The perfect food festival weekend in Malton...

Do you know when you have one of those perfect, quaint, English weekends that sets your heart aflutter with all things whimsical, scrumptious and restores your faith in community? Yes, well, that happened recently and I just couldn't wait to share it with you.

As you already know, we're big foodies, as well as lovers of travel and exploring the beauty we have on our doorstep and so I was glad to combine our biggest passions recently at Malton Food Festival.

Considering Malton is not that far from where I reside and it is in my beloved Yorkshire, you'd think I might have made my way over here before but other than passing through, I had not had the pleasure of exploring it previously.

Especially because every May, the town holds the most beautiful and perfect weekend of food, festival entertainment and delightfully quaint country pastimes.

It was resplendent in bunting (which you know I adore) and quirky little corners playing host to pop up bars. Sadly I couldn't enjoy the gin and tonic this time but I will make up for it next year. Even the interior decor shops, of which there are some stunners, played their part with Nine to Eleven promoting an Alice in Wonderland theme.

It was a baking hot weekend, with the sun bringing people out with big cheery smiles on their faces, but this very pregnant lady needed to cool things down a bit and luckily found the amazing Groovy Moo ice cream parlour in the quirky Talbot Yard, who change their flavours daily depending on what they have in stock. The staff were so incredibly friendly, as was everyone in the town during our visit, which really created a sense of community.

One of my favourite things was the cookery demonstrations in the beautiful historic Milton Hall which played host to famous chefs and food bloggers, such as one of my long time faves, Hanna Sillitoe.

I also adored Simi Rezai's take on traditional Iranian food, which I had little experience of before but I now know how to make Osh, which I can only describe as a fragrant, full to the brim of herby goodness and comforting broth.

We had a glorious time exploring the many food stalls here and being a frequenter of food festivals, I was delighted to see so many new food producers to explore. It was largely Yorkshire producers and growers which made it feel so local and community driven. The area boasts amazing foodie credentials so I knew we were in for a treat.

The entertainment kept the crowds going all day and night, with dusk bringing bars, music and street food stalls to life.

We were there as guests of the organiser, Tom Leyland-Naylor, and his family who are behind the Malton Estate and were the most charming hosts. It was one of my highlights, breaking bread with the family, the volunteers and chefs involved with the festival and we were treated to some real homemade delights. My favourites being the delicious 'Mexican Wedding Cakes' which were a cross between a scone and shortbread I thought. I must make these and share the recipe with you asap...

Malton itself has a lot of charming nooks to explore, including The Shambles which houses an eclectic mix of antiquity stores and there were no shortage of lovely shops to duck in and out of.

The last chef of the day to give a demonstration was Richard Burr from the Great British Bake Off and he entertained us with stories about Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, which amused us no end.

Getting to try the chefs food at the end of each demonstration was pretty good too...

 We explored every inch of the festival, sampling delicious morsels en route and quite frankly was full to bursting by the time we discovered NYC Kettlecorn but the curious sounding Dibble flavour drew us in. I won't spoil the surprise but if you visit, you must ask to try of this!

It was a lovely way to spend the weekend and next year I will be back with little one in tow, as it had such a nice family atmosphere.

We also couldn't resist a sneaky peek inside the Talbot Hotel's new exclusive use wedding venue and it was rather lovely. The flooring had a patina revealing its age and history, with the décor being tastefully country chic.

As the sun started to dip behind the clouds and the families started to drift home. the atmosphere shifted to create a convivial evening festival vibe.

As much as we wanted to stay, baby bump urged me to rest my weary feet and we sadly had to make our way home but I can genuinely say the town's strapline 'We Love Malton' summed up our experience quite nicely.

Have you ever visited Malton? Are you a food festival novice or veteran like us?