Nantwich Food Festival News – A return of the Cookalong Theatre!

After a hugely successful Cookalong Theatre for the past two years, regulars will be delighted to hear that this popular facility will return this year, giving locals and visitors an unrivalled opportunity to work alongside talented celebrity and local chefs.

Nanna Pedley, Festival Director and Sponsorship Manager is delighted to welcome Le Gruyère AOP as Silver Sponsor of this in demand Festival area. Le Gruyère is, of course, an international brand, renowned for their high product quality. The expertise in producing their cheeses has been handed down through the many generations since as far back as 1115 – over 900 years!

To find out more and to follow some of their recipes, just check out their website:

https://www.gruyere.com/en/home

Nanna tells us that trained chefs, business owners and mixologists will be on hand to provide master-classes on how to prepare delicious recipes and drinks. These will include not one, but two Cookalong sessions for kids: smash burger making with Reaseheath College and one with Nantwich Italian restaurant, Romazzino.

The Cocktail master-class was so popular last year that it is being offered again, this time by Edwards Deli and Wine. Nantwich Cheese Shop will share their expertise at the Cheese and Wine Tasting, whilst Italian chef Guiseppe Trovato of La Dolce Vita will show us how to make tasty Arancini. Add to this pizza making with Jordy’s and a Greek Cookalong with Spyros of St Martha’s and we can see how international Nantwich has become.

Nanna goes on:

“Celebrity Chef Nigel Brown will offer two master-classes to teach participants how to create his Salmon Fillet with Mango Salsa Dressing & Jasmine Rice; we are sure places will be snapped up quickly.

We are also really pleased to welcome Babna of Babna’s Patisserie to the Cookalong Theatre. Babna, who has given chef demonstrations to us for the past 2 years, will share her secrets of how to produce her scrumptious and delectable looking Velvet Noir cake creation.

Finally, as Cookalong sponsor, Le Gruyère AOP will offer three Cookalong sessions over the weekend; keen Cookalong followers will want to book their places as early as possible.

Tickets can be purchased shortly through the festival website.”

www.nantwichfoodfestival.co.uk/cookalong/

Turning now to Festival entertainment, which is always eagerly anticipated; Festival Town Centre manager, Graham Witter has booked entertainment for all ages for the Festival weekend, covering from 11am Friday 29th August until just before the Festival closes at 5pm on Sunday 31st.

Festival Friday kicks off with local grown talent, the lovely solo singer and guitarist, Erika Ignata, who will be singing in the town square from 11am-1pm. The not-to-be-missed fun loving Funky Choir comes after Erica, so if you enjoy 3 part harmony, do make sure you catch them on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, brand new to Nantwich Food Festival, the Circus Academy will provide lots to keep the younger festival goers busy from 11am, right through until 8pm!

Friday night entertainment is always great fun; we will again have the energetic Studio S dancers on St Mary’s Church Green and those amazingly talented people from Circus in a Box, performing their tricks on stilts all over the town centre plus fire breathing too.

Many town businesses will stay open later than usual on Festival Friday, and in addition to the food courts that stay open until Festival Friday closes at 8pm, there will be our favourite town centre bars and restaurants to keep us fed until much later.

The Circus Academy returns between 10am and 5pm on Sunday, plus over the weekend there is also Punch & Judy, the Cheshire Pop Choir and solo musician Paul Armer. Graham hasn’t forgotten the much loved brass bands, so there are both the Co-operative Wind and Nantwich Concert Bands on Festival Saturday plus Winterley Methodist Brass Band on Sunday to complete the popular town centre line-up.

Find out more about what’s on by collecting your own festival brochure from the Festival stall at either the Farmers’ Market on 26th July or Societies Spectacular on 2nd August – both just near the town square. You can also find out how to volunteer for this year’s Festival.

See the Festival social media for how to enter this year’s cake competition, sponsored by Cheerbrook and all the rest of the up to date news.

Voting for the Nantwich Food Awards is now open until the end of August, enabling you to cast your vote for your favourite restaurant, bar, food producer and other lovely local food and drink stars, so do check the Festival website for this and very much more:

https://www.nantwichfoodfestival.co.uk/

• The Nantwich Food Festival is an independent food festival run by volunteers

• The 2025 Festival takes place Friday 29th to Sunday 31st August

• Since 2009, the festival has been run by not-for-profit Nantwich Food and Drink Ltd.

• Around 200 businesses have stalls located across Nantwich town centre during the weekend festival.

• The festival generates an estimated £2m each year for the local economy.

• Nantwich has one of the largest collections of historic buildings in Cheshire, with Elizabethan, Georgian and Victorian architecture throughout the town centre.

• There has been a market in Nantwich since 1720

• Over 100 unpaid, dedicated volunteers keep the festival running each year