Bolton Food Festival held a launch event on Saturday 13th June with Dragons’ Den stars and top chefs that marked the countdown to Bolton’s 10th Food and Drink Festival.
A marquee opened in Victoria Square, from 11am to 3pm, providing information about the top 10 things on the menu this year. A spectacular midday display of fireworks and confetti marked the official countdown to the festival.
Guests included former Coronation Street star - now award-winning cheese maker and chef - Sean Wilson, and renowned Bolton chef Mike Harrison. Wilson, who came to the festival last year, will be back again in August doing free cookery demos in Bolton Market.
Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Cliff Morris, said: “We’ve arranged a mini festival this Saturday to give people a flavour of what to expect in August.
“In the marquee, people can find out the top ten things to do this special birthday year. I’m really proud of how the festival has grown and the tens of thousands of visitors it attracts from far afield.”
Market traders Great Ale, Shima Rice and Noodles and Nkono were selling their food and drink in stalls set up near the marquee, and there were street entertainers in the town centre and Bolton Market, as well as live music to entertain shoppers plus supermarket giant Aldi held raffles and were giving out freebies.
The festival (held from Friday, August 28 to Monday, August 31) is organised by Bolton Council in association with Aldi.
Celebrities performing this year include actress and winner of Celebrity MasterChef 2010 Lisa Faulkner, Aussie chef John Torode and festival favourite James Martin together with shows from CBeebies star Katy Ashworth.
Tickets for the chefs and special events are available from Bolton Octagon Theatre or 01204 520661. The box office is open 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday.
To keep up to date with the latest news visit the website, follow Bolton Food and Drink Festival page on Facebook or @boltonfoodfest on Twitter.
Sponsors are Aldi, Greenhalgh’s, Ikea, Market Place Shopping Centre and Stateside Foods. Partners are Agilisys, Bolton Market, Impression Ltd, Kro Bar, Marriott, Octagon Theatre, and Slattery's.
Photo credit: Dominic Holden
