading food and drink makers and includes a two-course local produce lunch. Tickets £65 from www.guernseytickets.gg

Wild Foraging Workshop (October 2) Rocquaine Bay – Wild Guernsey offers a festival workshop, taking budding foragers to gather wild food, taste it raw, and then transform the ingredients into a recipe worth remembering for a family picnic or dinner party. Foragers will learn to identify Guernsey’s sea herbs and vegetables and then sample a treat made up from the ingredients found on the tour. Tickets £20 from wildguernsey.wordpress.com

www.visitguernsey.com/food-festival

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Dates Announced for the 2016 Guernsey International Food Festival

THE #GUERNSEY INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL will return on September 23 to October 2, following the success of the inaugural event last year.

The festival will showcase the very best of island food, with promotions in restaurants and cocktail bars, live cooking demonstrations, cook-offs, chef masterclasses, gastronomic tours, and gala dinners.

Guernsey's island producers and chefs will combine forces to showcase exceptional produce and cuisine from Guernsey, Alderney, Herm, and Sark.

Getting there …

Direct flights to Guernsey operate year round from London City, Gatwick, and Stansted, as well as many regional UK airports with Aurigny (www.aurigny.com), Blue Islands (www.blueislands.com), and Flybe (www.flybe.com).

Return flights from London Gatwick to Guernsey with Aurigny in September 2016 are available from £100 per person.

Condor operates ferry services from Poole and Portsmouth. Return car ferries from Poole to Guernsey in September are from £190, carrying two passengers (www.condorferries.com). 

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Family fun on the Channel Islands

THIS year’s #ChannelIslands Heritage Festival (March 25-May 10) will celebrate a group of small islands with a big history, offering five weeks of family-friendly events across Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Herm and Sark. 

There will be nautical tours of castles, towers, and lighthouses, guided walks, cycle rides, kayak adventures, and vintage bus tours.

Events include:

Land Sailing with Pure Adventure, Jersey 

April 2, 4, 8 and 23
The fresh winds and five mile stretch of beach along Jersey's St. Ouen's Bay offer perfect conditions for adrenalin-fuelled land sailing. Families can try out the sport and race each other around a triangular course. Land sailing is suitable for children over nine and costs £25 per adult and £15 for children. To book, visit www.purejersey.com

Island Explorers Treasure Hunt, Guernsey
Throughout the festival

With the help of an explorer's map, adventurers young and old are challenged to find clues across the island's historic sites. The map is free to download from the VisitGuernsey website and all completed treasure hunts that are returned to Guernsey Museum will receive a small gift and be entered into a prize draw. www.museums.gov.gg 

Through the Looking Glass – A Kayak Exploration of Jersey's Maritime Jungle, Jersey
March 28, April 4, 11, 18, 26 April, May 2

Families can explore one of Europe's most diverse marine ecosystems on a sea kayak tour and observe marine and bird life. All kit is supplied and beginners are welcome. The cost is £40 per adult and £27 for children. Advance booking is essential through Jersey Kayak Adventures - info@jerseykayakadventures.co.uk

Bunkers at Night – Evening Tour, Jersey
March 31, April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5

Learn about Jersey's WWII heritage with a visit to various sites at night to light up Jersey's Military Heritage in a new way. The cost is £30 per adult and £15 per child aged 7-15. Booking is essential through Jersey War Tours - www.jerseywartours.com

Sea to Sea Cycle Tour, Jersey
March 31, April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5

Families are invited to join local Blue Badge Guide Arthur Lamy on a cycle tour from St Helier along Jersey's south coast to Les Platons, on the north coast, which offers views of the nearby coast of France and the other Channel Islands.  Along the 15 mile route, the tour stops to discover dolmens, manor houses, and even where the Jersey Royal early potato was created.  The tour costs £15 per person.  www.arthurthebluebadgeguide.com

Beau Vallon Maritime Family Fun Day, Guernsey
May 1

A jam-packed day of activities including a pirate treasure hunt, free scuba diving taster sessions (age eight upwards), and maritime stalls. www.beauvallon.co.uk

www.visitchannelislands.com

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Garden delights . . .

COMBERMERE ABBEY ESTATE in Whitchurch, Shropshire, is hosting a series of Open Garden Afternoons this summer, providing a rare chance to see this privately-owned historic estate.

They will be held on August 26, and September 23.

Visitors will be able to explore the estate’s Victorian walled gardens and glasshouse, its pleasure garden and garden wood, fruit tree maze, and lake.

The estate’s team of gardeners will be on hand to answer questions and share tips.

Tickets are priced at £5. Gates will open at 1pm, with the last entry at 4pm. Dogs and picnics are not permitted.

The abbey was built in 1133 as a Cistercian monastery. Now a family home, it is a venue for weddings, corporate events, and has ten holiday cottages.
www.combermereabbey.co.uk

AN open-air gallery of contemporary sculpture in the grounds of a Georgian mansion is the centrepiece of the first of an occasional series of visitor trails published by Congham Hall Hotel, near King’s Lynn, Norfolk. 

The Magnificent Seven… Norfolk #Gardens – the hotel's illustrated trail – features the collection, which is on display at nearby Houghton Hall.

The 90-mile self-guided circuit of the seven gardens begins with Congham Hall's herb collection. Others include Gooderstone Water Gardens, a naturalistic re-interpretation of a wet meadow, and Sandringham Gardens, a chronicle of the changing tastes in horticultural design over the past 150 years.

The trail can be download online or obtained from the hotel's reception desk.
www.conghamhallhotel.co.uk

GARDENERS and walkers – and #gardeners who like walking – might be interested Adagio's Channel Isles walking tour of the gardens of Guernsey, Sark, and Herm.

Highlights include strolls in St Martin to #SausmarezManor with its sub-tropical gardens, a ferry ride to Herm to meet the head gardener for a private tour of the island's gardens, and a private tour of the #LaSeigneurieGardens on Sark, with its Victorian glasshouse, hedge maze, and stone walls.

The company’s UK manager, Amber Parish-Smith, says: ‘We couldn't miss out on visiting both the small islands of Sark and Herm for a day each. Traffic is prohibited on the islands, so horse-drawn carts, cycling, and walking are the ways to get around. It really does feel like you are stepping back in time when one visits these islands.’ 

Price are from £1,155 per person, including return flights, transfers, half board at a three-star hotel on Guernsey.   www.adagio.co.uk

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Picture Credit: Combermere clocktower by Espresso Addict - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Gooderstone Water Gardens, Gooderstone, Norfolk - geograph.org.uk - 794060 by David Mills. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Sark-aerial by Phillip Capper - Sark, Channel Islands, 17 September 2005. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

See the puffins!

NATURE lovers who want to see puffins in the most unobtrusive manner can join kayaking puffin patrols on the tiny Channel Island of Herm from now (April) until June. 

The car-free island, with its grassy cliff tops and open seas, is an ideal habitat for hundreds of puffins each spring and summer and is one of the most southerly puffin breeding colonies in Europe.

The kayaking puffin patrols are led by experts who know the movements of the puffins and the waters around Herm. The trips depart from Herm's Shell Beach and take participants around the rocky cliffs to see the birds in their natural habitat. 

The puffins are surprisingly tolerant of humans and the groups often get within 20 feet of the birds. 

Seals are also regular visitors and are known to follow the kayaks!

The kayaking trips take about two hours and are booked through Outdoor Guernsey (www.outdoorguernsey.co.uk). They cost £35 per person and are available on a regular basis throughout April, May, and June.

Holidaymakers looking for a less strenuous puffin sighting can join Bumblebee Boat Cruises (www.bumblebee.gg) on an hour long boat ride around Herm. The trip costs £29.50 for adults and £19.50 for children.

www.visitguernsey.com

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Picture Credit: "Atlantic Puffin" by Andreas Trepte (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Channel Isles celebrate heritage

THE first Channel Islands Heritage Festival - now on and running through to May 11 - depicts the history of the five islands – Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Herm.

The festival – set up to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Channel Islands' liberation from occupying German forces during WWII – feature special openings of historic sites such as the tunnels at Guernsey's Castle Cornet, history-themed cycle tours, a shark egg hunt on Alderney's shores, and open days at forts and bunkers.

www.visitchannelislands.com     

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Picture Credit: "Castle Cornet Guernsey 7" by Man vyi (Own work (own photo)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons