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Rochdale Food and Drink Festival rolls into town on Saturday, 16 March 2019, packed with stalls, live cooking, star chefs, bars, workshops, family entertainment and music.

Rochdale Town Hall stages the festival from 11am to 8pm, with food and drink fans from across the region expected to descend on the town for the event, organised by the team behind Rochdale Feel Good Festival. Over 4,500 people turned out to enjoy the festivals debut last year.

Chefs Dean Edwards, Andrew Nutter, Aazam Ahmad, Noo Meenan, Austin Hopley (The Baum) and Adolfus Lewis (The Hare on the Hill) will be cooking live, with 40-minute demonstrations packed with tips, techniques and the opportunity to ask questions.

You can book last minute tickets online or on the day if available on a first come, first served basis. If you don’t manage to grab tickets, there’s a free seating area in the Clock Tower Dining Room where you can watch chef demonstrations on a big screen, sponsored by The Quirky Catering Company.

Mr Bloom from CBeebies will be performing inside the town hall during the day featuring veggie stories, gardening games and catchy nursery songs for tiddlers and their parents!! His first 2 shows are sold out, but a few tickets are available for his final appearance at 3.30pm.

Also for families with young children – there are Shake, Rattle and Roll workshops at 12.15pm and 2.30pm – children will get the chance to explore instruments, create sounds, sing songs, dance, move, socialise and make a big noise!! Little Hens are hosting children’s cookery classes and for older children, the Mad Science team will be hosting spectacular free workshops in their pop up tent, featuring amazing food related science experiments and a lot of fun.

There’s a food and drink village selling delicious dishes, fantastic street food, pop-up shops, bars and more. There will be meaty, veggie and vegan delights, combining a mix of healthy choices and tempting treats. Visitors can take their pick from Turkish breads and fillings, Italian tapas, salads, and delicious wood-fired pizzas. There will also be Chinese, Thai, Greek and Pan Asian street food, gourmet burgers, fusion quesadillas and homemade pies. For those with a sweet tooth there will be pancakes and churros available. There will also be plenty of conveniently-located bars selling a range of alcoholic and soft drinks. 

Inside there will be also be around 25 stalls selling food and gifts to take home, including cheeses, chutneys, relishes, stews, olives, Indian street food, Caribbean cakes, honey muffins, artisan chocolates, biscuits, fudge and desserts. On the ground floor there will be a series of free workshops including ‘Chocolate Making Creations.’ Across the road at The Medicine Tap there will gin and sausage tasting from 12noon – 4pm.

You’ll be able to get a sneak preview of their new Vault Cocktail Bar whilst you enjoy complimentary premium distilled Defiance gins. But that’s not all – you’ll also be able to sample a selection of quality British sausages from the famous Cowman’s Butchers in the Ribble Valley. 

There’s also a menu of live music to keep you entertained while you tuck in, with a covered seating area. Opening the stage will be Rochdale’s Joe Dunne. Joe will be followed at 1pm by the return of #Hashtag – a Rochdale-based acoustic quartet who specialise in their own versions of classic tracks by the likes of Bowie, T-Rex, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and more. At 2pm look out for Rochdale singer/songwriter Katie O’Malley and then at 3pm making their festival debut will be 25th Hour – a new young indie/rock band. From 4pm don’t miss southern rock style country duo Between the Vines.


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