The London Coffee Festival

I am a lover of good coffee and champion (when I can) independent cafes serving quality roasted beans and perfectly brewed coffee. So, The London Coffee Festival is music to my ears. In it's second year and promising to be bigger and better than before, there are some great names lined up. Nude Espresso, Sacred, Caravan, espresso machine producers, food places, chocolate specialists, coffee roasting houses with all of their fine blends even Gelupo - which serves incredible ice cream. Please don't eat all of their delicious salted caramel before I get there.

The London Coffee Festival is the flagship event of UK Coffee Week (23-27 April). UK Coffee Week 2012 provides a unique opportunity for branded coffee chains, independent coffee shops and industry suppliers to collaborate and celebrate the success of the industry while giving back to an extremely worthy cause. A nationwide programme of charitable collections, in-store activities and public events will raise funds for Project Waterfall to deliver clean water projects in coffee-producing African countries.

So, more on the London event - Last year over  12,000 coffee lovers and food fanatics, professional baristas, coffee shop owners and industry experts gathered for a unique celebration - coffee.

This year promises to offer Street Food and Artisan Markets. You can learn about coffee through tastings and demonstrations, watch the UK Barista Championships (honestly) and enjoy live music throughout the themed zones – Hyde Park, Shoreditch, Soho, The Lab, The Showroom and The Growing Community.This is one event that shows London is truly on the coffee map of the world. Tickets are from £9.50 in advance (more expensive on the door).

The London Coffee Festival
27-29 April
Old Truman Brewery
Brick Lane - London

Click here for more information

The Great Brixton Bake Off

Brixton's on the up! Everywhere you turn, you'll read that Brixton is fast becoming the food destination of choice for South Londoners. At the heart of this revolution is Brixton Village - the new hub of it all with Federation Coffee, the fabulous Breads Etc and Thai favourite Kaosarn, just some of the fantastic food options that everyone is raving about. To celebrate this, Saturday April 28th sees the launch of the Great Brixton Bake Off which promises home baked cakes, bread, biscuits and fruit pies. Stalls by local bakers will be selling their wares and stall holders are all entered into the Bake Off competition.  I have read that there will be special celebrity guest judges (as yet unannounced) who will select the best bakes and present the prizes (sponsored by local department store Morleys). Sadly, I read about this too late and was not able to get myself together to take a stall. Shame!

Head to Station Road in Brixton -  the venue for the weekly market
Saturday, 28th April 2012 from 10am-5pm
Judging takes place at 1pm 
Nearest tube: Brixton

Read more about the Great Brixton Bake Off here