The full line-up of celebrity chefs who will be cooking for the crowds at a County Durham food festival has been confirmed.
Seaham Food Festival makes its welcome return on Saturday 7 to Sunday, 8 August, with a host of TV favourites on hand to provide some mouth-watering demonstrations for visitors to the coastline.
Food Unwrapped presenter and baker Briony May Williams will join cooking stalwart Rosemary Shrager and Bake Off favourite John Whaite for the first day of Durham County Council’s free festival.
Briony made it to the semi-finals of the 2018 series of The Great British Bake Off. Since then, she has become one of the presenters of Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped and appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, Loose Women and Ainsley’s Food We Love. Briony has also worked with the council at Bishop Auckland Food Festival too.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s crowds will be entertained by the hugely successful chef and food writer, Maunika Gowardhan, and another star of the Great British Bake Off, Karen Wright, alongside TV chef Chris Baber.
Maunika lives in Newcastle and regularly writes for popular magazines including Olive, BBC Good Food and online recipe hub BBC Food. She has been a contributing editor for Vogue India and her own successful recipe app often makes it into the top ten apps. Maunika’s created a global following on social media, showing off her accessible approach to Indian cooking and she will be demonstrating some of her favourite recipes on stage at the festival.
Maunika is joined by Karen, who featured in the 2018 series of the Great British Bake Off alongside Briony. Karen has been busy demonstrating at food festivals all over the country, impressing audiences with her humour as well as her bakes and holding classes as part of her Bake with a Legend line-up.
County Durham’s very own Masterchef contestant Mike Bartley will also be taking part in both Saturday and Sunday’s line-up, after being inspired to enter the competition on a visit to Bishop Auckland Food Festival.
The TV favourites will be joined by around 100 traders and producers and lots of family-friendly activities and events over the course of the weekend, with the festival playing a key role in supporting the county’s economic recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Events will be spread out to help people feel safe and encourage social distancing, with the council continuing to follow Government guidance up to and throughout the festival to ensure the safety of everyone attending.
More than 15,000 people attended the inaugural Seahal Food Festival in 2019, with the increased footfall this year set to support the recovery of local businesses, especially in the hospitality and retail sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.
Cllr Elizabeth Scott, Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: “We have such a fantastic line-up for Seaham Food Festival this year and we cannot wait to welcome these wonderful chefs to County Durham.
“With so many traders, producers and family-friendly events alongside these chefs, visitors are set to have a wonderful weekend in Seaham. The weekend is going to support so many businesses which have struggled as a result of the pandemic so we look forward to supporting the county’s recovery and to seeing a thriving coastline for the festival.”
To find out more about the festival and to stay up to date with the latest news, visit www.seahamfoodfestival.co.uk and follow @SeahamFoodFest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
