The first Leith Food Festival began on Saturday in Leith Links, with an array of high-profile chefs topping the bill with presentations and tasting sessions.
The Leith Festival, which runs until Sunday was founded by Leeds events organiser, Mike Johnstone, and aims to celebrate the area’s vibrant food culture and provide a day out that adults and children alike can enjoy.
Food trucks selling everything from Jamaican Jerk Chicken to ostrich burgers line the perimeter of the festival, while fairground rides and tug-of-war competitions have been set up for children.
The main draw of the festival, however, is the is the live food presentations, where a host of high-profile chefs from the area will be introduced and interviewed by Barry Bryson of Barry Fish.
Dan Ashmore from the Roxburgh was first up on the Saturday at 12pm, followed by baker Theo Pantazis from Krema, Sarah George from The Palmerston, Sharif Gergis from Mirin, and former Fhior chef at hourly intervals.
On Sunday, Tomás Gourlay from Cardinal, Pedro Barreira from The Lighthouse Restaurant, MasterChef 2025 quarter finalist, Molly Pennington, will demonstrate their craft before Bryson himself takes the pulpit.
Prior to the festival, Bryson said he was excited to be presenting the demonstration and hoped to promote Leith as “the capital’s leading food and drink destination”.
Between presentations, Bryson’s husband and restaurant co-owner, Robin Bryson Jack, explained Barry Fish’s involvement. He said: “Barry was asked to host because they were looking for a key pivotal person who was able to host both days.
“Barry’s done a lot of demoing before and actually having somebody who’s a bit of a lynchpin between the demo chef is a great combination.
“Because if you’re doing a demo, it’s actually quite a complicated thing to do as a chef, you’re talking, presenting to the audience, and you’re also trying to cook at the same time, and you’ve got to be very aware of all the cameras on you and making sure that the food is in the right place.”
He added: “It’s quite good to have a foil to facilitate the chef and the demonstration.”
Bryson was also asked to curate the roster of chefs for the festival, and an emphasis was placed on making sure the chefs represented Leith’s diverse and colourful foodie scene, while still reflecting the area’s global influences
Aside from food, the festival also organised a series of live music performances to enjoy throughout the day, with a Beatles tribute act rounding off the Saturday and a Killers tribute band providing the Sunday finale.
Festival chief, Mike Johnstone, described how the festival came about: “The idea came last year to launch one in Leith, because we knew it was an amazing location, and Leith has a fantastic food culture.
“Then we reached out to Barry from Barry Fish, and he’s been amazing to work with, and he’s hosting the Cookery Theatre over the weekend and has some incredible chefs in there. That’s absolutely packed at the moment, so we’re really thrilled to see that.
“It’s going great at the moment, it’s running smoothly, lots of smiling faces, families, the tables have all filled up quickly, t’s nice and warm, it looks great, and it’s a stunning setting with the backdrop of Leith.”
Johnstone, who hails from Yorkshire, but has spent time in both Manchester and Leith, said he was drawn to organising festivals because of a knack for hosting parties, developed in his youth, and years spent in the hospitality industry.
The festival is a family operation, with Johnstone’s father assisting with organising the event.
Explaining the importance of having his family on board, he added: “We’re really tight, and we work well together in different parts of the event, but wider than the kind of blood family is the family of the festival production, which includes everyone on the team, from the core team, to the stewards, and everyone involved and the traders.
“We’ve all got each other’s back, so we all work together, we all work together as a team to just make sure we can deliver the best event possible, which is what you need with outdoor events, because it can be unpredictable, it can be challenging.”
The Leith Food Festival runs from 30-31 May. Demonstrations will begin from 12pm on Sunday and conclude at around 4pm. Live music performances will run from 11am until after 6pm.
Festival organisers and exhibitors were hopeful that the event could return next year and become a fixture in the Edinburgh Festival calendar.
