Since it’s launch in 2011, the Harwich Sausage Festival has become a favourite event for both locals and visitors alike. For many, an afternoon strolling around the historic pubs of this centuries old seaport enjoying quality real ale and sausages is as good as it gets and this year’s event is already looking to be very special with a remarkable line up of participating butchers.
The 2025 festival is on Saturday 1st November and will begin with the traditional sausage throwing competition (only out of date supermarket bangers used – no food is wasted) on Harwich Green. Everyone then moves on to the fantastic pubs within Historic Harwich where the serious business of tasting and judging the best sausages North Essex can offer begins to see which butcher will take the 2025 title.
This year the nine participating butchers are:
Smiths Butchers Brightlingsea, Pier Avenue Butchers Clacton-on-Sea, Shaws Farm Meats Dovercourt and Manningtree Markets, Becky’s Butchers Great Bromley, Chas Bower Holland-on-Sea, Frinton Road Butchers Holland-on-Sea, Ragmarsh Farm Shop Manningtree, Ramsey Master Butchers Ramsey and St Osyth Butchers St Osyth.
Richard Oxborrow from the Sausage sub committee, says, “This year’s line up of butchers is incredible and they all have a reputation for producing remarkable entries for the festival. The sausages available to be tasted will be of the highest quality and our historic pubs will ensure that the quality is matched by the real ale available to wash them down!”
The nine competition sausages will be available to be tasted in the Alma Inn, the New Bell Inn and the Stingray (three in each) and will be subject to a blind public tasting, the voting forms when completed being placed in the ballot boxes prior to the count and declaration in the New Bell Inn some time after 3PM. At this point, the butcher behind each of the sausages is revealed.
The annual ‘Sausage Fringe’ will also be part of the festival with further sausages available to be tasted in the Samuel Pepys, the Globe Inn and the Crown Post (Home of the Hanny). As an additional attraction, the Alma Inn will be providing a Black Pudding fringe on the day which the festival organisers are sure will prove very popular.
Colin Cheesman from the Sausage sub committee, says, “The Harwich Sausage Festival has created an atmosphere where the narrow streets of Historic Harwich are full of people strolling from pub to pub talking about real ale and sausages. I can think of few better ways to spend an afternoon and I’m sure this year’s event will be as well supported as ever.”
For further information please contact
Richard Oxborrow on 07920 874706
Image © Maria Fowler
L-R: Sausage Marshal Richard Oxborrow, Umpire Chris Griggs, and Sausage Marshal Colin Cheesman.