Scotland’s first Real Bread Festival comes to Fife

The first-ever Scottish Real Bread Festival will be held at The Bowhouse in St Monan’s, Fife, this Saturday, 25 February, organised by the award-winning local charity Scotland the Bread.

This new festival will celebrate real bread with a line-up packed with workshops, talks, hands-on activity and the awards ceremony for the Scottish Bread Championship 2023.

Rounding off Real Bread Week, the timetable includes activities for all the family, from bread-heads who want to debate grain biodiversity to little ones who can have a blast threshing and milling grain at The Big Thrash.

The Festival will open with a concept launch of ‘The People’s Bread’: a call to action and demonstration of the easiest way to make the healthiest Real Bread for everyone. There will be tastings, free sourdough starter and recipes to take away.

Festival visitors are invited to the premiere of a new short film, ‘Celebrating Scottish grain, flour and bread’, which highlights the skilled craftsmanship of Scotland’s artisan bakers and the flour they use, as well as introducing Scotland’s two key integrated growing-and-milling innovators: Scotland the Bread in St Monans and Mungoswells in East Lothian.

An ‘Honest Crust’ keynote speech and panel discussion led by Chris Young, Co-ordinator of the Real Bread Campaign, will provide a timely opportunity to hear from someone who hit the headlines recently. Young’s forensic response to the newly released ‘UK Baking Industry Code of Practice for the Labelling of Sourdough Bread and Rolls’ described it as a 'cheats charter’ and a ‘sourfaux code’.

The day will see a variety of Real Bread and artisanal food stalls for visitors to browse, grain art workshops including cyanotype photography and straw weaving, and songs and stories celebrating a living bread culture.

The Scottish Bread Championship is Scotland’s only Real Bread competition. Founded by Wendy Barrie of Scottish Food Guide and Andrew Whitley of Scotland the Bread in 2017, the Championship is newly relocated to The Bowhouse. The awards ceremony will take place at the Festival.

The Scottish Real Bread Festival is free to enter, though donations to Scotland the Bread’s work are encouraged.

More information can be found on Scotland the Bread’s event page for the day.