Food festival enjoys taste of success

THE Chester Food, Drink and Lifestyle festival welcomed a record number of visitors over the Easter weekend, writes Amy Hughes.

Held at Chester Racecourse from Saturday to Monday, the annual festival saw nearly 10,000 visitors pass through the gates on the first day alone.

Now in its eleventh year the festival had over 120 exhibitors, including international producers, displaying their products for visitors to taste and buy.

With demonstrations from TV chef Simon Rimmer and ex-Coronation Street star Sean Wilson (pictured), crowds flooded in to watch their favourite chefs cook.

The Lord Lady Mayoress of Chester, Eleanor Johnson, opened the event. She said: “I am delighted to be at this year’s Food and Drink Festival; the sixth on the Racecourse and eleventh in Chester.”

Chairperson of the festival, Jane Mooney, said: “It’s been 11 years since we’ve being doing this and it gets bigger and better every year.”

The main aim of the festival is to show local producers stock and encourage visitors to engage more with local suppliers and products rather than supermarkets.

A range of products were on display from selected oils, cheeses, relishes, and all kinds of meat from traditional to exotic game.

Stephen Wundke, one of the main organisers of the event, said: “We’ve got more exhibitors and more people camping than last year. We’ve taken up even more space and that’s what we wanted.”

The busiest stall was that of Cheshire Cheese Company, winners of the Chester Cheese Rolling Competition 2012.

It was clear the title had boosted their profile. The company was so popular they had to have two stalls.

With some producers making their debut, one oil company from Wales, Flower of Gold, launched their “Cheshire rapeseed oil” at the Festival to a very warm reception.

This year the festival aided the charity The Academy of Culinary Arts. The charity aims to assist children into exploring the world of food by experiencing through senses what different foods are like.

James Holden, a main chef at The Academy, ran a number of child cookery sessions. He said: “The earlier they learn about food the better.

“I think we have a generation gap, where some parents who have young children now didn’t learn about new foods and can’t pass it on.”

* For more information about the Chester Food, Drink and Lifestyle festival, visit their website