Newmarket is famed for its horse racing, but it has historic ties to the humble sausage, too. The Newmarket Sausage has been a traditional treat to take home from the races since Victorian times and is so highly regarded that it's the traditional prize for the winner of Newmarket's oldest horse race, the Town Plate (see full history in Notes to Editors).

Locally produced sausages are an established favourite of the royal family, with local butcher Musk's holding a Royal Warrant for its recipe. A weekly consignment of sausages was sent to Balmoral at one time, and the Queen Mother regularly dropped by to pick some up on her journeys between Sandringham and London.

The festival to celebrate the local delicacy is sponsored by Edmondson Hall solicitors and will take place during the weekly Saturday Market, with a variety of sausage-themed stalls alongside resident traders.

There'll also be family fun and entertainment, with free competitions for children including a sausage pan race, which will go under starter's order of the festival's fun character Mr Sausage.

Powters Butchers will offer free sausage tastings made from the family recipe, which has earned it multiple Great Taste awards. 

There will also be other sausage dishes to try, with free recipe cards available. All the key ingredients to make the dishes will be available to purchase from the market and there's even a chance to win them in the festival tombola. Prizes have been kindly donated by various market traders, along with Powters and Tennant's Butchers.

Local cafes and restaurants will also be supporting the festival during the preceding week, adding specially created sausage dishes to their menus. Avid sausage fans will be able to dine out on a different sausage dish each day of the week. 

Tracey Harding, Manager of Discover Newmarket, said: "Newmarket is well known for horse racing, yet we also have this very special association with the great British banger. Our festival promises to be lots of fun for all the family, while also encouraging people to create fresh, tasty food at home and minimise food waste, and eat and shop in the town." 

Cllr Susan Glossop, Cabinet Member for Growth, West Suffolk Council, said: "We are delighted to partner with Discover Newmarket to welcome this festival to the town. It will be a great addition to our events calendar as it offers family fun and entertainment, plus it drives support for our loyal traders on the weekly Saturday market, which will also be operating. The festival also promotes local businesses and industries, showcasing their success."

To contact Discover Newmarket, call 01638 501122 or go to https://discovernewmarket.co.uk.

For info, images and press trips, contact Kate Simon on 07939 526109

Notes to editors: Discover Newmarket is the official tourism service for Newmarket and the surrounding area. It offers visitors a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes at racing's headquarters to see the equine stars at work and learn about the fascinating history, heritage, and culture of this historic town. Tours for groups and individuals are led by expert guides and organised to suit the visitor as well as taking place on set dates throughout the year.

The Newmarket Sausage 
Pigs were traditionally kept by racing stables to graze on scraps and from Victorian times butchers developed their own special sausage recipes. Their sausages were a sought-after commodity and one local butcher even dispatched a weekly consignment of Newmarket sausages to Scotland by train for the royal household. Indeed, the Queen Mother was known to regularly divert through Newmarket on her way between London and Sandringham to pick some up. 

It became a tradition to take home sausages after visiting the Newmarket races and the dozen or so butcher's shops in the town struggled to keep up with demand. A black market in sausages even arose, with gangs from the races dishonestly trying to obtain more than their quota from the butchers. 

Today sausages are in plentiful supply from three members of the Newmarket Sausage Association – Musk's, Powters and Tennant's. Each has its own secret recipe, and all have won numerous prizes. Musk's have been supplying sausages under Royal Warrant since 1907. Sausages are also traditionally given as a prize to the winner of the Town Plate, Newmarket's oldest horse race.  

The Town Plate 

The Newmarket Town Plate is a historic race which has been run at Newmarket's Round Course since 1666. The race was instigated by Charles II, who also rode the first winner and became the first and only reigning monarch to win a race. The King stated that the race should be run 'forever'. Once one of the most prestigious races in the land, the Town Plate is now a pinnacle of glorious historical eccentricity, competed for by true amateurs.