The inaugural European Street Food Awards were, quite simply, a triumph of the human spirit. After a summer of national European Street Food finals (including heats in Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Ireland and Britain), the democratically-elected top traders from all across the continent travelled thousand of kilometres by air, land and sea to compete at Bite Club in Berlin. Here is the Facebook event page, and here’s the official film:

Yes, there were breakdowns on the way to Berlin, run-ins with the police over broken tail-lights, a lost passport or two and a dropped phone — but (once all the European nations had got the hang of German gas and electrical adaptors) it turned into one of those legendary Bite Club weekenders. With the small matter of winning the world’s biggest street food competition at stake. Here are Jon Mortimer’s pictures:

For the first ever European Street Food Awards, we spent a long summer holding national competitions with the coolest street food partners in Europe. Check out this little lot:

ITALY
In Carroponte
May 26-28

THE NETHERLANDS
In Groningen
June 3-5

SPAIN
In Barcelona
June 10 and July 8

FRANCE
In Paris
June 18

SWEDEN
In Mariefred
July 21-22

IRELAND
In Dublin
August 5-6

GERMANY (NORTH)
In Berlin
August 13 

GERMANY (SOUTH)
In Heilbronn

August 25-27

RUSSIA
In Kaliningrad
September 1-3

BRITAIN
In Manchester
September 15-17