The Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival: a foodie autumn weekend from The Firs
- Jul 3
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 16
The Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival returns to Snape Maltings on 26–27 September 2026, and The Firs is the perfect countryside base for a foodie autumn weekend. Consistently rated one of the UK's best food festivals, it's under an hour from our retreat. We're 2 hours from London and 45 minutes from Norwich.
Held in the beautiful riverside setting of Snape Maltings (IP17 1SP), the festival brings together well over 100 Suffolk food and drink producers — many from just a few miles away. Expect demonstration stages with visiting and local chefs, masterclasses, artisan producers, street food and live music. It's wonderfully family-friendly too, with free children's cookery sessions running throughout the day. Tickets and details are at aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk.
A festival weekend is the ideal excuse to make it a proper stay. Spend the day grazing your way around Suffolk's finest producers, then bring your spoils home to The Firs and put them to work: fire the pizza oven, light the firepit, and cook your festival finds over flame in the outdoor kitchen. Herbs from the kitchen garden round out the feast.
Between the eating, there's the wood-fired hot tub and the sauna to ease you into autumn, and the gardens to wander as the leaves turn. The coast at Aldeburgh and Southwold is close by for a bracing walk to earn the next meal.
For foodie autumn UK stays built around one of the county's great events, this countryside stay is the place to base yourself. Book early — festival weekend is always in demand.
Planning a food festival weekend? Check availability and book direct.
Related reading
For a meal out while you're here, The Queen's Head at Bramfield is ten minutes from The Firs.
Comments