Since late March, something new has been brewing in Stirling. I know, terrible pun!
The Scottish Gantry, a new wonderful wine and liqueur shop, situated in the old arcade in Stirling city centre, is sponsoring and organising the new Chew & Brew food and drink festival.
The Brit and I are always on the look out for new things around Stirling – not only because it’s a slightly boring place to be sometimes as a millennial, but because it has the potential to have so much more going on. We were so excited to see this advertised and promptly showed up at the first one in March.
It was a bit confusing because there were three food stalls and that’s all. Very strange. But quickly thereafter they added a sign to head upstairs, in the old theatre above the arcade. Up there we found what we were looking for: more food stalls, live music, and two or three different bars. This is what we had been expecting!
So we picked up some street food: burritos, burgers, nachos, etc. and grabbed a seat before heading to the bar. The prices were very decent at only £2-3 for a nice cocktail. We stayed there a while enjoying the music and sharing some pastries for dessert.
When we were back from Cuba/Canada last month, we also went back to the second edition. It was a bit disappointing. Not because of the festival itself, it was lovely like the first time, but for the attendance. There were much less people! Maybe everyone showed up to the first one looking for something new and decided not to come back. I find that sad because, as someone who wants to see more activities like this in Stirling, I think it’s important to go to stuff and encourage people with new ventures.
There are still two instances of this festival, this weekend on Saturday 26th May and at the end of June on Saturday the 30th. If you’re in Stirling, I would highly recommend it. The food is lovely, the drinks are aplenty and the atmosphere really relaxed. It’s especially fun with a group of friends.
Do you have a food festival in your town?xx
