We’re proud to share that our Food Festival theme for 2022 is Food for Thought – which is all about mental health and some of the steps we can all take to help improve it.
We’ve teamed up with Falmouth-based mental health charity Sea Sanctuary, one of the world’s leading exponents of blue health – the concept that ‘blue spaces’, such as the sea, are beneficial for people’s mental and emotional wellbeing.
Festival content
Our location in Porthleven provides lots of opportunities to share ways to improve your mental wellbeing by enjoying blue spaces, with all age groups. We’ll have content popping up across the Festival including gratitude spaces, mindfulness walks, breathing exercises and a quiet space with therapists on hand if you’d like to talk. We’ll also be linking into the fascinating area of gut health and how what you eat can also affect your mental wellbeing as well as linking into local groups to help our village and Festival community to tap into mental health support far beyond the Festival.
Time to think
Food Festival Chair Alec Short said: “This theme feels very timely. Everyone has had a tough two years and mental health is right at the top of the agenda, with many of us becoming much more aware that we need to take care of it. We had to cancel the 2019 Food Festival right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the theme for that was going to be ‘The Future’ but now that were in the future it felt like we should start afresh on the theme, alongside lots of changes to the Festival including bringing it back into the community.”
Blue health vibes
Georgia Lewis, fundraising manager at Sea Sanctuary said: “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to partner with Porthleven Food Festival as they welcome you all back for a weekend of delicious food and drink and a huge variety activities in 2022. Blue health is becoming a popular topic all over the world, with more discussion and research taking place to uncover exactly how so-called blue spaces – such as the sea or lakes – benefit our health and wellbeing.
“At Sea Sanctuary, we firmly believe the sea has a profound impact on mood and wellbeing and this is why it’s an integral part of our ethos, and the backdrop for all of our interventions, treatments, and services.As such, this year’s festival is the perfect setting to open up discussions about our mental health and wellbeing, learn more about blue health, as well as gut-health (after all, we are what we eat!) and discover the variety of services available to support you in Cornwall.
“All this, whilst being surrounded by the beautiful blue space that Porthleven has to offer, along with the Food Festival’s healthy and delicious food.”
The 2022 Festival will take place from April 22-24.
