KILTR Feastival of St Andrew

SWG3 played host to KILTR's Feastival of St Andrew

The last time I shared details here of a Scottish food event I attended was when I visited a fan zone back at the time of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. I thought such a post was therefore long overdue and that I would share details of an event I attended only yesterday to celebrate St Andrew's Day. The Feastival of St Andrew was hosted by KILTR - the Scottish social media and cultural platform - and promoted by Homecoming Scotland 2014. It was held at the SWG3 venue on the banks of the River Clyde between noon and midnight.

Arriving just after opening time at the Feastival of St Andrew

When I decided to go along to the event, I invited a couple of friends to come with me. Although one had to call off at the last minute, two of us duly caught the train to the SECC and followed the directions from Google Maps to the venue. We really had little idea what to expect but for some reason, had expected part of the event to be held outside. Maybe it was the expression "street food" that gave us this idea. Needless to say, this was not the case and we found ourselves two of the earliest arrivals in the upstairs function room shortly after midday.

Food stalls are set up and ready to serve early doors at Feastival

The food stalls were already up, running and serving their extremely varied productions. Not quite hungry at this stage, however, we instead made our way to the bar.

Punk IPA was the first beer of the day

I was at first slightly disappointed that there were no draught beers available. I decided to try this Punk IPA, however, and found it to be pretty good. At 5.6% ABV, it also provided a little bit of a kick.

Menu at the It's All Food! stall

The food dish on offer that had captured our attention prior to the event was the venison and Buckfast stew. It simply had to be the first item tried from the food menus.

Venison and Buckfast stew is about to be served

This dish was served up by It's All Food! and as well as the stew included champ potatoes and parsnip crisps.

Venison and Buckfast stew with champ and parsnip crisps

The venison was cooked to succulent perfection and the stew was delicious. There was unsurprisingly no taste whatsoever, though, of the Buckfast - a fact which would no doubt delight some and disappoint others.

Thistly Cross Cider is an authentic Scottish cider

After a couple of beers, it was time to try the Scottish cider on offer. This Thistly Cross came in two strengths, 4.4% and 7.2%, both of which were very enjoyable.

Cullen Skink is a classic Scottish soup

Cullen skink - the famous Scottish smoked haddock soup - was the next food tried. This too proved absolutely delicious and the fabulous aroma had the mouth watering from the outset.

Bombay Street Kitchen menu

As the venue began to get a little bit busier, I decided to try a further food offering before the potential rush. This time, I went to the BABU Bombay Street Kitchen stall and after a brief contemplation of the options, decided to do something very unusual for me: I ordered the vegetarian option!

Food ready for serving at Bombay Street Kitchen stall

This hearty dhal soup blew me away with the intensity of flavour it provided. It was absolutely delicious and I'm surprised myself to say was my favourite of the dishes I tried on the day.

Hearty dhal soup with chapati

The first performance of the day consisted of readings from a young lady by the name of Cat Hepburn (I hope I've got that right!) Her material was very varied and included her tribute to Glasgow and its culture, a look at the appeal or otherwise of glossy magazine features and article titles and a work comprised of song titles by a band called Arctic Monkeys. I'm not familiar with this group but those who clearly were seemed to enjoy the piece.

Cat Hepburn provided Feastival's first recitals

Time was unfortunately catching up with us and when half past three rolled around, we unfortunately had to make a move to be elsewhere. My only regret on the day was that I didn't get to try one of the imaginatively crafted Scotch Eggs from the Aye Love Real Food stand. I saw many people enjoying them and they looked absolutely fabulous. Hopefully, I can catch up with the producers somewhere and put that right some time very soon.

Graffiti artists are undoubtedly talented

It was a shame we didn't get to hear any more of the performing acts but it was a very enjoyable experience nonetheless and I look forward to attending another KILTR event very soon. The overall atmosphere was really friendly and laid back, the age groups of attendees very varied and it certainly seemed that everyone was having a good time. As we left, we stopped only briefly to admire the talents of two graffiti artists who were hard at work.

Caricature developing graffiti art