Festival News

 23 Sep 2009 The Victorians are coming

This year the complementary Sunday event in Nantwich Town Centre has a Victorian Country Fair theme and there's lots to entertain the whole family. You will find stilt walkers, jugglers, penny farthings, shire horses, brass bands, puppets, a Victorian kitchen, a Victorian school and much more... All activities are completely free of charge. Come in Victorian dress and join in the fun. More here...

 18 Sep 2009 Famous Foodies

Visitors who want to know their saté from their sauté should head for the festival’s main Cookery Theatre to pick up hints and tips from the experts, including celebrity chef James Tanner, star of Ready, Steady, Cook and Saturday Kitchen.

Full theatre programme now available here...

3 Sep 2009 Love Food Hate Waste

Cheshire East Council is bringing the Love Food Hate Waste message to the Nantwich Food and Drink Festival this year.

In the UK we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year. Most of this food could actually have been eaten.

With the aid of TV chef Richard Fox, each day of the festival will see a programme of demonstrations and activity focusing on the message that we must get more savvy with our food-shopping, and reduce the amount of food we throw away. More here

26 Aug 2009 And now...a taste of history

New this year we are extending our range of attractions to include historic walking tours of Nantwich. The town has a rich and fascinating history going back to Roman times and a wealth of timber framed "black and white" buildings including Churche's Mansion and the Crown Hotel (left). Guides from Nantwich Museum will lead the walks at 2pm each festival day. More here...

12 Aug 2009 IT’S TIME TO VOTE FOR THE PEOPLE’S PIE!
Nantwich Food and Drink Festival 2009 and Chatwins launch
The South Cheshire Pie Elections....

To celebrate this year's Festival, the search is on to discover the ultimate pie and, in the spirit of democracy, the people of South Cheshire are being asked to come forward with their own ideas for delicious pie fillings.

The Crewe and Nantwich Chronicle has joined forces with the festival and legendary local bakers Chatwins to launch the pie election with the aim of combining their foodie expertise with the culinary know-how of local people.

Whether it’s a family recipe that’s been passed down the generations or something a bit more radical, the organisers want to hear your ideas, no matter how pie eyed, so if you think that goat’s cheese and sardines are the ideal combination to go in our pie, then now’s the time to make your voice heard!

The deadline for entries is 1 September, at which time the competition organisers and some very hungry players from Nantwich FC will help to whittle the contenders down to the last three.

Once the finalists are selected these three competing pies will then go head to head at a tasting session taking place outside Chatwins, The Square, Market Street, Nantwich on Saturday 12th September between 9am-4.30pm when the polling booth is opened and the people of Crewe and Nantwich can cast their vote!

The winning pie will then be launched on the opening day of the Nantwich Food and Drink Festival 2009 (Friday 25 September) and will be introduced as a permanent addition to the Chatwins menu. 10% of proceeds made from the sale of the pie will go to support The Railway Children Charity, helping the runaway and abandoned children who live in or around the world's railway stations.

The winner will also receive a year’s supply of pies courtesy of Chatwins!

Download pie election entry form here (PDF, 69kb)

28 Jul 2009 Let's Get Cooking!!

New this year to the Nantwich Food and Drink festival is the Let’s Get Cooking Kitchen which features cookery classes for adults and children. This Big Lottery funded national programme aims to set up 5,000 cooking clubs based in schools by 2012.

Cheshire, Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire clubs have already enrolled and training for them has just started, however there are still places for Associate clubs, who can receive funding and resources. Visit www.letsgetcooking.org.uk/associates for more information. More here...

 24 Jul 2009 Veggie Sausage Fest

On our stand we are going to be cooking a variety of veggie sausages and handing them out for people to taste test. We think it would be quite fun to call it the Veggie Sausage Fest. We accredit over 500 companies world wide and allow them to use our veggie trademark on food products. We thought this would be a quirky way of promoting vegetarianism that would hopefully appeal to all the meat eaters too and encourage everyone to try meat alternatives.

13 Jul 2009 Fix the Food Chain with Friends of the Earth

Multi-award winning South Cheshire Friends of the Earth have confirmed that they are participating in our Festival again this year. They are using the event to launch their new "Fix the Food Chain" campaign. Spokesman Janet Perry said "We will be using the festival to support local farmers and encourage people to buy quality rather than quantity meat and dairy." Find out more about it here...

9 Jul 2009 Calling all Malt Whisky fanatics

New this year for all you malt whisky fans: 30 - 40 malts including ARDBEG, LAPHROAIG, BRUICHLADDICH AND GLENMORANGIE will be available to taste, sessions are included in festival admission price and will be hosted on site by EDENCROFT FINE WINES of Nantwich.

The achievements of Cheshire’s top-performing tourism businesses were celebrated in style during this year’s glittering Visit Chester & Cheshire Awards presentation evening.

More here...