Despite the bad weather, many showed up at the weekend at the new street food event in Inverness.
Organisers of the Highland Food and Drink Trail hosted the event in the city where passersby and visitors could sample tasty food from the north.
Set beside the river, hundreds of people were served high quality Highland street food from noon until 6pm on Saturday February 5.
The event involved three local street food vendors and was held beside the River Ness next to Inverness Cathedral.
Creating an ‘incredible’ buzz on social media
Douglas Hardie, director at Highland Food and Drink Trail, said that despite the awful weather, he was “absolutely delighted” with how the day went.
He said: “We wanted a wee soft launch just to see if all the set up works and all the electric works and everything like that and also just to get a feel for people’s response.
“The feedback was immense.
“The buzz on social media has been incredible. So many of the vendors have said that they’ve never had such an increase in following in 24 hours ever.
“And of course that creates conversation and a buzz mostly from people who missed it and who are looking forward to the next thing.”
A few hundred people turned up to sample street food at the Inverness event on Saturday with Mr Hardie adding if the weather had been better, that number was expected to be a few thousand.
Haggis gnocchi, keen foodies and ‘fantastic’ dogs
Food that featured comprised of Oregano Mobile Catering’s haggis stuffed gnocchi, a Uist king scallop bap from The Redshank and a pulled barbeque jack fruit burger from Ollie’s Pops.
Mr Hardie, who also co-owns Bad Girl Bakery, said that the vendors were carefully chosen for their sourcing of local produce and high skills.
“All three people out there, they were deliberately chosen because the stuff they do is absolutely fantastic.”
Talking about highlights from the day, he added that he spoke to a couple who came back hours later for a second round.
He said: “What they really wanted to do was come back and buy more so that felt to me like one of those little moments where the feedback is real. That they enjoyed it so much they went back for more.”
Mr Hardie said another highlight was the dogs. He said: “I probably shouldn’t say the dogs but it’s a fantastic place for dog walkers and there’s some amazing dogs along there.”
‘It showed people what was possible’
The Trail has been in the concept stage for nearly two years and was set up as a response to challenges faced by the pandemic, Brexit and long-term town centre decline.
Since the launch on Saturday, many people are coming forward wanting to be involved.
Mr Hardie said: “I think it showed people what was possible, both the vendors and the public.
“Our job right now is to sit down and put together a programme of what it is going to look like.”
The Trail’s aim is to have an almost permanent street food presence in Inverness by summer so that it becomes a constant presence in the city.
While the focus was very much on the food produced yesterday and the street vendors, there have been a lot of people involved in the launch. These include collaboration with agencies, the Highland Council, sponsors, vendors and people who have supported the idea and launch.
Mr Hardie added: “We’ve also got people who have just pushed and pushed and pushed and wrangled and ducked and dived and done whatever is necessary to make this happen. So I personally am very, very grateful for all of them for all the working behind the scenes.”
For more information and upcoming events, visit the Highland Food and Drink Trail on Facebook.
