Scottish Food & Drink Events: October 2018

October marks the one-month point in the voting in The Skinny Food and Drink Survey for this year – we've already heard from hundreds of you, now we want the rest of you to spill the beans about your favourite places to go. Hell, tell us about your favourite beans, those can be hard to get right. Cast your votes!

Now that's out of the way, we get things underway with a pop-up night of Mexican culinary delights courtesy of The Vegeteria. Expect three courses of meatless Mexican magic; it's BYOB, and also a great opportunity to show your support for Kinning Park Complex, an important part of the Glasgow arts ecosystem that is currently getting back on its feet after a break-in earlier in the summer. 5 Oct, 6.30-9.30pm, 43 Cornwall St, Glasgow; tickets £15

The Edinburgh Coffee Festival returns for a fourth outing this month, with a day of talks, demos, cuppings, stalls and enough caffeine to give a headrush to anyone passing within 100 yards of the building. The talks cover everything from sustainability in coffee production to upping your latte art game. The whole event is designed to be a zero-waste affair (bring your reusable cups!) and there's also the Scottish Aeropress Championships to check out while you're at it. 6 Oct, 10am-6pm, Corn Exchange, 10 New Market Rd, Edinburgh; tickets £7-9

Over in Glasgow, things get extremely tasty at Scot-tober Fest. The day-long pour from Grunting Growler brings together six Scottish breweries, each launching brand-new beers at the event – check out the top-notch sours from Vault City, the craft takes on lager from Eyeball, and whatever latest magic Out of Town Brewery have wrangled from their "scrounged, swapped for and borrowed" brewing equipment. 6 Oct, 10am-10pm, 51 Old Dumbarton Rd, Glasgow

We love it when food isn’t *just* food; when it has something to say other than ‘yum yum yum I’m so delicious’. Therefore, Word Buffet! – an intriguing mix of supper club, political discussion and educational opportunity – is right up our alley. Corn on the cob, acid house and radical politics? Sign us the hell up. 1, 8 and 15 Oct, 6pm, Glasgow Autonomous Space, 53 Kilbirnie St, Glasgow; free, donations appreciated  

Meanwhile in Dundee, it's time for science! Street Food, part of Dundee's new Festival of the Future, sees Dundee University science researchers team up with local food and drink producers to take a peek at what our food might look like in a few years' time. Will there be microbes, lab coats and hitherto-untapped if somewhat gnarly sources of meat on display? Only one way to find out! 18 Oct, 6-8pm, Discovery Centre, Dundee; tickets £5

Also this month is the return of the Scottish Vegan Festival. Expect animal-free stalls of all kinds as far as the eye can see, with the festival once again hitting the frankly enormous Corn Exchange for a day of veggie niceness. 20 Oct, 10.30am-5pm, 10 New Market Rd, Edinburgh. 

And finally, it’s time to down tools, stop everything, and fill your pockets and/or faces with cake. Treat Fest is the first event from the Edinburgh Treat Makers Collective of bakers and cake maestros, promising a host of “experimental, new, exciting and one-off bakes.” Given that one of the Collective’s members is Tasty Buns – last seen making Buffalo Chicken and Blue Cheese scones for their semi-regular Sconefest – we are both intrigued and salivating. 21 Oct, 11am-5pm, The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh; tickets £3