The Scottish Festival of Real Bread Returns to Fife

Scotland’s only festival dedicated entirely to Real Bread is back for its second year at Bowhouse in St Monans on Saturday 24th February. The festival is organised by award-winning local charity Scotland The Bread and rounds off Real Bread Week.

The festival welcomed almost 1,000 people last year and this February expects to attract even greater numbers with a line-up packed with events championing those who produce Real Bread, from soil to slice, and that cater to those who value its place on the table.

The programme includes activities for every visitor, from Real Bread newbies wanting to learn how to make the most of their breadmachine, to creatives keen to see grain in a new artistic light during cyanotype photography workshops or straw weaving sessions, to children who can get hands-on making sourdough flatbreads and have a blast threshing and milling grain at The Big Thrash.

This year’s new Festival Marquee will host two exciting productions. In the morning there will be a rare performance of The Breadagogues’ glowingly reviewed show ARISE! Songs & Stories for the Bread Revolution, which last played to a sold-out audience at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2023. After lunch the marquee will host the Scottish premiere of Six Inches of Soil, followed by a panel discussion. This feature-length documentary film tells the inspiring story of young British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food - to heal the soil, our health and provide for local communities.

On the Main Stage there will be an introduction to Nourish Scotland’s ambitious new Public Diners campaign, exploring the creation of infrastructure for a Good Food Nation, with a discussion of the central role The People’s Bread deserves in that vision. This will be led by Pete Ritchie, Director of Nourish Scotland, alongside Lyndsay Cochrane from The People’s Bread project, Professor Wendy Russell (The Rowett Institute) and community bakers from Glasgow and Perthshire.

The prize-giving of the Scottish Bread Championship is a festival highlight, which this year will be presented by Chris Young, Coordinator of the Real Bread Campaign and author of Slow Dough: Real Bread. The championship is Scotland’s only Real Bread competition, attracting increasing numbers of entries from professional and amateur bakers across the country.

For those looking for advice on making their own Real Bread there will be plenty of opportunities to pick up tips and ask questions in the demo area, and behind-the-scenes tours of Scotland The Bread’s low-energy mill will run throughout the day for groups curious to learn more about this organisation’s unique flour.

The market area will see a communal Real Bread stall selling a wide variety of loaves from different bakeries, alongside artisanal food stalls for visitors to browse for food to eat on-site or ingredients to stock up on to continue their Real Bread journey when they get home.

Scotland The Bread chairman and co-founder of the Real Bread Campaign, Andrew Whitley, notes: “The tide is turning against Ultra-Processed Food and people are keen to get access to additive-free food grown without nature-harming chemicals. Bread isn’t called ’the staff of life’ for nothing. It’s still at the heart of many diets and the Festival gives everyone an opportunity to exercise their right to good food, starting with our daily bread. Once you’ve tasted the real thing – where it comes from, how easy it is to make it yourself, why it needs to be available to everybody – there’s no turning back!”

The Scottish Real Bread Festival is free to enter, though some events are ticketed (prices vary from free to £10) and donations to support Scotland The Bread’s work are encouraged. More information can be found on the event page here and tickets can be pre-booked here.