Portsmouth Foodguide is currently working behind the scenes with Portsmouth City Council to prepare a brand new guided Taster Tour experience for Southsea Food Festival 2026, with online bookings expected to launch soon ahead of this summer’s event.
Southsea Food Festival has grown into one of the South’s largest food festivals, attracting around 60,000 visitors each year alongside approximately 80 traders and independent businesses across the festival footprint. Returning on 4th and 5th July 2026 for its 18th anniversary, the event continues to play an important role in supporting Portsmouth’s independent food and drink sector.
Following feedback from previous festivals, organisers identified a growing interest from visitors wanting more opportunities to sample food from multiple traders throughout the event. As a result, Portsmouth Foodguide has now partnered with Portsmouth City Council to introduce a new guided Taster Tour concept for 2026.
The tours are currently being developed to offer visitors the opportunity to join small guided groups exploring different areas of the festival while stopping at selected traders and local businesses for tasting portions throughout the experience. Participating venues and traders will provide smaller sample dishes designed specifically for the new feature, giving visitors the chance to try a wider variety of food during the festival.
Portsmouth Foodguide will be responsible for organising and managing the tours, including selecting participating businesses, arranging menu options and creating experiences suitable for a range of dietary requirements including meat, vegetarian and vegan choices.
Current plans include running up to four tours per day across both festival dates, operating between 11am and 4pm, with each session expected to host groups of up to 15 people.
Alongside the tours themselves, Portsmouth Foodguide will also be promoting the tours on social media throughout the build-up to the festival, helping showcase the independent businesses taking part and encouraging visitors to explore more of Portsmouth’s local food scene during the event weekend.
The booking system for the Southsea Food Festival Taster Tours is currently being prepared and is expected to launch around when the festival launch event takes place on 4th June 2026, with additional announcements, participating venues/traders and further tour details to follow soon.
