Organisers of a hugely popular food festival have confirmed a trio of celebrity chefs will headline the event’s line-up.
Last year, Bishop Auckland Food Festival pulled in a record 30,000 visitors. It will return to the town again this year, on Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23.
The festival, run by Durham County Council, promises a weekend of delicious food and fantastic entertainment for visitors, with some well-known faces taking to the stage throughout.
Three popular celebrity chefs have been booked to appear at the food festival. Phil Vickery, Rachel Allen and Janusz Domagala are set to appear at the event on the Saturday.
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All three celebrity chefs will be wowing visitors with their mouth-watering food demonstrations.
And they’ll be joined by crowd favourite and TV presenter Chris Bavin, who returns as host.
Having been part of the ITV This Morning family for over 22 years, Phil Vickery is firmly regarded as one of Britain’s favourite chefs.
After starting his career as a commis chef at The Burlington Hotel on Folkestone seafront, Phil worked his way up the kitchen ranks.
Phil has worked in Michael’s Nook hotel in Grasmere, the Michelin-starred Gravetye Manor in East Grinstead and Ian McAndrew’s Michelin-starred restaurant, 74, in Canterbury.
As head chef of The Castle hotel in Taunton, Phil won an incredible string of accolades including a Michelin star and 4 Rosettes in the AA guide.
He’s been a fixture on the nation’s television screens too, appearing on Ready Steady Cook, Proof of the Pudding, Phil Vickery’s Pudding Club, and Save Money: Good Diet.
An award-winning author, Phil is also a leading authority on gluten-free products and the National Food Ambassador for Coeliac UK.
Rachel Allen will also take to the stage. Rachel is a bestselling cookery writer, TV chef and celebrated teacher at the world-famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork.
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Raised in Dublin, Rachel studied at Ballymaloe from the age of 18, remaining after graduation to cook at the Ballymaloe House Hotel and Restaurant.
She then set off to cook around the world, returning afterwards to Ballymaloe to work at the cookery school. It was there she found her passion for teaching, where she continues to lecture to this day.
Rachel is a popular figure in the culinary world, with an international audience for her bestselling cookery books and food writing, her live demonstrations, and her much-loved television programmes.
Rachel’s first book and accompanying TV series, Rachel’s Favourite Food, was published and broadcast in 2004. Her books have sold more than one million copies worldwide.
She currently co-hosts The Restaurant alongside Marco Pierre White for RTE and writes a weekly food column for the Sunday Independent.
Janusz Domagala, the stand-out star of 2022’s Great British Bake Off, will also attend.
Having moved to the UK from Poland 11 years ago, the 34-year-old baker not only achieved his dream of appearing on the show but also went through to the semi-finals.
Janusz’s popularity with the British and international public has grown throughout his journey, and he was named one of Heat magazine’s 2022 Stars of the Year.
A keen LGBT+ activist, Janusz has been featured on CBBC’s Saturday Mashup and was a guest in the Christmas special of Channel 4’s The Last Leg.
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The star-studded line up is rounded off by host Chris Bavin, who is well known for co-presenting BBC One’s popular series Eat Well for Less.
He’s also presented Tomorrow’s Food with Dara O’Brian, Food: Truth or Scare with Gloria Hunniford, and has worked alongside Britain's favourite baker, Mary Berry, on Britain’s Best Home Cook with Mary Berry.
The event's Sunday celebrity lineup is set to be announced very soon, along with details of all of the food traders, family entertainment, and cookery workshops.
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