The Donkey Sanctuary will be among the venues hosting an event as part of the Taste East Devon food and drink festival in September.

Its Taste of the West award-winning restaurant The Kitchen will host ‘Sowing with Donkeys’ on Thursday, September 15. There will be a gourmet vegan lunch, using locally sourced seasonal produce where possible, followed by a conservation talk.

They can choose between two main courses: forest fungi wild mushrooms, mushroom duxelles, slow roasted tomato and rosemary focaccia with black garlic dressing, or roasted butternut squash with gnocchi, sage pesto, squash puree, toasted pine nuts, crispy kale and Italian-style hard cheese shavings.

For dessert there is apple and blackberry almond granola crumble with vanilla custard and Lyme Bay winter gin and blackberry coulis, or Lyme Bay spiced lugger rum panna cotta with baked cinnamon figs, rosemary shortbread and fig leaf syrup.

Following lunch overlooking some of the resident donkeys in their paddocks, diners are invited to take a gentle stroll around the Sidmouth sanctuary with one of the charity’s conservation team.

They will hear how donkeys are integral to sustaining biodiversity on sanctuary land, and how more ways are being explored in which donkeys can help manage habitats, and in turn benefit from living in an enriched environment. The resident donkeys are being increasingly involved when conservation tasks are carried out.

The Taste East Devon festival will take place from Saturday, September 3 until Sunday 18. It begins with the Ottery Food and Families Festival, followed by special food and drink events at venues including The Point Bar and Grill in Exmouth, River Cottage in Axminster, The Pig at Combe, Sidmouth Eats Boutique, Sidmouth Distillery, Otterton Mill, Coldharbour Field Kitchen, Lympstone Manor Hotel and the Jack in the Green. There are also coastal foraging events with Tony Coulson, founder of Ebb Tides Seaweeds in Sidmouth. The festival ends with an afternoon of food and live music in the grounds of The Pig at Combe on September 18.

Tickets for the Sowing with Donkeys event cost £18.50 plus booking fee. Tickets are limited and pre-booking is required. To book, please visit: https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/events/15-09-2022/sowing-with-donkeys