Taste the New Forest in August

The summer holidays are underway and the sunniest Bank Holiday of the year, August is a great time to kick back, relax and enjoy the delights of our food and drink in the New Forest. 

It’s the perfect time to gather up the kids or get together with your best friends and head to the New Forest for a dream staycation, or just an amazing day trip.

If you’re adventurous, grab some action with our exciting adventure activities - watersports, archery, axe-throwing, high ropes and so much more, in the New Forest - and make sure you fill yourself up before you go with breakfast from a local cafe, or refuel after a day of fun by diving into dinner at a local pub or restaurant in the evening! Visit our brilliant visitor attractions, most of which have their own tempting cafes or restaurants on site, where you can also enjoy some delicious local food. Head to our beautiful pub gardens, or treat yourself to the finest food and drink on stunning terraces at local restaurants. Plus, we cater for everyone here in the New Forest, including Vegetarians and Vegans, with lots of options whatever your dietary requirements at our pubs, restaurants and cafes. 

Think ahead and order a local hamper, full of incredible local produce, to take into the forest with you on a walk, or pack it up safely inside your bag to enjoy on a pit stop on a bike ride exploring the beautiful New Forest. From traditional picnics to speciality hampers, there are loads of options to choose from when ordering from local New Forest hamper businesses, such as The Forest Foodie. August is a great time of year to admire the bright purple heather and free roaming wildlife on a picnic in the New Forest, or take your hamper to the coast and enjoy the fresh air by the seaside.

Book onto an unforgettable dining experience this summer with Ritual Feast! Creating fire cooked banquets in beautiful, secret locations in the New Forest, it is a truly unique activity. With inspiration from Argentinian asado and flavours drawn from Latin America and Asia, it'll be a sensational way to experience food & drink locally in the New Forest. With selected dates in August, as well as in June and July, make sure you book in advance.

What food is better enjoyed on a sunny summer day than juicy berries? Our local farms across the New Forest grow berries every year, for people to buy from local shops to enjoy at home, or on New Forest picnics, and for local eateries to include in their dishes, especially in their light, fruity desserts. You can even take a trip to some local farms and enjoy picking your own berries from the rows and rows of the sweet delights across their fields, including raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries and more. 

If you want to get even more authentic with your fruit picking, enjoy some foraged delights by booking onto a local foraging walk with the experts, where you can enjoy the beautiful sights of the New Forest while learning about and even picking some fruit from the wild. Please note, foraging whilst being unattended by experts is discouraged, especially for mushrooms, but also for berries too.

There are loads of ways you can enjoy food and drink in the New Forest in August - support our local businesses and enjoy fantastic local events. 

With Local Hampers in mind, our Local Produce Personality of the Month in August is Flora at The Forest Foodie.

Our Hospitality Personality of the Month for August is TBC.

Take a look below to find out more about fun in the New Forest in the summer holidays and August Bank Holiday, local hampers, picnics, berries, foraging, Flora at The Forest Foodie and our August Hospitality Personality of the Month (TBC), plus loads more foodie ideas and events taking place in August in the New Forest.