Rochdale’s cooking up a fab food and drink festival
ROCHDALE town hall is set to welcome the town’s annual food and drink festival next month.
The one-day event is free to attend and will take place both inside and outside the grade I listed town hall.
The festival features a programme of chef demos, family-friendly activities, foodie workshops, live music and baking competitions. Plus, there will be street food and produce stalls to enjoy.
The Festival Kitchen will host six cookery demonstrations throughout the day.
First up at 11.15am is chef Andrew Nutter, who owns Nutters in Norden as well as The Bird at Birtle gastropub in Heywood.
Andrew has won multiple awards over the years, including Lancashire Chef of the Year, Restaurant of the Year, and Rochdale Man of the Year.
Masterchef finalist Dean Edwards is on next at the Festival Kitchen at 12.15pm and again at 3.15pm. His family-friendly cooking style made him a favourite on ITV’s Lorraine and his latest cookbook features stress-free recipes for slow cookers and conventional ovens.
Aazam Ahmad will be hosting two cookery demos at 1.15pm and 5.15pm, showcasi orough.
Over on the indoor Family Stage, Mr Bloom from CBeebies will be performing songs, stories and games from his popular television series. The show will include his veggie stories, gardening games and catchy nursery songs.
Each ticket for Mr Bloom includes free admission into the Shake Rattle and Roll workshops which will take place at 12.15pm and 2.30pm.
These workshops are aimed at children up to 4 years old and their families, providing an opportunity to explore instruments, create sounds, sing songs, dance, move, socialise and make noise.
The sessions will be led by two experienced early years music practitioners.
For older children, the Mad Science team will be hosting family science shows, featuring foodrelated experiments.
Inside the town hall, there will be a range of stalls selling local and artisan produce, such as cheeses, chutneys, chocolate, honey and cakes.
There will also be live music throughout the day and free foodie workshops including cocktail shaking and artisan chocolate making.
Outside in the food and drink village, the street food traders include Halloumination, serving halloumi fries and various toppings; What’s Your Beef, serving gourmet burgers; Thai street food from Issan Friends; and The Rockin Buddha with their vegan and vegetarian Chinese food.
There will also be fresh coffee from Busy Beans Coffee, cocktails from Latelier Vintage Box and The Bubble Box prosecco bar.
Councillor Janet Emsley, from Rochdale council said: “I’m excited by the line-up and I encourage everyone to save the date.
“We’ll be announcing more attractions and stalls on the run up to the festival as we continue to grow this new event, combining some of the bestfood elements of Rochdale Feel Good Festival with some new features.”
Rochdale Food and Drink Festival is taking place from 11am to 8pm on Saturday, March 16 and admission is free. To book tickets to workshops and for more information, vist rochdale.gov.uk.