Big Food Festival 2026 Recap | Free Street Food Festivals in Wales

Okay besties, deep breath. Last year we ran three street food festivals in Wales and thought we’d peaked. This year? SIX. Six weekends, five towns and a team of two based in Neath running round with walkie talkies and absolutely no sleep. Worth every single second.

Here’s how it all went down.

Big Food Festival Swansea Easter Special at the Waterfront Museum

We kicked off our 2026 season over Easter weekend on Museum Green, right by the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Four days of free entry, covered tables and some of the best street food in South Wales. But the day that surprised us the most? Bank holiday MONDAY. The sun came out, the picnic blankets came out with it and suddenly the whole green was full of families settling in for the afternoon. Live music playing, people dancing, kids running about. It turned into the loveliest family picnic and we did not want it to end. NICE Wines joined our bar that weekend too and stuck with us all summer.

Big Food Festival Brecon on the Promenade

Brecon. Oh, Brecon. Our first ever festival in the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) and you went ALL in. The sun was out, it was HOT and the crowds just kept coming. We still can’t get over how many of you packed onto the Promenade by the river over the late May bank holiday. The atmosphere was something else. At one point it got so warm the team gave up and jumped in the river. Zero regrets. Brecon, you were beaaautiful and we cannot wait to be back.

Big Food Festival Gnoll Country Park, Neath: Our First Birthday

June means one thing round here. Home! We went back to Gnoll Country Park in Neath, where Big Food Festival was born, to celebrate our very first birthday on the last weekend of June. Same gorgeous lakeside spot with even more traders, including brisket sandwiches from GNHM joining the family for the first time. Hensol G&T and Mortal Bunny joined the bar too. One year old and still a little bit emotional about it.

Big Food Festival Newport at Beechwood Park

Plot twist of the year. Newport was our first time at Beechwood Park and it ended up being our MOST visited festival of 2026. We did not see that coming at all. You drank the bar DRY and we were not ready for you, Newport. We teamed up with Newport Summer Sessions (run by Newport City Radio) for the music, Tiny Rebel brought along their brand new lager Yma O Hyd and you lot turned up in numbers we’re still processing. We owe you a massive thank you and an even bigger comeback.

Big Food Festival Aberystwyth at Penweddig

August took us on our longest road trip yet, all the way up to Aberystwyth the weekend before the bank holiday for our first ever festival in Ceredigion. We took over the Penweddig school grounds and transformed them into a full-scale street food festival, with a packed line-up of traders, our Welsh bar and loads of room for families and dogs. Mid Wales, you showed up for us and we felt the love.

Big Food Festival Swansea, Back at Museum Green

We closed the season where we opened it, back on Museum Green in September, one year on from the weekend the wind nearly took us out. Wales-based traders always get priority at BFF, because backing small and local Welsh businesses is the whole reason we exist. Ending the year surrounded by them in Swansea felt really special.

Thank You, Wales

Traders, thank you for trusting us with your weekends. Tiny Rebel, AU Vodka, NICE Wines, Hensol and Mortal Bunny, thank you for keeping the bar flowing. Thank you to the councils and venues who let us move in for a few days. A huge thank you to the whole BFF family who make every weekend happen. And to every one of you who came along, brought the dog, tagged your mates and shared our posts, this is all because of you.

What’s Coming for Big Food Festival in 2027?

We feel it in our bones that 2027 is going to be a BIG one. We’re planning nine free street food festivals, running from the end of March to the start of October. First up, we’re back on Museum Green in Swansea over Easter weekend. There may be a few brand new places on the list too, but our lips are sealed for now 🤐

Traders, the 2027 dates are already on our Join the Fam page, so get those applications in. Everyone else, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @bigfoodfestivaluk for announcements sooooon.

See you love you bye,
The BFF Team 💛

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