New Brighton Seaside Festival Serves Up a Feast of Fabulous Food and Drink

The New Brighton Seaside Festival is fast approaching and has all the right ingredients for an amazing weekend.

One of the highlights of the event will undoubtedly be the fabulous food and drink offering and organisers of the three-day family event, Orb Events, are offering a little taster of the food and drink programme to whet festival goers' appetites.

The first large scale seaside festival of its kind in the area, the weekender taking place over the Spring Bank Holiday (27-29 May) promises to dish up cocktail of amazing street food, chef demos and fun foodie activities for little chefs to get involved in.

There will be a hive of fun foodie activities taking place in the Chef's Theatre at Fort Perch Rock throughout the weekend.

Saturday afternoon will see a Comedy Cook Off from 12noon to 12.45pm. Locally renowned chef, owner of Yacht Club Catering and one of the organisers of Global Scouse Day, Adam Franklin, will go head to head with Scouse stand-up genius BrenDan Riley in this must-see session. This hilarious show will mix cooking and comedy as Adam creates mouth-watering culinary delights whilst Brendan provides us with a good healthy portion of banter.

The comedy capers will be followed by Food Foraging from 2pm to 2.45pm. It will be a case of on your marks, get set... go as a dash to the onsite producers' market provides top chef Adam with the ingredients to cook a fantastic tasty meal with only three ingredients foraged from the festival's onside marquee and all this against the clock! This exciting and fun session is sure to be a real crowd pleaser.

Who doesn't like a good eating competition? Fancy yourself as the next hot dog scoffing champion or if that's not your style, how about showing your skills with a spot of oyster shucking? Then don't miss the Fun Food Challenger from 4pm to 4.45pm. Join the crowd or join in. Support your favourite contestant or put your name down to enter the lively programme of various challenges throughout the day.

Sunday will host a feast of fun for the whole family all day long so bring your little Nigellas and Gordon Ramsays over to the Junior Chefs' Academy where they refine their culinary skills in a fun and friendly environment.

Junior Chefs' Academy is a leading provider of healthy eating workshops and food education event which works with schools throughout the UK to develop an active interest in how food is produced and prepared and deliver the healthy eating message in a memorable and fun way.

There will be kids' cookery sessions running throughout the day under the theme of Pirates Food Preservation. Your budding buccaneers can learn how to rustle up Pirate Pineapple Creole and find out about food preservation - whilst discovering lots of fun facts about fungus! For more information about Junior Chefs' Academy visit www.juniorchefsacademy.co.uk

Meanwhile, on Monday you can enjoy a superb platter of chefs' demonstrations from the Wirral's premier chefs including Heswall's critically acclaimed neighbourhood restaurant, Burnt Truffle who will be on hand to walk visitors through a masterclass in restaurant-quality food that's achievable at home.

From 12noon to 12.45pm, learn how to make sourdough bread - from starter to dough - with Little Eye Bakery. Master baker Malcolm Williams has been baking sourdough bread for over 30 years and set up Little Eye in West Kirby in 2010 to promote excellent local foods and handmade breads. Malcom will take a look at the different stages of sourdough - starting and keeping the culture/making a sponge/making doughs/slow rises - sharing plenty of practical tips on the way and homemade sourdough for visitors to try at the end.

Next up, meet the chefs from Riviera Restaurant from 1pm to 1.45pm. Combining the best fresh and seasonal ingredients, Riviera's Chef team will offer an inspired yet simple and delicious interpretation of French Mediterranean, Ligurian and Niçoise cuisine. With culinary influences of the Côte d'Azur, their main goal is to make simple, flavour-packed food, all served in a relaxed environment for their guests.

From 2pm - 2.45pm - chefs from Burnt Truffle, a neighbourhood bistro on Telegraph Road in Heswall will be demonstrating the best in fresh, humble bistro cooking. Burnt Truffle's food has a strong emphasis on provenance its chefs will be showcasing the best of Wirral produce.

From 3pm - 3.45pm - meet Ben Mounsey, head chef at Lawns at Thornton Hall Hotel who has worked at some of the world's finest restaurants, as well as the 1 Michelin Starred Restaurant Fraiche under the tutelage of Chef Patron Marc Wilkinson helping gain the establishment's fourth AA rosette and contributing to the restaurant receiving the coveted Times number one Restaurant of the year. Now based at Lawns, Ben has built a team and menu based around an ethos of "passion is paramount."

From 4pm to 4.20pm and 4.40pm - 5pm - you can enjoy wine tasting sessions with Christine Downs from Cabovinos, a Mediterranean inspired wine bar and tapas restaurant which brings a taste of the Med to New Brighton. Cabovino holds regular tasting evenings hosted by WSET qualified team members and is looking forward to introducing you to wine tasting during the festival weekend.

As well as demonstrations, there will be plenty of opportunities to sample the new spring menus from local chefs, restaurants and food businesses, as well as seasonal treats from a host of regional producers.

Foodies can take their pick from a plethora of street food traders; including, Fat Sam's Kitchen, Nine Lives Vegan, Ank Marvin and Chaat Cart. Take a stroll over to the gin garden and artisan market or head to the undercover seating area and take a break in the shade, to sample some local craft beer or even dabble in a cocktail class or two.

And if that's not enough to fill your boots, there'll be lots of live entertainment, family activities and a host of seaside-themed attractions - this exciting addition to the region's event calendar is not to be missed.

The Festival begins at 10am each day from Saturday, May 27 to Monday, May 29. With a varied and interactive programme across three days, the weekend is guaranteed to put a spring in the step of family visitors just in time for the Bank Holiday break.

A park and ride service will be available. For more information visit http://www.seaside-festival.co.uk/

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Online at www.ticketquarter.co.uk/Online/seaside-festival or telephone 0844 8000 410.

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