First Fork to Fork Food Festival announced for this June

Thomasina Miers and Laura Harper­-Hinton have come together to launch the first Fork to Fork Food Festival, which will take place on Saturday 13th June at ARK Franklin Primary Academy in Kensal Rise, West London.

Thomasina is a past MasterChef winner and the co-founder of Mexican restaurant group Wahaca, and Laura is the co-founder and creative director of Caravan all-day restaurants and its speciality coffee business Caravan Coffee Roasters.

Fork to Fork Food Festival will bring together some of London’s most talented and creative chefs, restaurateurs and producers, with the aim to raise funds in support of the Open Air Classroom project which will launch at ARK Franklin Primary Academy following the festival.

The one-day festival this June will feature chef demos, talks and tastings, food and produce stalls, a bar serving craft beer, wine and gin, a secret picnic garden, a world fete, live music and numerous children’s activities.

Stalls will be manned by chefs from Hix, Ottolenghi, Koya, Soho House, Polpo, Caravan & Caravan Coffee Roasters, E&O, Moro, Union Street Café, Granger & Co, Gracelands Café, The Shop, The Whippet Inn, Fed By Lillie and Gail’s Bakery.

Plus look out for food trucks from Wahaca, Dirty Burger, The Bowler and Young’s, as well as drinks stalls from Beavertown and Camden Town breweries, New Zealand Wine Cellar, Borough Wines, Portobello Gin and Vinoteca.

The idea behind the Open Air Classroom at ARK Franklin is backed by research taken from edible garden projects in the US and Australia, which shows that creative outdoor spaces have a huge benefit in developing children, particularly those with behavioural difficulties.

Fork to Fork Festival, which Thomasina and Laura hope will become an annual event, will offer a day of entertainment for all the family whilst raising the funds to make the Open Air Classroom come to life.

Laura said: “We hope that people will be excited and embrace the first ever Fork to Fork festival this June, and that our space will become a loved and respected local West London landmark and an inspiration for many other schools across the country to see the learning benefits for children and open their own open air classroom.”

Fork to Fork Festival will be held on Saturday 13th June at ARK Franklin Primary Academy in Kensal Rise from 12pm to 6pm.

Tickets are available now via www.franklinforktofork.com for £5 pre-sale and £8 on the day, children under 12 go free.