Shrewsbury Food Festival will not return. Its organisers say rising costs, Martyn's Law and tighter household budgets make the June event in the Quarry unviable.

Shrewsbury Food Festival has come to an end. The organisers, Shropshire Festivals, announced on Thursday 15 October that the June event in the Quarry will not return. They said rising costs have made it unviable.

The statement was signed by Beth and Sid Heath, who own Shropshire Festivals. It was published as A Fond Farewell to Shrewsbury Food Festival on the festival’s own website.

“After delivering thirteen successful food festivals in the Quarry since 2013, we are heartbroken to announce that Shrewsbury Food Festival has come to an end,” they wrote.

The last festival was held on 27 and 28 June 2026. In March it was named Tourism Event/Festival of the Year at the 2026 West Midlands Tourism Awards, the third year running it had won that award.

Why it is ending

The owners said the festival “can’t continue in the current economic climate”. Their statement gives these reasons:

  • infrastructure, staff and fuel costs have all risen since the pandemic
  • their suppliers’ costs have risen too, and are passed on
  • visitors have less disposable income
  • compliance costs are higher, including the extra security required under Martyn’s Law
  • the festival gets no council funding, and the company pays the council to rent the Quarry

Martyn’s Law is the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. It places security duties on the organisers of larger public venues and events.

The owners said the only way to keep going would be a large rise in ticket prices. “It is simply not viable to keep running it unless the ticket prices significantly increase, and we don’t believe the public currently has that disposable income to spend,” they wrote.

They also answered a suggestion they say they hear often: halve the price and twice as many people will come. Twice the crowd, they said, means more security, toilets, admissions staff and waste collection, so many costs double too.

They ruled out merging with another event. “The way forward for us would never be to join forces with one of those loss-making events,” the statement said.

“We can’t keep breaking our backs for months every year and then roll the dice on whether Shrewsbury Food Festival will wipe its own face,” it went on. “For a small, independent, family-run business, it is simply too big a gamble.”

Crowds watching the Chef Demo Stage marquee at Shrewsbury Food Festival in the Quarry, with food stalls behind
The Chef Demo Stage at Shrewsbury Food Festival in the Quarry. Photo: via Shropshire Festivals

Who it affects

The owners said they knew the decision would have a knock-on effect on the festival’s exhibitors, sponsors, chefs, suppliers, performers and bands. They also named the lost trade for Shrewsbury’s hotels, restaurants, shops, cafés and pubs over the festival weekend.

The festival had billed itself as a two-day event with two chef stages, two live music stages and more than 180 food, drink and retail exhibitors, according to its home page. The farewell statement says it brought “hundreds of thousands of people into the town centre” over its lifetime.

What happens to Shropshire Festivals

The company is not closing. The owners said it is “removing our biggest business risk” to concentrate on its other work.

They said Shropshire Festivals will keep running major public festivals, running events for councils around the county, putting on private and hospitality events for businesses, and offering consultancy. Its own website still lists Shropshire Oktoberfest, Shropshire Petal Fields, Shropshire Business Festival and the Shropshire Tasty Trail among its events.

What it means for you

  • The June 2027 dates will not happen. The festival’s FAQ page still showed Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 June 2027 when we checked on 16 October. The farewell statement replaces it.
  • No 2027 tickets had gone on sale. The same page said tickets would be “available to purchase soon”, so there should be nothing to refund. If you bought anything from Shropshire Festivals that you think was for 2027, contact the company at fun@shropshirefestivals.co.uk.
  • Traders who were waiting to apply for 2027 can stop waiting. The FAQ said exhibitor applications for 2027 would “open soon”; they will not.
  • The Quarry’s last weekend of June is now open. Whether another organiser books it is for the council that rents out the park. No replacement event has been announced.

For other events in the county, see our things to do in Shropshire and what’s on this month pages.