Getting a taste of Wild Paths Festival

Blog and images by BA (Hons) Film and Moving Image Production student, Chloe Boston. Wild Paths festival hit Norwich’s city centre from in October 2019, bringing with it a colossal wave of music, art, graffiti, and arguably most importantly, food and drink. I really wanted to get a taste – quite literally – of what Wild Paths had to offer on the food and drink side of things, and it absolutely did not disappoint.

Coffee to kickstart the day

Starting on Saturday morning, I took a trip to have a look around host venue Shoe Factory Social Club, and was where I spent the majority of the weekend.

There I found Lono Espresso, a mobile coffee company ‘with earth in mind’. Serving a speciality Wild Paths coffee blend, and oat milk as their signature house ‘milk’.

Opting for a cappuccino, I was treated to a coffee that not only set me up for the big day ahead, but was insanely rich, without being overpowering as some small-stand coffees can be.

The whole ethos of Lono made for a lovely start to the day, and although I bought my own cup, learning that their disposable cups are made from plants, containing 0% plastic, really made buying a coffee seem like an excellent life choice.

A solid 9/10.

Taco Time!

Saturday afternoon seemed like the perfect time to stuff my face with tacos, which is what Moco Kitchen offered, with a lovely little deal of two soft shell tacos for £7 (or two bao buns for £8 if you prefer).

The first taco I opted for was a meat option, which came with; orchard farm pork, Asian slaw, crispy onions, spring onions, coriander, pickled onions, sriracha mayo, and black sesame.

The second was completely vegan, containing black beans, lime, tossed cavolo nero, tomato salsa, fresh herb vinaigrette, and coriander. Both also came with a bit of extra sriracha on top, which definitely sealed the deal.

With the pork taco, I wish I could put into appropriate words just how amazing the pickled vegetables went with the pork, which was insanely tender and perfectly spiced.

I also simply wrote in my notes when eating this ‘crispy onions!!!!’ – make of that what you will.

The black bean taco was also, unsurprisingly, incredible. It was far more zingy than the pork, with the sweet beans being such a nice contrast to all the lime.

A bang on 8.5/10. (Loses 1.5 points for me being a fool and managing to stain my jeans while eating)

Wild Paths x Redwell Brewery

Settling down in Shoe Factory to watch Gengahr, I took a long-overdue trip across the room to Sir Toby’s Beer. I’m a huge fan of their stall in the market in the heart of Norwich, so it was really nice to see them again in this exciting new capacity, and I kid you not – the queue for the bar at one point was almost bigger than the crowd waiting for Gengahr to come on.

The menu was really varied for the bar, with the option of pints, special cans, alongside spirits and soft drinks. I’d heard a lot of talk over the weekend about the Wild Paths X Redwell Brewery session orange IPA, so it definitely seemed time to give it a go.

Not only was the beer utterly delicious, but the can also featured art by a BA Illustration student, which was very fun.

Ben Street, the director behind Wild Paths, also gave a helping hand in the brewing process  – it was little nods like this that really emphasised the spirit of Wild Paths for me, with everybody mucking in together to create something amazing.

The Wild Paths pale gets a solid 7.5/10 from me.

The best of Norfolk produce

Sunday morning came around upsettingly fast, but did hold the promise of more delicious food. 

I chose to pop over to The Cabin, offering the ‘best of Norfolk produce’, and really did deliver on portion size. I opted for its topped chips. The loaded fries came with a lot; a very generous layer of cheese, a curry of your choice, spring onions, coriander, and nacho bits on top. The curry I opted for was the vegan option, a balti containing spinach, corn, bulgar, and chickpeas.

This was the perfect Sunday midday food, with really nicely seasoned chips, good stringy cheese, and a curry that although wasn’t spicy, still had amazing flavours that didn’t overpower anything else. The other food options that came out also looked incredible, with a cheeseburger taco featuring on the menu – is the world ready for that yet? Possibly not.

The Cabin gets a big old 9/10 from me.

Can we do it all again?

The whole experience of Wild Paths was incredible, and completely surpassed any expectations I had. The whole weekend was non-stop fun, with there being an event somewhere in the city to cater to everybody’s needs.

I already cannot wait for the next to come around. It was such a fantastic way to find some new bands to love, artists to check out, and food to seal the deal – I can’t wait to see what the future of this festival holds. Until next time, Wild Paths, I’ll be dreaming of those tacos.

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