May has finally sprung! The tipis are up! The sun is shining! I can barely contain my excitement. We’ve got 2 bank holiday weekends within sight, lovely weather and a whole host of festivals to kick off the summer.

So without further ado, I reveal to you the wonders of May food and drink in Bristol…

Bank Holiday Japes

The Steam Crane on North St are celebrating with a beer festival from Friday 1st-Monday 4th May – the event will include live bands, a BBQ, shisha bar, meet the brewer sessions, beer tastings and over 25 beers on tap! Incidentally, if pub crawls are your thing, here are a few pub crawl ideas for various parts of Bristol to get you started.

Makes Sunday Special is back after a wintertime break, so in addition to all the other bank holiday frolics, the centre of town will be closed to traffic on Sunday 3rd May to allow games, music and food stalls to take over the tarmac instead. Pata Negra are getting involved with Make Sunday Spanish (an all day Spanish fiesta with special cocktails, paella and DJs), and Brew Bristol will be doing beer tastings throughout the day at their shop on St Nicholas Street. St Nicks Market will also be open all day for you to continue feasting!

There’s a couple of new food event maestros in town, and one of them is launching over the long weekend – Foozie (foodie and boozy events, mind) are putting on their inaugural Bingo Wings event – play Bristol-based bingo, eat chicken wings, and generally lark about at The Old Bookshop on Saturday 2nd May. Keep an eye to their website for more events.

We also recently saw the launch of food & film night Cannoli & Gun – their next event is on 29th May and they’re screening Stand by Me, plus you get some fruit pie to munch during the film.

Of course we also have Food Connections starting on Friday 1st, so there is an abundance of activities and events across the long weekend for you to take part in. I’ve highlighted some of my favourites below, but you can also consult their website for full listings. Or take a trip to the Eat Drink Bristol Fashion tipis for some tapas and live music!

Food Connections Highlights

There are more fun events going on in the 10 days of Food Connections festivities than you can shake a tasty stick at (including oodles of free events across the city), but here are some choice selections from me:

• Sat 2nd- Sun 3rd – Cider & Sausage festival at Trinity
• Sun 3rd – It’s a Bristol Ting at Lakota with Bristol EATS
• Mon 4th – Eat in at The Orangery (City of Bris College)
• Tue 5th – Cider tasting at Cori Tap
• Wed 6th – After Hours at @Bristol
• Wed 6th – Bristol Food Stories
• Thu 7th – Radio Cocktail at Red Light
• Fri 8th – Breakfast rave at Extract Coffee
• Fri 8th – Bristol Pound Night Market

New menus ahoy!

There’s plenty of new stuff to try across Bristol this month too – The Old Bookshop will have Mi Casa in their kitchen for the whole of May, The Hope & Anchor will have an Indonesian tapas menu from 18th-23rd May, and Playground Coffee House now have a new menu including salads and very tasty grilled cheese sandwiches.

If you’re a spice fan, you could learn how to perfect your curries on 1st May at Little Kitchen, or 19th May at Coexist Community Kitchen.

Those more taken in by a tipple can head to Wine Wednesdays at Hotel du Vin, Real Wine at Birch on 7th May or one of the many great classes at Arch House Deli, Clifton Wine School or Averys Wine Cellars.

Saturday 23rd May will also see the first ever Eurovision Sandwich Contest, with several of Bristol’s best sandwich purveyors going against each other to make the best sandwiches they can based on their assigned Eurovision country, as part of The Cube’s Eurovision Party! More info to follow shortly, but we can reveal that the current competitors are:

1. Greece (Bosh!)
2. Italy (Source)
3. Sweden (Brew Coffee Co)
4. Spain (Bearpit Social)
5. Germany (Wicked Lunch Co)
6. Azerbaijan (Chris & Jo’s Kitchen)

If you’d also like to be involved in the competition – drop me an email, or if you just want to taste the sandwiches, come to The Cube from 7pm on 23rd May.

Phew – so that’s May! I hope it’s a joyful one whatever you get up to – let me know if I’ve missed any events off!

Dates for the Diary:

• Fri 1st – Curry Club at Little Kitchen
• Sat 2nd – Cafe Mulino pop up
• Sat 2nd – History of Wine at Averys Wine Cellars
• Sat 2nd – Bingo Wings at The Old Bookshop
• Sun 3rd – It’s a Bristol Ting at Lakota with Bristol EATS
• Sun 3rd – Make Sunday Special
• Mon 4th – Gintastic at Cosy Club
• Mon 4th – Eat in at The Orangery
• Tue 5th – Cider tasting at Cori Tap
• Wed 6th – Cook Your Culture at Muller Hall, Easton
• Wed 6th – After Hours at @Bristol
• Wed 6th – Steak & Lobster Night at Rummer
• Wed 6th – The Confectioner’s Tale – book launch at Hart’s Bakery
• Wed 6th – Homebrew Club at Brew Bristol
• Thu 7th – Radio Cocktails at Red Light
• Thu 7th – Cider tasting at The Apple
• Thu 7th – Introduction to Rum at Goldbrick House
• Thu 7th – Real Wine at Birch
• Fri 8th – Bristol Pound Night Market in St Nicks
• Fri 8th – Breakfast rave at Extract Coffee
• Sat 9th – Clandesdiner Supper Club
• Sat 9th – Gutter Sundae with Vee Double Moo
• Sat 9th – Plot to Plate with Jo Ingleby
• Sat 9th – Festival of Spice in Easton
• Sat 9th – Cheese School at Birch
• Wed 13th – Fish filleting course at Source
• Wed 13th – Cheese & Wine tasting at Arch House Deli
• Thu 14th – Eli’s Spanish Cocina at Hamilton House (£20 for one class, £35 for both)
• Thu 14th – Seafood cookery at Papadeli
• Thur 14th – Meet the Brewer at Beer Emporium: Cornish Crown Brewery
• Thu 14th – An Evening of Iberico Pork at Pata Negra
• Fri 15th – Bristol Eats street food market at Tobacco Factory
• Mon 18th-Sat 23rd – Indonesian Tapas at The Hope & Anchor
• Tue 19th – Full Power Masala at Coexist Community Kitchen
• Wed 20th – Chocolate truffle workshop at Zara’s Chocolates
• Thu 21st – Eli’s Spanish Cocina at Hamilton House
• Thu 21st – Bingo Wings at The Mall
• Thu 21st – Gin Club at Milk Thistle
• Fri 22nd-Mon 25th – Beer & Sausage Festival at Aviator
• Fri 22nd -Mon 25th – Beers1 Beer Festival
• Sat 23rd – Vegfest
• Sat 23rd – The Eurovision Sandwich Contest
• Tue 26th – Full Power Masala at Coexist Community Kitchen
• Wed 27th – Charcuterie Course at Source
• Wed 27th – Cheese & Wine tasting at Arch House Deli
• Wed 27th – Burgundy tasting at Averys Wine Cellars
• Fri 29th – Stand by Me: Food & Film from Cannoli & Gun

Happy feasting!

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