The sunshine followed the rain this weekend as food-lovers flocked to County Durham’s coastline for two days of festival fun.
Around 120 traders set up shop at Seaham Food Festival to sell everything from sizzling street food to sausage rolls, scotch eggs, cheesecakes, cheese, olives, bakes and cakes.
The Durham County Council-run event attracted thousands of visitors across the two days, providing a significant boost to businesses trading both at the festival and in the town itself.
Visitors got to watch an inspiring set of demonstrations from a line-up of top celebrity chefs at the festival’s outdoor cookery theatre, hosted by TV presenter Chris Bavin.
Taking to the stage on Saturday were MasterChef 2023 Champion Eddie Scott, Great British Bake Off 2022 winner Syabira Yusoff, vegan baker Freya Cox, and local talent Jonny Stewart – MasterChef Contestant 2023.
They were followed on Sunday by Nadia and Dina Sawalha – known as The Curly Cooks of Croydon, MasterChef Professionals 2022 Champion Nikita Pathakji, and Briony May Williams, presenter, cook and baker.
As well as the selection of food to entice people’s tastebuds, there was a range of exciting activities and entertainment including music and street performances, outdoor family theatre, and sports and craft workshops.
Cllr Elizabeth Scott, Durham Council’s Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: “While the rain did bring its unexpected moments this weekend, we had an absolutely fantastic time at Seaham Food Festival. It was great to see so many people from across the region come down and enjoy the incredible produce our traders have to offer.
“We would like to thank everyone for coming out despite the unpredictable weather, we hope you had as much fun as we did. I’d also like to thank the traders and celebrity guests, the festival’s supporters and sponsors, and all the staff and volunteers for their hard work and efforts to make this weekend happen.”
Seaham Food Festival is just one of the many cultural events taking place in County Durham this year, cementing Durham’s position as the ‘culture county’ and demonstrating the county council’s ongoing commitment to cultural-led regeneration.
This includes delivering key projects within County Durham’s shortlisted UK City of Culture bid; progressing major capital projects and raising the county’s profile as a fantastic place to live, work, visit and invest.
For the latest festival news and announcements, sign up to the newsletter at www.seahamfoodfestival.co.uk or follow @seahamfoodfest on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
