​A Celebration of Seafood: England’s Seafood FEAST 2019

England’s second Seafood Feast returns to the English Riviera, south Devon, from 20 September to 6 October giving visitors the chance to dine on some of the best seafood in the world exactly where it’s landed.

Part of the wider Seafood Coast initiative which promotes restaurants, fishing and maritime experiences around England’s entire coastline to international visitors, the Seafood Feast is a two-week long extravaganza of seafood set menus, taster platters, crab-cracking masterclasses, chef events and more across the English Riviera - Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.

At the heart of the Feast is Brixham Fish Market, the location for the most valuable catch in England, boasting 40 species of fish and shellfish for sale at its daily auction. For die-hard seafood fans, daily tours of the market will kick off from 6am.

Award-winning chef Mitch Tonks, owner of restaurant micro-chain Rockfish, is passionate about encouraging others to enjoy seafood: “The world of seafood can be a bit of a mystery sometimes, we often stick to the things we know. Our Seafood Coast in England has the most amazing range of species caught and landed in our waters by our fishermen.

“The Feast is a really fantastic couple of weeks showcasing all of that, people can visit and try so many different things. It really is feasting; feasting on all the variety, going from place to place and trying something different, it’s like a seafood trail. I suggest getting your map out early and planning where to go and what to eat, time to feast!”

The southwest of England has a well-deserved reputation for local sourcing and passionate producers; aside from the local catch of the day, visitors can sample local beer, cider, wine or gin while dining. The Feast also dovetails with British Food Fortnight, a celebration of the delicious food readily available across Britain.

“The Seafood Feast is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the outstanding quality of fish and seafood in our local waters,” says Samantha Richardson, director of the National Coastal Tourism Academy which promotes the Seafood Coast within its England’s Coast brand.

“As the British love-affair with local food and drink continues to grip the nation, England’s Seafood Coast showcases the very best of locally-caught seafood to an international audience.

“Our research shows many international visitors know very little about our coastline or the wealth of excellent restaurants around the coast, so events like the Seafood Feast are perfect for increasing awareness and demonstrating we offer far more than excellent fish and chips!”

For a lucky few Feast visitors, there’s the chance to dine on lobster at Agatha Christie’s holiday home Greenaway House on the River Dart but there’s also the option of crossing the Tor Bay on a heritage sailing trawler, join a fish cooking class, a foraging workshop and much more.

Find out more on www.theseafoodfeast.co.uk and discover more on the Seafood Coast HERE

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If you would like to visit Brixham to see the historic Fish Market and part of the Seafood Feast tour or for more media information and images please contact Sheron Crossman, National Coastal Tourism Academy Marketing & Communications Manager, Sheron.crossman@coastaltourismacademy.co.uk


Notes to Editors:

Seafood Feast is part of England’s Seafood Coast which promotes restaurants using locally landed and caught seafood around the coast as well as maritime heritage experiences to international visitors.

Seafood Coast is a sub-brand of England’s Coast, a new marketing and booking tool that allows visitors to create their ideal holiday around the coast of England. It is funded by VisitEngland’s Discover England Fund.

Mitch Tonks is a highly acclaimed award-winning seafood restaurateur and food writer. He owns the award-winning Seahorse restaurant in Dartmouth and 7 Rockfish restaurants in Devon and Dorset with the latest just opened in Weymouth on the esplanade. He has also won many awards himself, was named in the Caterer’s Top 100 most influential foodies and the Telegraph’s Top 50 food power list.

For more information on Mitch and photography please contact Laura@mitchtonks.co.uk

About the Discover England Fund

  • In November 2015, the Government announced a £40 million Discover England Fund; an unprecedented opportunity for English tourism. The Fund aims to deliver world-class bookable tourism products joined up across geographies and/or themes; including integrated transport solutions to provide an end-to-end customer experience.
  • The Fund supports the growth of one of England’s most successful export industries, inbound tourism. Tourism is an industry that delivers jobs and economic growth across the English regions – contributing some £106bn each year to the economy and supporting 2.6 million jobs.
  • The Fund supported a number of pilot projects in year one (2016/17) that tested product development approaches. In years two and three, 2017-19, the fund will support:
  • A number of large-scale collaborative projects to be delivered over the two year period 2017-2019 that will create a step-change in bookable English tourism product for international consumers,
  • A smaller funding pot for new one year pilot projects (in year two), and
  • Continuation funding for existing year one projects that demonstrated early learnings (in year two).

About VisitBritain/VisitEngland

  • VisitBritain/VisitEngland is the national tourism agency – a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)

Working with a wide range of partners in both the UK and overseas, our mission is to grow the volume and value of inbound tourism across the nations and regions of Britain and to develop world-class English tourism product to support our growth aspirations. For further information and to access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics visit www.visitbritain.orgor www.visitbritain.com and www.visitengland.com