Scottish Food Events and Festivals: April 2019

We begin this month with our favourite culinary anthropologists KÜCHE, who celebrate the food culture of Japan in Art of Cooking. The event will look at the multi-sensory nature of the country’s cuisine, and the importance of the visual in Japanese food culture. 5 Apr, 7.30pm; MILK, 452 Victoria Rd, Glasgow; £18.50, tickets via tabl.com

Speaking of food with a strong visual component, sweets! Bonbon – The Sweet Treats Festival brings together a host of Scotland’s confectioners, chocolatiers and other dessert-peddlers for an afternoon of extremely sugary browsing. 7 Apr from 11am; The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh; £6, tickets via itison.com

Meanwhile, at the other end of the central belt there’s a very different opportunity to find yourself some new treats. My Big Fat Vegan Market is not the latest reality show from Netflix; rather, it’s a chance to peruse a whole host of vegan comfort food. Cakes! Pies! Cheeses! Chocolate! It’s all here, and there aren’t any animals involved! 7 Apr from 11am; The Briggait, 141 Bridgegate, Glasgow; £3, tickets via Eventbrite

Staying in Glasgow, the newly-opened Civic House Kitchen are marking their arrival with a whirlwind of community-minded events. The Kitchen are hosting free Friday lunchtime gigs throughout April, kicking off with Jessica Higgins of Vital Idles on 5 April and continuing with Robert Sotelo (Order of the Toad), Dioya and Irma Vep. The gigs kick off at 1pm and are free to all. If you’re more inclined towards making than watching, head to Civic House’s Saturday School for a Civic House Kitchen workshop on how to knock together tasty and easy vegan dishes. 13 Apr, 1-3pm; 26 Civic House, Glasgow; free, tickets via Eventbrite

Back in Edinburgh, there are a pair of vegan festivals to compare and contrast. The Scottish Vegan Festival (7 Apr) has a big venue – the Corn Exchange – and promises the chance to check out a host of vegan suppliers as well as catching some demos and workshops. The Edinburgh Vegan Festival (21 Apr), on the other hand, has a slightly bigger venue – Murrayfield Stadium – and promises the chance to check out a host of vegan suppliers as well as catching some demos and workshops. Just go for the one that best suits your diary, we suppose?

Next up, science! Edinburgh Science Festival returns this month, and as usual there’s a host of food-adjacent events on the bill. We’re particularly intrigued by The Science of the Sesh, not least because it has the word ‘sesh’ in the title. Wahey, lads lads lads, etc. It’s an evening of cocktail history, boozy experimentation and tasty drinks, so we’re on board. 6 Apr, 7.30pm; Summerhall, Edinburgh; £28, tickets via sciencefestival.co.uk 

Also piquing our interest is Spice of Life, which takes a look at the various scientific claims made for certain spices, and assesses the extent to which those claims are horseshit (12 Apr, 8pm; Pleasance, Edinburgh; £10-12, tickets via sciencefestival.co.uk). Oh, and Cheeseology – the Science Festival’s annual exploration of the science of cheese – returns for a fourth year. What new cheese facts await? Only one way to find out! 6 Apr, 8pm and 7 Apr, 2pm; Pleasance; £15, tickets via sciencefestival.co.uk 

And finally this month, it’s the return of Paisley Food and Drink Festival. The 2019 edition of the festival will feature more than 30 traders and vendors, plus a dedicated vegan area and a beer tent from CAMRA. Also, most of this is outdoors – either that’s very ambitious, or this ‘summer’ we’ve been hearing about is just around the corner. 26-27 Apr, full details at paisley.is