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Festival\u2011goers can look forward to a packed programme including live cookery demonstrations in the Festival Kitchen from guest and local chefs, an artisan food and drink market, vintage tractor displays, live music and hands\u2011on activities for all ages. Family entertainment will be at the heart of the day, with children\u2019s crafts, planting activities, walkabout performers and the return of popular festival favourites.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of the event, the Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Gillian McCollum, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Comber Earlies Food Festival is a fantastic celebration of one of our most iconic local products and the people who grow it. Events like this showcase the strength of our local food and drink sector, while creating a fun, welcoming day out for families and visitors alike. I\u2019m delighted to see the festival return once again as part of Taste Summer in Ards and North Down.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
To help visitors travel to the event sustainably and with ease, free Event Shuttle Buses will operate on the day, connecting Bangor, Newtownards, Dundonald Park and Ride, Downpatrick, Crossgar, Saintfield and Ballygowan with Comber. No booking is required and the service operates on a first\u2011come, first\u2011served basis.<\/p>\n
The Comber Earlies Food Festival forms part of Taste Summer in Ards and North Down, a wider programme of food\u2011focused events and experiences taking place across the borough throughout June, celebrating local producers, hospitality businesses and the area\u2019s rich food culture.<\/p>\n
New for 2026, a\u00a0quiet hour\u00a0will be introduced from\u00a010am\u201311am each day,\u00a0welcoming\u00a0people\u00a0with a disability, neurodiverse conditions,\u00a0carers\u00a0and parents\/guardians.\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0After this quiet hour, the event will officially open at 11am\u202fwith a fun-filled programme running through to 5pm.<\/p>\n
Further information on the Comber Earlies Food Festival, including shuttle bus routes and accessibility details, and the full Taste Summer in Ards and North Down programme is available at\u00a0visitardsandnorthdown.com\/TasteSummer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The much\u2011loved Comber Earlies Food Festival will return this summer, Saturday 20 June, 11am \u2013 5pm, once again taking centre stage as a flagship event within Taste Summer in Ards and North Down, 17-28 June the borough\u2019s annual celebration of local food and drink. Taking place in Comber Leisure Centre Carpark, the free, family\u2011friendly festival … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25107,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25105\/revisions\/25107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}