Leeds Gluten-Free Food Fair 2015: My Highlights.
Local gluten-free food fairs like today are like gold dust. Having visited Leeds Gluten Free Food Fair for the past three years now…sometimes knee high in snow, nothing deters people from attending this event organised by Leeds Coeliac Group.
As queues developed outside, I was under no illusion that today wasn’t going to be another jam packed day. The buzz and excitement was evident from the outset too as people chatted, young and old, catching up with old friends, making new friends, but everyone there for the same gluten-free reason.
William and I felt like children in a free-from sweet shop, deciding which stand to visit first and one of the main reasons for our excitement, probably like many attending, was that you could enjoy browsing, tasting and buying without the follow up question of whether it contained gluten which felt very liberating. No wonder we went home laden with so many goodies!
The food fair balances a good mix of national and local businesses, some of which were biteappy who were sponsoring the children’s activities, Drossa Limited, Eat-Smart Foods who were sponsoring the event, Freego, Glebe Farm, Glutafin, Green’s Beers, Juvela, Nairn’s, Warburtons Newburn Bakehouse, Nature’s Path Organic, Really Indian, Voakes Pies Ltd, Wellfoods to name but a few.
But what we equally enjoyed discovering were some brands that were less familiar to me such as Gluten Free Food Products, happyi food, K & N Kitchens, Lancashire Gluten Free, The Gluten Free Kitchen and Thornleys. I will certainly be exploring further into what these food purveyors have to offer.
As we progressed round the fair, something suddenly really caught William’s attention and so his little hand swiftly directed me towards the stage. I am certainly not someone familiar with treading the boards but realised there was another reason for his excitement thankfully. This section of the room was dedicated to various activities for children of all ages, brilliant idea! He thoroughly enjoyed entering the colouring competition and got to ice and decorate a scrummy biscuit. There really was something for everyone here today.
Holding on tightly to my raffle ticket, William and I had our beady eyes on winning some Delicious Alchemy mixes. Having eaten my body weight in their indulgent Chocolate Brownies and moreish Vanilla Sponge Mixes over the past year, fingers and toes were firmly crossed…Sadly I am not very lucky when it comes to raffles or the national lottery.
Next stop was a quick hello to the folks at Udi’s, where we could not resist sampling a vanilla cupcake and purchasing some cookie mixture. I think this is going to come in handy as an activity in the Easter holidays!
Moving round we made a bee line for Isabel’s who provide a home-bake range that is naturally free from gluten and wheat. We are big fans of the Yorkshire Pudding Mix and it is not unheard of for me to pack some of this mix to take on self-catering holidays!
Our day began to draw to a close, but not before saying hello to the people at Genius. William was rather excited about this as it is a running joke in our house that when we run out of their crumpets, William will say “Mummy, we have a crumpet crisis.” It certainly made the people of Genius laugh!
And so for another year we left laden with gluten free loveliness. Huge thanks to the passionate volunteers of the Leeds Coeliac Group who tirelessly organise this annual event and many other events throughout the year. See you next year!