The Grade I listed former cloth hall in Halifax will host four weekends of foodie fun, curated by Leeds Indie Food Festival
Its original trade was cloth, but Halifax’s Piece Hall will be featuring traders of a very different kind this summer - namely street food and booze.
That’s because Chow Down, a pop-up food fest curated by Leeds Indie Food Festival, is launching this month: promising a monthly market of independent food pop-ups, ale, cocktails, live music and DJs at the Grade I listed Georgian Hall.
From veggies to vegans and committed carnivores, the line-up caters to all tastes. Traders for the first weekend (29 June - 1 July) include: WagYu Lookin’ At (steak sandwiches), Meat:Stack (American cheeseburgers), Proove Pizza (wood-fired pizza), FOOD4FESTIVAL (Greek street food), Froconut (soft serve dairy-free ice cream and doughnuts), Golden Balls (arancini) and Go Get Stuffed (toasted Arabic-style flatbreads ‘Naan-wiches’).
Also there for the opening weekend are Sabroso Street (Mexican street food), The Baking Biker (cakes and cookie dough), POCO (Sicilian street food), Yorkshire Pie Bakery (pork pies), Rockin’ Buddha (vegan Chinese street food), Yorkshire Dama Cheese (grilled halloumi cheese), The Cure (British cured meats and artisan snacks) and Drizzle City Cakes (cakes and other goodies).
As well as food stalls, Chow Down will feature a Yorkshire farmers’ and produce market; &/Or Emporium, featuring arts, crafts, print and plant stalls; a central craft beer and ale tent showcasing leading local and national breweries; a cocktail, Prosecco and wine bar; an Aperol cocktail bar; Sela Bar’s cocktail ice cream van; and a communal outdoor dining space.
There will also be DJs and live music spanning brass bands to acoustic sessions: Friday 29 June will feature a DJ session from Balearic Social, while Saturday 30 June will include sets from Soul Boutique, Funkademia and Disco Illusions as well as a live brass band. Sunday is being curated by Tight Lines, with more acts to be confirmed.
Leeds Indie Food founder, Simon Fogal, said: “We visited the site in late 2017 and we were blown away with the scale and ambition of the whole space. It will be an honour to bring an exciting food event to The Piece Hall, for what could be the biggest food event in the North. We will have loads of announcements in the next few weeks.
"The Piece Hall is one of the most interesting and eye-catching venues we've seen, and we think it'll be the perfect setting for a summer market of street food from around the UK, real ales, cocktails and music.”
Chow Down takes place on 29 June-1 July, 20-22 July, 31 August-2 September and 28-30 September. Times are 4-10pm (Friday), 11am-10pm (Saturday) and 11am-7pm (Sunday).
About the Piece Hall:
Re-opened on 1 August 2017, The Grade I Listed Piece Hall is a contemporary leisure, retail, cultural and heritage destination and the beating heart of a world-class cultural quarter. The 66,000 sq ft open-air piazza is enclosed by a retail and leisure mix of independent new start-ups, expanding local businesses and returning tenants.
Since reopening The Piece Hall has been recognised by the British Guild of Travel Writers, being ‘highly commended’ in the Best UK Tourism Project category and announced overall UK winner at the Historic England Angel Awards; at which Claire Slattery, Calderdale Council’s Arts and Heritage Manager, was also awarded Best Rescue of a Historic Building.
The Piece Hall Trust is a charitable organisation created to manage and sustain the future of The Piece Hall following a multi-million pound transformation.
