I went to the first Leith Food Festival and I'm still digesting the experience

That’s because I can’t stand queues and I’m also not into eating al-fresco. Give me instant gratification, plates and a roof.

I can’t say I enjoy cooking demonstrations either. They taunt me. I don’t like watching dishes being created, and not getting to eat everything at the end.

Anyway, I don’t know how they managed to tempt me along to the inaugural Leith Food Festival, which takes place on the last weekend in May.

Oh, actually, I do, they invited a colleague and she couldn’t make it, so I bagged her spot.

It’s a week down the line since my visit, the grass is recovering as the circus has long left town, and this is how I feel about last weekend’s experience.

1. How brilliant to have something like this on my doorstep. I know there’s the Leith Gala Day on June 13, but this was a nice little amuse bouche, especially as the turnout was impressive. There were queues to get in. I thought it might be quiet, but it seems that Leithers will turn up to the opening of an envelope, even though there was an admission charge.

2. The dog attendance was also amazing. In other parts of towns, there would be nothing but cockapoos called Archie. Down here, there were Chinese cresteds, staffies, three corgis and even a Great Dane. They were having a wonderful time and I saw one pup actually sucking some spilled street food sauce off the grass. Anyway, the organisers must have anticipated this canine population, as they had an actual dog show, with a prize for waggiest tail. The crowd of proud ‘pawrents’ was so dense that I could only see the tips of the contestants’ canine ears.

3. No seagulls. They are usually enthusiastically bin raking for chips and unfinished meal deals on Leith Links, so I’m surprised they didn’t descended on this festival. I’m sure they’re just eyeballing the area and drawing up battle plans on how to approach next year’s shindig. Or, perhaps all the dogs are seagulls wearing costumes. That would explain the grass sucking.

4. It turns out that the organisers of this event are based in Yorkshire, and it tours the UK. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it was generally very well organised, especially when it came to bins, kids’ activities and seating, but the Scottish street food vendors were slightly thin on the ground. At least I recognised our very own Smoked Tamago, who won the Scottish Street Food Awards 2025, and Fifers Ko:te. However, there weren’t that many others. They’re probably all at their usual pitch at The Pitt. When I’m at a food festival, to my great shame, I often choose portion volume over all else. Today was no exception. I had just done two exercise classes, and I wanted the smoked sausage and butter chicken poutine. We had to wait half an hour for it though. See. Food festivals.

5. The same goes for the producers. Quite a few random UK ones, but also a scattering of Scottish goodies. Still, I will not discriminate when it comes to small and free cubes of cheese. I ate the English ones too. We fell upon them like shipwrecked sailors, then put the used toothpicks in our pockets, to prod us in the hip later. I also had my memorable first bite of Selkie butter, which contains dulse and kelp from the West Coast of Scotland and Edinburgh Butter Company wares. It was gorgeous. My other half very much enjoyed the Hott. sauces, and got the sweats after sampling a tiny dot of their Jalapeno, Lime and Mezcal number, though it only rated a 3/10 on the heat scale. What a lightweight. I thought about buying a bag of tablet from one stall, but it was £7.50.

6. In contrast to the street food and producer elements, they’d packed the Cookery Tent with local talent. We had Barry Bryson of Barry Fish doing his charismatic and debonair thing, along with Sarah George from The Palmerston, Sharif Gergis from Mirin, Scott Smith from Blank Plate Creative and Theo Pantazis from Krema Bakehouse.

7. We also ordered a cocktail each from Yorkshire trader Boston & Hawthorne. Two apricot and pineapple mezcal margaritas. They are generous with the measures. That mezcal was being poured like it’s coming out of one of the Ross Fountain’s lion heads. I like their style, though one of these salty rimmed plastic cups worth each will be quite enough, thank you very much.

8. After my drink, we accidentally end up in the kids’ tent, where The BarrowBand are playing the last song of their set. They have a sort of singing barrow of vegetables and fruits, with kiwis and carrots that jiggle and clatter. I love it more than the five-year-olds do. They sing about broccoli, which thankfully rhymes with “good for you and me”, “don’t mistake it for a tree” and “take some home for your tea” and they even manage to shoe-horn the word “phytochemicals” into the lyrics. On the main stage, there was more grown-up music, with Comhla doing Proclaimers and The Pogues hits, but I’m much more into the broccoli song.

9. I managed about two hours in the sunshine, before heading home. I may have been slightly converted. It was the Broccoli song and the mezcal that did it.

Read more: “I had an exciting first look at what will be Leith's coolest restaurant”

Read more: “I once worked in a mysterious cupboard at The Scotsman's huge Edinburgh building”

Read more: “The 'fun' and jolly Edinburgh deli that's opened in a former bicycle shop”

Read more: “I thought this busy Edinburgh street was a lunchtime desert, but this gem proved me wrong”

Read more: “The Scottish Baker of the Year awards are in, and they've inspired my best bakery crawl”