With UK Sausage Week now concluded for 2025, we took a look at what the nation got up to over the course of the week.
A “Sausage Festival” for UK Sausage Week
To celebrate Newmarket’s association with the Newmarket sausage, the town staged its 4th annual Sausage Festival on Saturday 1st November from 10am to 2pm. Running alongside the Saturday Market, there were opportunities to sample award-winning Newmarket sausages, participate in sausage-themed activities, and even enter a sausage dog competition.
The festival was supported by both types of the celebrated Newmarket Sausage – Musk’s and Powters. As well as free tastings, visitors had the opportunity to sample a sausage casserole courtesy of the chefs at the Heath Court Hotel, with a recipe card to take home and a chance to win all the ingredients on the free tombola.
Mojo, who won the title of ‘Sausage Dog Star’ at the National Horseracing Museum’s Easter Pawty event this year, was the official mascot of the Sausage Dog competition. Owners were encouraged to bring their sausage dogs to be in with a chance of winning a goody bag of prizes. Other highlights included a ‘Whack a Sausage’ game and the sausage pan race: a fiercely competitive race aimed at younger visitors, presided over by the festival’s character, Mr Sausage himself.
Local cafes and restaurants supported the festival during the preceding week, adding specially created sausage dishes to their menus. Newmarket’s independent wine merchants, Corney and Barrow, also selected two wines that “perfectly pair” with sausage dishes, and both were available in store at a discounted price during the week.
Over in Pentrith, Cranstons Butchers ran a competition searching for a new sausage flavour. The winning combination was pork, chorizo and cheese, and the winner will receive 5kg of their unique flavour! The shop also shared recipe ideas and showcased its Cumberland Sausage as part of its own week-long “Sausage Festival”.
Peter Potts, head of retail at Cranstons, said: “Sausages have been at the heart of Cranstons since the very beginning, so celebrating UK Sausage Week with our first ever Sausage Festival just felt right. When we started, we only made two types of sausage – Cumberland thick or thin – and today we have more than 20 different recipes, with seven available all year round and the rest making appearances seasonally.
“It was a fantastic way to shine a light on the craft and care that goes into every sausage we make, from our traditional Cumberland to our newer flavours. The enthusiasm from both our teams and customers was brilliant – it really reminded us how much people value great local food and the traditions behind it.”
Sway Butchers feature on BBC Radio Solent
Sway Butchers spoke to Josh Bowness on BBC Radio Solent about how it was celebrating UK Sausage Week!
Master butcher and shop owner David West said on air: “We ended up in Sway in 1976, so next year is our golden anniversary!
“I joined in the early 80s, so I’ve been a butcher for nearly 40 years now. I’m a sixth-generation butcher in the family… it’s all going very, very strong.”
David brought in a range of sausages for host Josh Bowness to taste, including its Brockenhurst Banger, Christmas Sausage, and Venison, Cranberry and Rosemary sausages.
Skip to 1:09:07 to hear the full interview, including the sausage tasting!
Free sausages at Alderson Butchers
Nigel Alderson at Alderson Butchers said that UK Sausage Week had been “another big success” for the business, stating that the shop gave away a total of 200lbs of free sausages as part of its promotions for the week.
A special Pork with Spicy Tomato Chutney Sausage was created as part of the celebrations, with the chutney makers invited to the shop on Saturday 1st November to give away samples of their pickles and chutney. Alderson Butchers cooked sausages throughout the day to accompany the samples!
Sausage-making skills at Taste of Devon Butchers
Taste of Devon Butchers gave customers a look behind the curtain by showing off its sausage-making technique on Facebook!
Toffee apple sausages, anyone?
We saw some weird and wonderful flavour combinations over the course of the week, some of which included:
- Pork and Toffee Apple - Kings Butchers, King’s Lynn
- Greek Gyros - Nicholson Butchers, Whitley Bay
- Duck Sausage - The Swine Bistro, Leeds
- Treacle Pork - Tom Wood Artisan Butcher, Colne
- Pork with Spicy Pumpkin - Ringrose Butchers, Leicester
- Pork Stroganoff - GH Porter Provisions, Newark
- Mixed Game with Dark Chocolate and Orange - Kendalls Farm Butchers, Harrogate
- Chinese Salt ‘n’ Pepper - Moss & Booker Traditional Butchers, Widnes
Kirkstall Bridge Inn creates a limited menu
Leeds-based Kirkstall Bridge Inn created a sausage-themed menu, which featured venison sausages, Cumberland sausages and black pudding! The specials were served as part of the pub’s UK Sausage Week celebrations.
UK Sausage Week runs from Monday 26th October to Sunday 1st November 2026. For more information, visit www.uksausageweek.com.
Thank you to the official 2025 UKSW partners:
