Norfolk and Suffolk’s harvest season takes centre stage at Home of the Harvest Feast
Suffolk + Norfolk
Home of the Harvest Feast
Visit East of England brought journalists and creators together at Adnams’ signature hotel, The Swan, Southwold, on Tuesday 29 September for the Home of the Harvest Feast, a celebration of the seasonal food, drink and businesses that make autumn a distinctive time to experience Norfolk and Suffolk.
Timed to coincide with Michaelmas – traditionally associated with harvest celebrations at the end of September –the event was conceived as a contemporary harvest feast, bringing food and drink from across the two counties together around one table.
Guests had a combined social following of more than 430,000, while attending journalists represented national travel and lifestyle titles including The Telegraph, The Observer, The Independent, Lonely Planet and National Geographic.
The menu was designed to give guests a taste of the region in autumn, showcasing ingredients alongside the farms, dairies, vineyards, smokehouses and hospitality businesses behind them.
Guests were welcomed with beer from Southwold-based brewer Adnams, before sitting down to dishes featuring produce from Fen Farm Dairy, Lane Farm Brundish Charcuterie, Gressingham Duck, Emmett’s of Peasenhall, Blythburgh Free Range Pork, Wangford Farm Shop and Pump Street Bakery, alongside locally foraged ingredients and wines from Flint Vineyard and Adnams.
Dishes included deep-fried Baron Bigod with black garlic and autumn truffle; roast rack of Blythburgh free-range pork with Emmett’s black pancetta, barley, pumpkin and apple compote; and a Pump Street 85% Ecuador chocolate delice with candied walnut, Fen Farm cultured cream and foraged damson coulis.
The autumn setting was also brought to life by Southwold Florists and The Southwold Flower Company, which provided seasonal florals for the event.
The Feast was a flagship activation within Home of the Harvest, Visit East of England’s autumn 2026 campaign, which is designed to showcase Norfolk and Suffolk beyond the traditional summer season and give visitors new reasons to experience the region in autumn.
The campaign draws on the natural rhythms of the season, from grape harvests, oyster and mussels season and seasonal produce to food festivals, changing landscapes and autumn wildlife.
Pete Waters, Executive Director at Visit East of England, said: “Michaelmas felt like exactly the right moment to bring Home of the Harvest to life. It has long been associated with celebrating the harvest, and at this time of year so much of what makes Norfolk and Suffolk special is happening at once.
Produce is coming in, vineyards and makers are busy, and the region’s food and landscapes take on a different character.
“The Feast gave us the opportunity to put that story on the table. Each course connected back to products and businesses from the region, giving journalists and creators a real taste of Norfolk and Suffolk in autumn.
“We hope that experience sparks curiosity about the places behind those products and encourages people to explore further, support more local businesses and spend longer in the region.”
Home of the Harvest is brought together under the creative platform Come Hungry – an invitation to discover Norfolk and Suffolk through its food and drink, and then explore the people, stories, landscapes and experiences behind them.
Alongside the Feast, the campaign includes a new four-day, three-night Home of the Harvest Trail Map. The Trail provides a ready-made route through both counties, travelling from Norfolk’s saltmarshes, orchards and coastline through the Broads and Norwich before crossing into Suffolk’s dairies, vineyards, market towns and coastal villages.
Experiences along the way include locally caught seafood at Brancaster Staithe, boating on the Norfolk Broads, visiting Fen Farm Dairy and Flint Vineyard, discovering Emmett’s Smokehouse and Pump Street Bakery, and sampling creek-grown oysters at Pinney’s of Orford.
Home of the Harvest sits within Naturally – A Welcome for All, Visit East of England’s wider destination platform for Norfolk and Suffolk. The platform aims to strengthen the shared identity of the two counties, encourage longer stays and spread visitor activity more widely across the region throughout the year.
The campaign has brought together a number of regional and creative partners, with Bird Global Advisory coordinating the wider Home of the Harvest projects, Studio AntiGravity developing the creative strategy and Come Hungry platform, LUYA leading PR and influencer activity, and MP&Co leading marketing activity.
