Entertainment and food on the menu
ROCHDALE Food and Drink Festival rolls into town today (Saturday).
And there’s a vast array of stalls, live cooking, star chefs, bars, workshops, family entertainment and music to tickle the tastebuds.
The free event takes place at the town hall from 10am to 6pm, followed by a gourmet festival finale dinner.
Food and drink fans from across the region are expected to descend on the town for the event, organised by the council team behind Rochdale Feel Good Festival.
Chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli, Nisha Katona, Andrew Nutter and Tom McNeeney will be cooking live, with 40-minute demonstrations scheduled packed with tips, techniques and the opportunity to ask questions.
Last minute tickets can be booked at rochdale.gov. uk/events or on the day subject to availability, but for those who don’t manage to grab a ticket there’s a free seating area to watch chef demonstrations on a big screen.
CBeebies I Can Cook presenter Katy Ashworth is also on the bill with shows at 10.30am and 1.30pm aimed at children and grown-ups.
There’s a food and drink village and 40 traders selling delicious dishes, fantastic street food, pop-up shops, bars and more.
Inside the town hall there will be stalls selling food and gifts, including cheeses, chutneys, relishes, Indian street food, Caribbean cakes, muffins, artisan chocolates, black puddings, fudge and desserts.
The reception room will be transformed into a 1920s-themed bar for the day hosting a series of free workshops every hour from 11am.
An Easter themed cake competition – with two categories, adults and under 13s, being judged by top chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and local baker Natasha Brown from Brown’s Cakes. To enter, you must deliver your cake to the indoor stage by 10am today.
Winners will be announced at 2.30pm.
An outdoor stage accompanied by a covered seating area on The Esplanade will also feature a host of bands and singers.
The festival concludes with a gourmet fourcourse dinner cooked by Andrew Nutter in the Clock Tower Dining Room. The star chef and his team will be serving a special menu prepared exclusively for the evening with a complementary drink on arrival and live musical accompaniment.
Coun Janet Emsley, the council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, community and culture, said: “As well as the chef demonstrations we will have a tempting range of food and drink traders and a programme of entertainment. Rochdale town centre is a great place to visit and the town hall is a spectacular location for festivals like this.
“Forty traders, four chefs, eight workshops, five musical acts, family entertainment and even a Victorian carousel ride.
“I am pleased to see this brand new event on our calendar and I hope people will come along and support it.”
Free parking is available from 9am and 7pm at Hopwood Hall College car park on St Mary’s Gate.
To book cookery workshop or evening dinner tickets and to get the full line-up visit rochdale.gov. uk/events.