With Britain becoming a ‘staycation nation’ with a rise in domestic holidays, regions are harnessing their unique selling points to entice more visitors and tourists to their areas. Wales is no exception, adopting an annual thematic approach to promoting and advertising e.g. The Year of; Adventure (2016), Legends (2017), the Sea (2018), Discovery (2019) and Outdoors (2020). This coupled with Welsh Government identifying food and drink as a growth area, with an ambitious target to increase sales by 30% to £7 billion by 2030 (Towards Sustainable Growth - Food and Drink Action Plan) puts food tourism at the forefront of government strategy.


The rise in food festivities in Wales is on the rise whether it be festivals, food markets or celebration events, the creation of unique ‘third spaces’ where knowledge and understanding of the values and processes associated with food production and local economy are both traded and freely shared. Such events aim to deliver authentic experiences embedded within the region embodying local values and provenance and protecting heritage and culture. Such place-based food festivities are increasingly emerging across Wales as an expression of innovation or entrepreneurial drive whilst also delivering new food tourism experiences. Due to their specific food and drink associations, many are linked to specific geographical places, but such events also operate within the unique and challenging policy landscape created by Wales Government’s commitment to Sustainable Development as expressed in the 7 Future Well Being Goals.