FAQs

Christchurch has an excellent road network and car parking, however over the Festival weekend with 50,000 extra visitors to the town, it is strongly recommended to leave your car at home or park at a distance and get a bus or train into the town.

Yellow Buses
Yellow Buses have a number of routes into Christchurch and they have an interactive route planner and map for the festival here: Yellow Buses Route Planner

Wilts & Dorset More Buses
Wilts & Dorset More Buses have the X1 and the X2 which run from Bournemouth to Lymington via Christchurch and stop at the same locations in Christchurch as above. To check out the times of these buses see their website.

Trains
Trains – there are up to 5 trains an hour stopping at Christchurch Station, which is a 10 minute walk from the town centre. This is a perfect way to travel if you are coming from very close by at Pokesdown, Bournemouth, Hinton or New Milton as well as those visitors travelling from further afield.
To get to the town centre, as you come out of the train station turn left into Stour Road, and then right at the junction into Bargates. Follow this road to the town centre and take the underpass to bring you up into the High Street.

Cycling

Why not take advantage of the existing cycle network and travel by bike to the Christchurch Food Festival? As well as using your own bike there is also the option of using Beryl Bikes. With numerous Beryl bays dotted around the town and prices from just 5p per minute, make a sustainable and green travel choice to get here

To find out more about how to hire a Beryl Bike please visit www.beryl.cc

To view all cycle routes in BCP click here

Car Parking
Car parking is at a premium during the Festival weekend and you are therefore strongly recommended to travel into the town via public transport or park further away and walk to come by ferry from Wick or Tuckton. We have organised a Park & Stride area at Stanpit Recreation Ground that is manned by the Air Cadets with a voluntary contribution that goes to them.

Saturday 28th August – 10.00 to 20.00

Sunday 29th August – 10.00 to 20.00

Bank Holiday Monday 30th August – 10.00 to 17.00

The Pop-up restaurant times can be found here:

Christchurch Food Festival Pop Up

There is disabled parking in all the town centre car parks, but it will be at a premium with so many visitors to the Festival.

The Festival is only on Christchurch Quay  this year which is easily accessible. However the Quay is all grassed and so could be difficult for a wheelchair if the grass is wet.

There will be toilets on the Quomps (Christchurch Quay) which will include disabled toilets.

We will be working closely with the Local Authority and Safety Advisory Group to ensure our plans adhere to any new or required regulations in order to deliver a safe event in light of COVID-19.

We are carefully monitoring all UK Government and Public Health England advice on these matters and we will follow their official guidelines relating to mass gatherings at the time of this year’s event, including any guidance on health and safety measures.

We will of course keep you updated via our website and social media so please do keep an eye on these for news in the run up to the event.

There will be fully trained professional first aiders on site in the High Street and on the Quomps all weekend. The nearest A&E Department is at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital in Castle Lane East, Bournemouth BH7 7DW which is about a 15 minute drive from the town centre.

The Christchurch Food Festival was originally organised to celebrate the Millennium and its success encouraged the voluntary organisers to make it an annual event. After 20 years organising the Festival, the majority of the volunteer committee decided to take a well-earned rest and the Festival has now been taken on by one of the committee members and local resident who also just happens to run Real Food Festivals, a food festival and food market business.

This ensures some continuity but also means that the event is in the hands of a business that has huge experience and understanding of what is required to stage a successful event. Part of our committment is to continue to support the Christchurch Food Festival Education Trust and 20% of our profits will be donated to the charity.

The Festival attracts vital tourism to the town and helps to pump money into the local economy. It enhances people’s experience of Christchurch, not simply raising the profile of the town but a greater awareness of the goods and services available within it.

For Christchurch, the Food Festival is an exciting and fast-growing culinary and business-led event.

The Festival’s charity – Christchurch Food Festival Education Trust – has gone from strength to strength and focuses on teaching healthy eating in local schools.

All stalls selling alcohol over the Festival weekend will be adopting the Challenge 25 policy.

So if you are lucky enough to look under 25 you will be asked to prove that you are aged 18 or over when you buy alcohol.

Only photo ID such as a driving licence, passport or proof of age card will be accepted.

For more information please visit the CHALLENGE 25 website

As much as we love dogs, the Quayside gets extremely busy during the festival which makes it very stressful for your dog so we recommend that you leave your pets at home. Guide and assistance dogs are, of course, welcome.