Edinburgh Food Festival, a free to enter city centre event, opens at Assembly George Square Gardens on Friday 28 July. This year the festival is ten years old – and celebrating the tin anniversary.
Partnering up with charity, Edinburgh Food Project, Assembly Festival has launched a tin can drive to help stock up food banks in the city. Everyone who goes along to George Square in the next couple of weeks is invited to bring some tins to donate to the food bank and help the charity combat food poverty.
Edinburgh Food Project is registered with Trussell Trust and works with several food banks in Edinburgh determined to break the cycle of food poverty. These will benefit from any donations made in George Square while the food festival runs until 28 July.
In 2023 alone, 20,361 emergency food parcels providing people with food provision covering 3 meals a day were given out to people in crisis, with over 11,500 having already been issued in 2024 so far, and counting…
Bethany Biggar, Edinburgh Food Project’s Director said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with the Edinburgh Food Festival as they celebrate their 10th “Tin” anniversary! Their tin can-do attitude will make a big difference to people across Edinburgh struggling to afford the essentials. By bringing along a tin (or two!) of non-perishable food items, you’ll be helping provide emergency food supplies to those in need in our community. We’re grateful for Edinburgh Food Festival’s support and look forward to celebrating this milestone with them!”
Dani Rae, Managing Director of Assembly Festival advocates: “It’s fantastic to be able to partner with the Edinburgh Food Project and to be able to utilise the Edinburgh Food Festival as a platform for raising awareness and resources for those experiencing Food Poverty across our city. The proactive and tireless work of the Edinburgh Food Project, though sad that it’s needed at all, is incredible, pressing and vastly important. Please get raiding those cupboards and bring what cans you can to keep up this momentum. It all makes a difference!”
The festival programme includes a line-up of workshops, demonstrations, panel discussions and other activities to savour, all in celebration of Scotland’s culinary credentials. The Edinburgh Food Festival is also hosting the 15th annual Scottish Street Food Awards, with the opening weekend revolving around excellence in Scottish cuisine.
Misha Zielinska had spent three days painting the large coconut oil tins for a visual display, only for Dani Rae the Managing Director of Assembly Festival and Rebecca McGuire and Calypso Coulton of Edinburgh Food Project to knock them all down (Watch the video above!)
The collection point for cans will be inside the main gate of the Edinburgh Food Festival at Assembly George Square Gardens, where it will remain for the duration of the festival 19 – 28 July for those wishing to donate. Please give generously and note a particular need for the following tinned goods; cold meats, hot meals, fruit, fish, spaghetti in sauce, tomatoes, rice pudding, and custard.
For tickets, further information, and to sign up to receive news and updates, visit edfoodfest.com
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