'Street Food Saturdays' coming to Kettering

Street food vendors will take over Kettering’s Market Place for one Saturday each month this summer after the success of a similar scheme just up the A6003.

Dominic Douglas, who owns Fly By Bars, brought his ‘Street Food Fridays’ concept to Corby’s West Glebe Park in 2021 with hundreds of visitors tucking into tasty bites.

It’s proved such a hit that he’s set to launch ‘Street Food Saturdays’ in Kettering as part of a partnership with Kettering Town Council, starting in July.

Dominic, who lives in Corby, said: "There’s going to be a community vibe – it’s going to bring traffic into the town.

“We’ll be bringing quality traders to Kettering and it’s really exciting.

"Kettering and Corby are big towns and they should have events like these.”

Each event in Kettering – on July 30, August 27 and September 24 – will see up to ten street food traders serve up mouth-watering eats from 11am to 7pm.

Vendors lined up to trade on certain dates include those offering tacos, Jamaican food, doughnuts, Indian snacks, vegan treats and more.

There will also be a pop-up bar with craft beers, ciders, frozen cocktails and more, with DJs, games and ‘lawn toys’.

The events come off the back of a huge food and drink festival in the Market Place in April which proved to be a success.

The Street Food Saturdays dates could also see a farmers’ market, alongside the general market, as an experiment to see whether it would attract new traders and customers.

Dominic has been working with Cllr Emily Fedorowycz (Green) to bring Street Food Saturdays to Kettering.

She wants to bring life to the Market Place – and she hopes members of the public will get involved to make them real community events.

She said: “These summer events will be more like community festivals compared to the previous events focused just on the food.

“We want to celebrate the people of Kettering, the great things going on here, and just bring people together for a bit of fun.

“The more people can get involved the better it will be and we want these events to be as inclusive as possible – all age ranges, backgrounds, cultures – having a real mix of people and ideas will make everyone feel welcome and represented.”

Cllr Craig Skinner (Con) added: "We are delighted to be bringing another maiden event to the heart of Kettering town centre in July, August and September.

"These events promise to be vibrant, interactive and community-oriented, alongside some excellent food and drink street food offerings.

"The general market will also be running throughout the town during these events and we are looking to supplement this with a farmers' market. I would urge everyone to get involved and come and support the events on what promises to be a great day.”

Each Street Food Saturdays event in Kettering this summer will have a theme. July 30 will be fun and games (street games, dance and more), August 27 will be a cultural celebration and September 24 will be ‘have a go’ (sports, arts and hobbies).

Those looking to get involved in each ‘community festival’ can sign up at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZklWTZjXvXODzYyuTnwEgYm7sOneoO8e-s7ji0CB2hi71cQ/viewform