Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh will be at the Festival on both Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 August.

Hugh is a multi-award-winning writer and broadcaster known for his uncompromising commitment to seasonal, ethically produced food and his concern for the environment. He has earned a huge following through his River Cottage TV series and books, as well as campaigns such as Hugh’s Fish Fight and Hugh’s War on Waste.

His early smallholding experiences were shown in the Channel 4 River Cottage series and led to the publication of The River Cottage Cookbook (2001), which won the Glenfiddich Trophy and the André Simon Food Book of the Year award. Thirteen more books have followed, including the acclaimed River Cottage Meat Book and the immensely popular River Cottage Veg Everyday. Hugh’s latest book is River Cottage Much More Veg.

Hugh established River Cottage HQ in Dorset in 2004, and the operation is now based at Park Farm near Axminster in Devon. An organic smallholding, HQ is also the hub for a broad range of courses and events, and home to the River Cottage Cookery School.

Hugh’s broadcasting has earned him a BAFTA as well as awards from Radio 4, The Observer and the Guild of Food Writers. Besides more than 20 cookery-based series, Hugh’s TV work includes hard-hitting campaigns such as the highly influential Fish Fight, which brought about changes in fisheries law at the European level. His latest television projects, BBC’s Hugh and the Ivory War and Hugh’s Wild West, have also focused on the natural world.

Hugh continues to work as a journalist and wrote a weekly column for The Guardian between 2006 and 2014. He is a vice president of Fauna and Flora International and a patron of Switchback, a charity that helps young offenders find opportunities in the catering industry.

Hugh, his wife Marie and their four children divide their time between East Devon and Bristol.