The sandwich marks its 250th birthday with a weekend of sarnie-making in the town its inventor took his name from. Chris Price reports.

Ham and mustard, coronation chicken, cheese and pickle, the BLT. All are favourite fillings for the 11 billion sandwiches which are eaten in the UK every year but it was a simple slab of beef and a game of cards which is said to have started an industry with an annual turnover of more than £6 billion in this country.

This week, the town of Sandwich marks 250 years since its fourth earl invented the dish that would change the face of snacks and lunches the world over.

The Sandwich Celebration takes over the town this weekend, where the current earl will oversee a food fair, concerts, theatre and a sandwich-making competition – all in honour of his 18th century ancestor.

It was during a late night game of cards in 1762 that John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, found himself making a meal out of a problem. Not wanting to interrupt his evening’s entertainment, he ordered a piece of beef to be served between two slices of bread, so he could eat with one hand and have the other free to hold his cards, without getting them greasy.

A quarter of a century later, that moment is remembered in every packed lunch, midnight snack and lunchtime takeaway across the globe. The commercially made sandwich industry employs more than 300,000 people in Britain alone, with varieties ranging from the simple ploughman’s to the Italian mozzarella and baby tomato ciabatta.

This weekend sandwich lovers can compete to make their own supreme sarnie at a competition on Sandwich’s Quay Green. Entrants are split into three categories of professional caterers, clubs and individuals with judging on the afternoon of Saturday, May 12. Whether a traditionalist or someone with their own take on the good honest butty, the best go through to the final on Sunday, which will be judged by the 11th Earl, John Montagu.

Those not competing can sample their sarnies at a teddy bears’ picnic, while children enjoy a bouncy castle and slide, open both days on the Quay Green. Look out for the owl display and there will also be dancing displays, face-painting, crafts stalls and storytelling.

A theatrical presentation will re-enact the moment the sandwich came into being from noon on both days, with actors in period dress. Head to one of the houses on Bowling Street to see the action. It will be the one guarded by soldiers from the First Foot Brigade, with music emanating from the gaming room.

Families can look around the two-day food fair in the Guildhall forecourt, with lots of Kentish produce. There will also be continental and Asian food on the 20 stalls.

Then revellers can get wrapped up in the celebrations as the Sandwich street party, a free outdoor concert which takes over Market Street. The Betteshanger Brass Band, the Sandwich Concert Band and the Manwoods School jazz band provide the soundtrack.

Feast of music features earl's taste in songs

As well as munching away on his inventions this weekend, sample the musical tastes of the 4th Earl of Sandwich.

Handel and Purcell were popular with John Montagu, as were bawdy catches. These are songs sung by two or three people, where the lines of lyrics interact so that a word or phrase is produced that does not appear if sung by only one voice. They are often innuendo laden and occasionally outright lewd.

All the performers are from the Royal College of Music. Among them is Anne Marie Christensen, whose duo Due Corde won the Trinity College of Music Early Music Competition in 2010. The Danish-born violinist has performed with the Brook Street Band, Charivari Agreable and the London Handel Orchestra.

The present Earl of Sandwich will attend the concert, which will include the Overture and Arias from Esther and the organ concerto The Cuckoo and the Nightingale by Handel. There will also be suite and songs from the Fairy Queen and catches by Henry Purcell. The grand finale will be Rule Britannia by Dr Thomas Arne.

The concert is at St Mary’s Arts Centre on Saturday, May 12.Tickets £15, students and children £8. Call 01304 611211.

How he earned his crust

The 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, succeeded his grandfather in 1729, aged 10.

During his life he held various military and political offices, including Postmaster General, First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for the Northern Department.

Educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge, in his early years he spent time travelling in Europe before visiting the more unusual destinations of Greece, Turkey and Egypt which were then part of the Ottoman Empire.

The earl was later a great supporter of Captain James Cook, who made maps of Newfoundland and made the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia made the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

The exact circumstances of the invention of the sandwich are actually still the subject of debate, with his biographer suggesting his first sandwich was more likely to have been eaten at his work desk, owing to his commitments to the navy, politics and the arts.

He died in Chiswick, aged 73, on April 30, 1792.

The Sandwich Celebration takes place on Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13. Full details at www.sandwichevents.info