This year’s Christchurch Food & Wine Festival will be held on the weekend of 10 and 11 May with various establishments in the town holding their own events during the month of May.
The celebrated Indian chef, Cyrus Todiwala, who recently appeared in the BBC2 series ‘The Incredible Spice Men’, is to return to this year’s Festival following his successful appearance in 2010. Cyrus, who runs his own restaurant Café Spice Namaste in London, will be showing his culinary skills in the demonstration marquee on Sunday 11 May. The Festival’s patron, Lesley Waters, will also be back, appearing on Saturday 10 May.
Lesley will be joining the Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr John Lofts, to officially open the Festival from the balcony of the Old Town Hall in the High Street at 10am on Saturday 10 May.
The Festival market taking place in the High Street on 10 and 11 May will contain around 120 stalls selling a huge variety of food and drink. Druitt Gardens will be used as a picnic area with community organisations, entertainment and activities for children. Sunday 11 May will see a Bake Day at the Kings Arms bowling green pavilion with competitions to find the best cakes, tarts and pies in Christchurch.
New this year will be an Ale Trail where visitors can buy a ‘passport’ which will allow them to try out real ales in a variety of local pubs throughout the borough and a Tasty Trail with special offers to try at delicatessens, shops and restaurants throughout the town.
Young cooks are catered for with the Kids Kitchen taking place at The Priory School and The Kings Arms. Most sessions are fully booked but there are still a few places available with tickets from The Regent Centre.
Christchurch Council is sponsoring the demonstration marquee which will feature demonstrations from local chefs as well as Lesley Waters and Cyrus Todiwala. On Sunday 11 May at 2.30pm star of Dancing on Ice and The Food Network, Matt Evers, will be presenting a special fun family session with cookery demonstrations and cocktail mixing with mixologists from The Captain’s Club.
The morning of Monday 12 May sees the final of the Junior Cook of the Year competition when the winners of the semi-finals held at The Grange, Highcliffe and Twynham Schools will take to the stage to cook in front of the audience. There will also be the final of the primary schools’ “design a meal on a plate” competition.
The afternoon of Monday 12 May is an Industry Day – a new initiative focusing on food professionals and the catering industry.
All information and events can be found on the website at www.christchurchfoodfest.co.uk.