FOODIES FESTIVAL – the UK’s biggest touring gourmet food and music festival series – returns to London for a huge May Bank Holiday weekend from 27th – 29th May.
Featuring a star-studded line-up of celebrity chefs and chart-topping music stars, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Scouting For Girls and Fleur East
Known as Gastro-Glastonbury, the festival will take place at Syon Park across the May Bank Holiday weekend. The three-day event features live cooking demonstrations from top chefs drawn from the ranks of MasterChef, Great British Bake Off and Great British Menu, plus top-rated Michelin-starred and award-winning chefs
Star names appearing in the live cooking theatres include: Great British Bake Off 2022 winner, Syabira Yusoff, MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 champion,Nikita Pathakji, MasterChef: The Professionals champions Alex Webb and Steven Edwards, MasterChef champion, Dhruv Baker, MasterChef: The Professionals finalist, Charlie Jeffreys, Great British Bake Off finalist, Juergen Krauss, stars of Channel 4’s Extreme Cake Makers, Christine and Phil Jensen and ITV Love Island cast members, chef and authors John and Tony Alberti (The Alberti Twins).
Syabira Yusoff said: “I’m looking forward to sharing my passion and cooking in-front of a live audience on the Foodies Festival tour. I’ll be baking some of my favourite cakes, sharing recipie ideas and talking about my amazing experience on the Great British Bake Off “
The musical feast is just as sumptuous with chart-topping disco diva, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, platinum-selling festival favourites Scouting For Girls, singer and TV star, Fleur East, and rapidly rising Scottish singer-songwriter, Callum Beattie.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor said: “It’s wonderful to be joining the Foodies Festival tour again. Warm summer weekends full of lovely food and music, and families having fun together – I can’t wait!”
Showcasing the best of London and beyond, many of the most-highly acclaimed Michelin and multi-award-winning chefs will also appear, including: Sameer Taneja, executive chef from Michelin starred Benares in Mayfair, Asimakis Chaniotis, head from Michelin starred Pied a Terre in Fitzrovia, Ben Wood, head chef from Michelin starred Barrafina in Soho, Manish Sharma, from Michelin recommended Black Salt in North Sheen and TV regular, author and chef, Ravinder Bhogal, from Jikoni in Marleybone.
Throughout the 3 day weekend, visitors will enjoy a jam-packed schedule of TV cooking show champions and award-winning chefs in the interactive live theatres. In the Chefs Theatre, celebrities will create their signature dishes and share new tips and tricks, whilst in the Cake & Bake Theatre, star bakers whip up showstoppers and offer tempting sweet treats.
In The Kids Cookery School, Foodies SuperChefs make cooking fun, helping younger guests to prepare delicious food which they can take away and enjoy. Masterclasses in the Drinks Theatre include tutored Champagne, Beer, Cider, Cocktail and Wine-tasting, including presentations from BBC expert Joe Wadsack, and ITV expert, Tom Surgey.
Visitors can browse the latest food trends in the Shopping Village, meet local producers in the Artisan Market and taste exotic and unusual new dishes in the Feasting Tent – which features a mouth-watering range of street food and delicacies from all four corners of the globe. Other attractions include a fairground, children’s activities, and family-friendly areas.
New features for 2023
*Top TV Chef Challenge: This battle of the best will see winners and finalists of MasterChef competing with the winners of Bake Off and Great British Menu as they take to the live stage, in a highly competitive cook-off to create the most impressive dish.
*Theatre Takeovers: Expect comedy, hit songs, audience participation, Drag Queens, and a lot of fun!
*Green Fingers: meet the experts hosting sessions on grow your own fruit and veg, discover new varieties, recipe ideas and health benefits.
*Doughnut Dash!: A messy race to eat the most doughnuts against the clock…while our host distracts competitors with other silly tasks!
*Cake-aoke: Audience sing ’n’ bake-along with Foodies multi-talented hosts.
Foodies Favourites
*Meet the authors and discover new recipes in the Cookbook Shop – with celebrity signings, photo opportunities and top chefs’ showcasing their latest cookbooks.
*London-based world Chilli eating Champion Shahina Waseem will challenge those brave enough to compete. Competitions will be broadcast to ‘League of Fire’ audiences around the world.
*Kids Can Cook!: Budding junior MasterChefs get creative in the Kids Cookery School, hosted by Foodies SuperChefs.
*The Musicians Against Homelessness main stage will feature over 25 superb artists. Including top headliners, the best of local bands and an introduction to exciting new acts from across the UK.
Director Sue Hitchen said: “Foodies Festivals are a celebration of amazing food, drink and entertainment and we are proud to support local artisan producers and restaurants.
“We’ve all had a difficult few years, so to help keep things affordable festival prices have been frozen for the third year running – even though our stars and features get bigger and better every year. We offer a great value day out for families and friends.”
For the fifth year running, the festival is supporting Musicians Against Homelessness (MAH) with tickets raising money for UK-wide homelessness charity Crisis.
MAH founder Emma Rule said: “We are thrilled to be back at Foodies with our music stage and fantastic line-up of artists, raising much needed funds during these challenging times.”
Dates and tickets
Syon Park, Brentford, TW8 8JF
27th – 29th May 2023 Bank Holiday Weekend
Day tickets from £3 (child) and £19 (adult)
Weekend tickets from £38 (3-day)
On sale now at www.foodiesfestival.com (TRADE members get 20% off tickets, please see the perks section).