Food festival returns to Meadows

SCOTLAND'S largest food and drinks festival is to return to its original venue after a forced relocation led to heavy financial losses.

Taste of Edinburgh, now in its fifth year, will be held at the Meadows from 1-3 July instead of Inverleith Park.

The event is set to showcase a star-studded line up of 15 award-winning restaurants, including Restaurant Martin Wishart, The Plumed Horse, Ondine and Cucina at Hotel Missoni.

Worth around 1 million to the economy, the festival made a heavy loss last year at its new location, Inverleith Park, where it was hit by bad weather and snubbed by many of the capital's leading restaurants.

Councillors agreed to allow the festival to the Meadows, despite a clampdown on major events there in a bid to protect the popular park from damage over the summer.

The event is expected to attract more than 25,000 visitors this year with ticket-holders automatically having access to exclusive theatre demonstrations from leading guest chefs, a state-of-the-art cookery school, hands-on workshops and the opportunity to sample delights from over 100 of Scotland's best food and drink producers.

Councillor Steve Cardownie, Festivals and Events Champion for Edinburgh city council, said: "I'm sure food-lovers across Scotland will already be counting down the days until Taste of Edinburgh this July.

"The event has proved a real draw over the past four years, with thousands from all over the country heading to the capital to sample some of the finest Scottish produce and cuisine."