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A celebration of all things ginger

The National Botanic Garden of Wales is holding the country’s first ever Ginger Family Festival.

To celebrate the opening this summer of the stunning new Tropical House – which features many exotic examples of the Zingiberaceae plant family – the Garden will be holding a festival dedicated to all things ginger . . . on Sunday August 26.

There will be a variety of stalls selling ginger-related produce and a ‘decorate a gingerbread man’ workshop.  The Garden’s award-winning restaurant will boast a special ginger-themed menu, including Towy salmon with ginger and spring onion; chicken breast in ginger and orange sauce; as well as cheesecake topped with stem ginger; and fresh ginger and fresh pineapple cake.

Visitors will be able to sample the Garden’s home-made ginger beer and there will be ‘How to make your own’ leaflets available, too.
Senior horticulturist Jess Gould said: “There are 1,200 or so species of ginger and lots of them have aromatic oils which make them useful for culinary purposes.
“Ginger has been used in cooking for 2,000 years – it’s been used by man for such a long time, no one now knows where the original wild species came from.”
To broaden the appeal of Wales’ first ever Ginger Family Festival, the Garden will be offering free entry to anyone with ginger hair. Wearers of comedy ginger wigs will not qualify.