The various Edinburgh festivals will be kicking off very shortly and the capital will, once more, be transformed into a giant playground for drama, comedy, music and all sorts of arty shenanigans.

If you can’t wait until the Fringe launches on the 7th of August, then you might want to head along to the Assembly George Square Gardens next week when the inaugural Edinburgh Food Festival will take place.

Running from Wednesday 29th July to Sunday 2nd August, the event is a collaboration between Visit Scotland, Event Scotland and Scotland Food and Drink. The aim is to spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s natural larder to both locals and visitors.

Street food

Over the five days, visitors can sample street food; meet and buy from local food producers as well as listening to a wide range of food related talks and discussions.

From ‘Honey the world’s natural wonder drug’ to ‘The enriching powers of Scotland’s natural seaweeds’, there are talks for all tastes and interests.

As always, a big shout out to Neil Forbes, top bloke and head pan rattler at Cafe St Honoré. Neil will be making a convincing and heartfelt argument for using local, seasonal produce.

Another one to look out for is the broadcaster, restaurateur and 5pm blog regular Hardeep Singh Kohli.

Going VDeep

Hardeep has a show talking about his experiences of launching his VDeep restaurant earlier this year. It’s called VDeep and Deeper.

There will also be lots of fab evening entertainment from people such as the fiddler Aidan O’Rourke; folk band The Poozies and Le Haggis, possibly the only erotic cabaret troupe to be named after offal.

Entrance to the Assembly George Square Gardens is free from midday each day, and bookings can be made for the evening programme.

The daily schedule of talks are free but ticketed.

Venue: Assembly George Square Gardens, Edinburgh

Dates: 29 July-2 August 2015

Times: Wed 29 July noon-1am, Thurs 30 July noon -1am, Fri 31 July noon -2am, Sat 1 August noon -2am, Sun 2 August noon -2am.