Colchester Food & Drink Festival 2026

Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th June 2026

11am – 6pm Both Days

📍 Lower Castle Park
St Peters Street Entrance (Ryegate)
Colchester, Essex, CO1 1HL

Join us for a fantastic celebration of food, drink, music and family entertainment at Lower Castle Park, Colchester, on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th June 2026.

Discover an incredible selection of international street food, artisan producers, craft beers, ciders, wines, spirits and cocktails, alongside live music throughout the weekend.

Bring the whole family and enjoy children’s entertainment, inflatables, shopping stalls, sweet treats, coffee, desserts and much more in the beautiful surroundings of Lower Castle Park.

Festival Highlights

🌍 International Street Food
🍔 Gourmet Food Traders
🍺 Craft Beer, Cider, Wine & Cocktails
🎶 Live Music All Weekend
🎈 Children’s Entertainment & Inflatables
🛍️ Artisan Food & Drink Producers
🍰 Cakes, Desserts & Sweet Treats
☕ Coffee & Specialty Drinks
🌶️ Chilli & Hot Sauce Specialists
🐶 Dog Friendly Event
🅿️ Free Parking

🌶️ Chilli Eating Competition

Think you’re tough enough?

Sponsored by Chilli Addicts, our legendary Chilli Eating Competition takes place at 3:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

🔥 Take on increasingly hot chillies
🔥 Win prizes and festival bragging rights
🔥 Be crowned the Colchester Food & Drink Festival Chilli Champion

Sign up if you dare!

Competitors can register in advance or enter on the day (subject to availability).

📅 27th & 28th June 2026
🕚 11:00am – 6:00pm
📍 Lower Castle Park, Colchester

🎟️ Adults: £10
👧 Under 16s: FREE

Now in its 27th year, the Colchester Food & Drink Festival is one of Essex’s best-loved summer events, bringing together great food, great drinks, live entertainment and a fantastic festival atmosphere for the whole family.

FREE Parking

Free parking is available at:

Kings Meadow
End of Catchpool Road
CO1 1XN

From the car park, visitors can walk along Pavilion View and cross via the Lower Castle Park footbridge.

The festival entrance is approximately a five-minute walk from the parking area. Routes will be clearly signposted, and staff will be available to assist visitors with directions.

Disabled Parking

Disabled parking is available at the leisure centre.

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Alcohol & Bag Search Policy

To help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all visitors, guests are not permitted to bring their own alcohol into the festival.

Bag searches will be conducted upon entry, and any alcohol found will be confiscated.

By purchasing a ticket and attending the event, visitors agree to comply with this policy. Failure to comply may result in refusal of entry or removal from the festival site.

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Ticket Sales Policy

All ticket sales are final.

Refunds or exchanges will only be offered if the event is cancelled or rescheduled. This does not affect your statutory rights under UK consumer law.

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We look forward to welcoming you to Lower Castle Park for another fantastic weekend of food, drink, entertainment and summer atmosphere at the Colchester Food & Drink Festival 2026.

Beer supplied by

Ticket Sales Policy
All ticket sales are final. We do not offer refunds or exchanges unless the event is cancelled or rescheduled. This does not affect your statutory rights under UK consumer law.