Get your claws on many fishy dishes

Families can enjoy a weekend of food, entertainment and fishy delights as the Barbican and Sutton Harbour come alive for Plymouth’s Seafood Festival.

A huge array of stalls with freshly caught seafood, mainly from our own harbour, will be on display at the Quayside Market on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September. Situated on The Parade and Quay Square there will a huge selection available including oysters, sushi and the more traditional catch.

Deputy Leader of Plymouth City Council, Peter Smith, said: “The Plymouth Seafood Festival is one of the final events of the Ocean City Festival, which has been extremely popular.

“Earlier in the year Plymouth was the first city in the world to achieve the Fish2Fork, Blue City status for our commitment to sourcing sustainable fish. We are also one of the few cities that has a harbour right on our doorstep and most of the fish you will see would have been caught locally – maybe even the same day, making it the freshest fish around. The festival is our way of celebrating how unique Plymouth is and what fantastic produce we can offer.”

To add to the festival feel the area will be buzzing with live family entertainment with music from the Tavy Tars Shanty Band, puppet shows, face painting and a sea themed colouring wall. The popular Jonty Depp, also known as Captain Jack Sparrow, will also be amongst the crowd.

Dan the fishman will also be making an appearance with his fish barrow and will be running free kids cookery fish workshops throughout the festival, or hear tales from our local fishermen about their ’catch’ experiences. Ben Squire and Sid the Squid will be at The Parade on Sunday 28 September at 3pm to show the ‘Catch of the Day’ and explain the fishing methods used.

In the heart of The Parade there will be a cookery theatre where visitors to the festival can watch local and celebrity chefs making a range of mouth-watering dishes served in Plymouth’s cafes and restaurants using seafood fresh from the boats. 

Chefs taking part in the demonstrations include James Tanner from the Barbican Kitchen, Mitch Tonks from Rockfish, Stephane Beneteau from The Glassblowing House and Kevin Robertson-Wells from Rhodes@the Dome.

From Friday 26 to Sunday 28 September a number of seafood cafes and restaurants in Plymouth’s waterfront will be offering special deals on some of their freshest and more sustainable seafood dishes.

Children can get active with the ‘Little Nippers Crabbing Contest’. Check in at 1pm on the Sunday at the Boathouse Café and go crabbing. A fee of £6 will include a crab line, bait and bucket. The crabs caught will be weighed at 3pm and a prize for the winner and two runners up will be awarded.

During Saturday a recreation of the tall ship The Clove will sail into Sutton Harbour as part of the Japan400 celebrations being organised by Plymouth University. The arrival of The Clove is one of a series of events being staged around the city to mark the anniversary of the first UK trade mission to Japan, which concluded when John Saris and his ship The Clove arrived in Plymouth on September 27 1614.

The ship will be greeted by senior dignitaries, including ministerial representatives from both countries on Saturday between 1pm and 2pm.

Visitors will be able to take a step back in time, walk the decks and meet Captain Saris as the history is brought back to life. The ship is open to the public from 2pm and 5pm on Saturday and 10am and 3pm on Sunday.

In addition, and to keep the Japan400 theme going, Mr Ishii, from the Umu restaurant in London, will be making a special appearance in the Cookery Theatre at 2.15pm on Saturday 27 September.

If you can’t make the weekend why not come a day earlier or stay a day later and experience a unique ‘Sea to Plate’ adventure with Graze&Flavour. This trail provides a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Sutton Harbour Fish Market and meet the Harbour Master as he sets the scene for a day of fishing and tuck into your own catch.

For more information about the Cookery Theatre and entertainment timings visit www.visitplymouth.co.uk.