Namur to host Wallonia’s first food festival

The W Food Festival will be held next summer at Namur Citadel. Organised by Wallonia chef collective Generation W, the event will be a showcase of the region’s gastronomy, honouring its chefs and their local suppliers.

The public is invited to discover their cuisine. On the weekend menu: show cooking, demonstrations, workshops and activities for all the family. The Monday is reserved for professionals and students in the first Wallonia international gastronomy congress, with guest chefs from abroad.

As well as masterclasses, there will be workshops for students. For this first edition, artisan beers from Wallonia’s microbreweries have been chosen as the flagship product. Entrance price is fixed at €5 and a family pass is planned.

There will be an additional charge to taste chefs’ dishes, but these will remain affordable in keeping with the philosophy of the event. Led by the media-savvy two-Michelin-star chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre, Generation W has been championing the region’s culinary and artisan talent in a series of national and international events.

One of its missions is to transform Wallonia into a food-lover’s destination. Another is to place artisans centre stage. One of the collective’s founding fathers, chef Jean-Luc Pigneur, says, “Our philosophy is that the chefs are really there to show off the producer, as we’ve perhaps forgotten that we are reliant on their produce.” Generation W also pledges to encourage culinary exchange and innovation, so one of the event’s highlights will be the Smart Gastronomy Lab.

www.generationw.be