Arbroath Smokie festival preserves a living smoking craft
Arbroath Smokie festival preserves a living smoking craft
The Arbroath Smokie Festival in Angus, Scotland, centres on a regional method of smoking haddock that is both culinary heritage and community identity. The Arbroath smokie — haddock split, salted, tied and smoked over hardwood in a small barrel — has Protected Geographical Indication status, and the festival foregrounds that exact, family‑kept technique through live demonstrations rather than only food stalls.
Hands-on demonstrations, not just tasting
Unlike many seafood fairs that focus on consumption, Arbroath’s event stages open demonstrations inside traditional smokehouses so visitors can see the two‑stage process: the salting and the intense, short smoking in enclosed barrels. This public preservation of process allows apprentices from long‑standing local families to show skills that are otherwise transmitted orally and by practice, keeping a living craft visible to new generations.
Heritage anchored in place and species
The festival ties a specific species — haddock — to place and practice, making it one of the clearest examples in the UK of a fishing‑heritage celebration that protects method as much as product. That coupling of technique, community and a single fish helped secure PGI recognition and gives the festival a cultural focus that extends beyond gastronomy to the conservation of intangible maritime skills.