Hundreds of foodies and grub lovers flocked to one County Durham town this weekend for its much anticipated annual food festival – take a look at our gallery below.
Bishop Auckland Food Festival kicked off today (April 20) and the town was flooded with hungry attendees roaming some 150 stalls scattered across the town centre and marketplace.
Organised by Durham County Council, the annual event attracted 28,000 people last year with hopes this number could be topped this year.
Loaded fries, bubble tea, crepes, waffles and fudge were all on the menu as families with their loyal pooches perused the stalls and watched celebrity demos – which included Great British Bake Off Finalist Dan Hunter and plant based BOSH! Duo Henry Firth and Ian Theasby.
Leader of Durham County Council, Cllr Amanda Hopgood, expressed her joy at the event and its positive atmosphere.
She said: “It’s great to be here today. The sun is shining which makes such a difference as so much work goes into planning the festival.
“Everyone is smiling, it’s such a lovely atmosphere with so much for people to participate in.”
She added: “We hope to bring in over 30,000 people this weekend which will be such a massive boost for the town.
“People who have never been here will visit and now know what’s going on – hopefully this will encourage people to come back and visit.”
The Dales Fudge Co, based in Wolsingham, was just one of the stalls that set up to sell their wide variety of fudge and said the festival has been “fabulous” so far.
Run by husband and wife Jackie and Derrick Dett with niece Ashleigh, the trio expressed their joy at the boost it's given Bishop Auckland as a whole.
Derrick said: “Bishop Auckland is changing – it has been slow but it is changing now.”
One celebrity chef duo who cooked up a storm on Saturday was BOSH! duo Henry Firth and Ian Theasby who whipped up some vegan cauliflower curry tacos.
During their demonstration, the chefs said they have been to many a food festival up and down the country but Bishop’s is “one of the best”.
They added to be a part of the festival, which is a hue boost for the county is “an honour”.
Henry added: “Seeing the community come together in difficult times is just great to see and we are so proud to be a part of it.”
Pictures from the first day of the festival show the packed-out town filled with happy revellers milling about as the weather remained sunny
Here’s our gallery of the first day of the festival (April 20) – can you spot yourself?
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