A live cookery competition featuring the stars of the Great British Bake Off, a pop-up restaurant and the return of TV chef Simon Rimmer are among the highlights of this year’s Bishop Auckland Food Festival.
The full line-up for next month’s event has now been announced, with more than 150 of the region’s finest food and drink producers ready to tickle the tastebuds of visitors on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April.
The event, in the Market Place, Town Hall and grounds of Auckland Castle, will also feature food and drink masterclasses, open-air cookery demonstrations, a Kids’ Club and street entertainers.
Organised by Durham County Council in partnership with the Auckland Castle Trust and Bishop Auckland Town Council, the annual festival showcases the best in home-grown and handmade produce from County Durham and the wider region.
Cllr Neil Foster, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for economic regeneration, said, “The food festival is a fantastic event not just for Bishop Auckland but also for the wider area.
“As well as offering a great day out for all the family, it gives stallholders, who come from around the region, a platform on which to showcase their produce and boosts the regional economy by hundreds of thousands of pounds.
“More than 34,000 attended last year’s food festival and with another great line-up planned for 2015, I’m sure we can expect the crowds to turn up in force once again.”
Bake Off favourite Glenn Cosby will host a Battle of the Bakers in the Town Hall on Saturday 18th, with fellow series 4 contestant Kimberley Wilson taking on series 3’s Cat Dresser in a test of their baking knowledge.
Simon Rimmer, presenter of Sunday Brunch and its spin-off Daily Brunch, returns to Bishop Auckland this year to cook up some delicious dishes using fresh produce from the festival’s stallholders.
Ivor Peters, better known as the Urban Rajah, will be executive chef at the Great Indian Feast – a pop-up restaurant in the grounds of Auckland Castle. He will be working with students from Bishop Auckland College to create a range of recipes, each with its own story to tell.
New for 2015, are food festival masterclasses. From chocolate and pizza-making workshops for kids to grown-up lessons in how to make the perfect cocktail, there’s a session to suit everyone.
CBBC presenter Stefan Gates and CBeebies star Katy Ashworth are both back to present free sessions as part of the festival’s Kids’ Club, which returns for a second year after proving a huge success in 2014.
Festival favourite Johnny Pusztai will once again host his sausage and burger-making challenge, this year with a little help from some special guests, while Richard Fox will help festival-goers prepare for barbeque season with a selection of tasty and creative recipes.
There will be plenty of family-fun throughout both days of the festival courtesy of a collection of colourful entertainers including the bickering Tea Ladies, the Giant Seagulls and the Fairly Fresh Fish Co and their collection of dancing seafood.
And, of course, at the heart of the festival will be more than 150 food and drink stalls spread across the Market Place and grounds of Auckland Castle. Serving up the very best in local produce, traders will offer everything from fresh meat, fish and vegetables to chutneys, puddings, beers and wines.
There will also be a chance to enjoy a taste of Yorkshire in a dedicated Deliciously Yorkshire market area.
For more information visit www.BishopAucklandFoodFestival.co.uk.
To book places for ticketed events, call 03000 26 26 26.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
