Many lucky whisky lovers will already be on Islay for this year’s Islay Festival of Malt and Music.

Ceilidhs, concerts and distillery open days all mean that the weekend will go with a swing.

For those of us who have literally and metaphorically missed the boat for Islay, there is the Crail Food Festival to look forward to.

Taking place over the weekend of Friday 12th to Sunday 14th of June, the fifth Crail Food Festival promises a feast of street food pop-ups, producers’ markets and demos from top chefs. Naturally, food fae Fife takes a starring role.

Lots of chocs

The 5pm Dining blog particularly liked the idea of The Chocolate Larder which takes place in Crail Town Hall on the Saturday and Sunday.

Loads of chocolatiers (is there a more enticing word?) will be running interactive sessions and showing how they make their artisan chocolates.

For some reason, the chocolate and whisky pairing session with Kingsbarn Distillery and Julie Collier of Iain Burnett Highland Chocolatier seems to have caught our eye.

Get hands-on

There will be other opportunities to get hands-on at the Meet The Producer Sessions in the Crail Legion Hall. Local fishermen and farmers will be distributing samples of their wares and explaining how they produce their food.

One of the main attractions of the festival will be the street food vendors on Crail’s picturesque harbour. Shellfish, smokies, ice cream, a hog roast and veggie delights will be served.

We are promised local craft beers or lemonade to help wash it all down.

The organisers have had a word with weatherman Sean Batty and are fairly certain that the skies will be blue and there will be a light breeze to help cool the summer sunshine.