News from the North

Barbara Collins introduces the British Street Food Awards, an exciting new competitive event at this year’s Hillsborough International Oyster Festival

Food NI is collaborating with both British Street Food and Hillsborough Oyster Festival to bring the Northern Irish Heat of the British Street Food Awards to Hillsborough on the 3rd September 2016.

The awards have been going since 2010 but this is the first ever Northern Irish heat which Food NI’s CEO, Michele Shirlow, says will shine a light on the new generation of the area’s street food talent.

“British Street Food as an organisation is growing 20 per cent every year and it’s worth £600 million to the UK economy. Here in Northern Ireland we have seen a huge increase in the number of food trucks selling everything from goat kid burgers to potato and apple bread and everything in between” says Michele Shirlow.

“The Hillsborough Oyster Festival is an international event with lots of footfall so it is the perfect place to stage the first ever Northern Ireland heats.”

Judges are looking for an innovative food offering and food with visual appeal. Only 20 entrants will be chosen and the selection process will be carried out by Richard Johnson, the creator of British Street Food.

The heat will take place in the County Down village on the 3rd of September 2016. The finals will be in Birmingham on 17/18th September.

www.hillsboroughoysterfestival.com

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Barbara Collins is a freelance food, travel and agricultural writer. A former Chief Food Writer for Flavour magazine, she contributes regularly to Countryfile magazine, the Farmers Guardian, the Irish News, FFT and the Irish Mail on Sunday. She is a member of both the UK and Irish Food Writers Guilds and splits her time between Belfast and Galway. Barbara also does menu consultancy and copywriting.

@thegoodchinaset