Swanage Fish & Food Festival JUNE 2026

🗓️ Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th June 2026

Swanage Fish & Food Festival returns for its 11th year this June at its new venue of Sandpit Field.

  • Crispy chilli squid street food
  • Filleting & cooking demonstration by Julia Noone
  • Surf-n-turf paella at Swanage Fish Festival
  • Fresh crab by Swanage Bay Fish
  • Fresh lobster display

Enjoy browsing the food stalls and sampling locally-sourced fish, seafood and drink, all overlooking Swanage Bay. Plus, learn some new tips and tricks with cookery demonstrations from local chefs.

And there’s fun for children at the Little Fishes area, with fishy-themed games, crafts, song and story time. Kids are encouraged to come in fancy dress!

This family-friendly festival is completely free to attend and will have live music across the weekend.

Timings

  • Saturday 13th June: 11am – 7pm
  • Sunday 14th June: 11am – 4pm

Food & Demonstrations

Sample the best seafood the area has to offer, buy freshly-caught fish and try new ways of cooking your favourite dish.

But it’s not just fish – there’s plenty of options to suit every palate and dietary need, with sweet treats such as pancakes and ice cream too.

Filleting & cooking demonstration by Julia Noone

Cooking Demonstrations

Learn tips, tricks and culinary secrets from the pros at the Fish Festival’s live food demonstrations by trained chefs from a range of local restaurants and food producers.

2025 highlights included Julia Noone (Swanage Bay Fish), David Hoare (The Pig on the Beach), Giuseppe Sinaguglia (Olive Tree Cookery School) and Claire Burnet (Chococo).

Posh fish finger butties
Vol-au-vents at Swanage Fish Festival
Seabass & crab ciabatta sandwiches
Freshly cooked seafood paella
Cooking a vegetarian paella
Seafood platters & picnics
T
Fresh cockles & prawns
Fresh lobster, crab and Belvoir drinks at Swanage Fish Festival
Sign for scallops, seabags & fresh handpicked crab
Purbeck Ice Cream at Swanage Fish Festival
Pizza and food stalls at Swanage Fish Festival
Thai food at Swanage Fish Festival
Fudge stall
Shanty Seaweed Botanical Vodka
Salad boxes by Swanage Bay Fish
Sealife tattoos and kids' activities
Guess the weight of the crab
  • Stallholders: To book a stall at the Fish Festival, email stalls@swanfishfest.com

Entertainment

Enjoy live music across the weekend, with local bands and solo artists performing on stage – all giving their time for free to support the festival and help raise funds for its charities.

There’s fun for kids too, with stalls to spend pocket money and learn more about local sea life and the fun Little Fishes area just for kids.

Live Music Line-Up

Live music in 2025 included:

  • Andrew Cannon
  • Keith Lockett
  • Swanage Jazz MAchine
  • Sea Fury
  • Bruce Evans
  • Kelp!
Swanage Fish Festival live music

Little Fishes

This ‘fin-tastic’ area is perfect for the festival’s younger visitors, where you’ll find:

  • Craft activities – create your own colourful sea creatures
  • Fun fishy-themed games
  • Storytelling sessions with Swanage Library

Artistan Tent

New for 2025 was the Fish Festival Artisan Tent, with stalls from local makers and producer.

Pitches can be booked via the Fish & Food Festival website: swanfishfest.com/bookyourstall

Supporting Local Charities

You can help the festival support local charities by purchasing merchandise from a stall, getting involved in activities and by buying raffle tickets or giving a donation.

Swanage Coastwatch

The Fish Festival raises money for the Fishermen’s Mission, the National Coastwatch Institution (Swanage) and Swanage RNLI.

RNLI and Swanage Coastwatch charity stands
Fishermen's Mission charity stall at the Swanage Fish Festival

For full information visit Swanage Fish Festival’s Facebook page or website: swanfishfest.com.

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