Nantwich Food Festival has great news for Festival 2025!

Following detailed consultation with Cheshire East Council (CEC), it has been agreed that Nantwich Food Festival will fund the use of the town centre car parks to house the food courts.

The use of the car parks is an essential feature of the Festival and something that encourages Festival visitors to take the opportunity to shop and eat in our lovely town businesses as well as with the Festival exhibitors.

Festival Director and Sponsorship Manager, Nanna Pedley explains the work now needed following this agreement “As Nantwich Food Festival is free to enter its income is solely gained from sponsorship and exhibitor stall rentals; this money is used to hire all the essential equipment that ensures a safe and well-run event that we all love. 

“Having secured this agreement with CEC, we are now keen to discuss sponsorship of the car park sites with any local business that may be interested” 

Nanna continues, saying “If your business is seeking to support this major event, whilst gaining publicity for your company, please contact me on nanna.pedley@nantwichfoodfestival.co.uk

Festival Director, Richard Morgan-Wynne concludes by saying “We would like to thank Cheshire East for their support over many years in allowing the Festival to use the car parks, and recognise the financial pressures they are under.”

This means that the countdown to Nantwich Food Festival 2025 has already begun in earnest, and the clock is ticking! Locals will be pleased to hear that the Festival dates can be confirmed as Friday 29th, Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August inclusive, as usual before children restart school in September.

There is certainly plenty to report even at this early stage as so much of the behind-the-scenes work by the Festival organisers has been proceeding as car park funding has been under discussion.

Therefore it’s great to hear from Exhibitor Manager, Julian Thompson, that a whopping three quarters of available exhibitor spaces have already been booked for this year and that he has already booked 12 new-to-Nantwich exhibitors.

He is pleased to confirm that the Farmers Market will take place on Festival Saturday, with the Artisan Market in place on Festival Sunday.

Those who took part in the great Cookalong kitchen events over the past two years will be delighted to hear that – due to its popularity – it will again feature in Festival 2025. The Cookalong kitchen enables we foodies to follow recipes, prepare meals and enjoy tastings under the expert guidance and tuition of local and celebrity chefs.

Sessions will be in place for both adults and children. The events will open for bookings in the summer and will undoubtedly sell out fast, so keep your eyes peeled for press and social media announcements so that you can be in with a good chance of booking your place on your favourite Cookalong session!

Chef Demonstrations are a key part of Nantwich Food Festival and are all held in an all-weather marquee with ample seating. Festival chef organiser, Karen Young tells us “I am thrilled to announce a start to the wonderful line-up of Celebrity Chefs who will be demonstrating this year.”

In addition to the talented Nigel Brown, who returns this year as both much admired celebrity chef and compere, Karen can confirm that celebrity chef Phil Vickery will be here in Nantwich.

Phil Vickery is a chef, presenter and cookery book author, with a total of 19 cookbooks to his name! Having been part of the This Morning family for over 22 years, he is firmly regarded as one of Britain’s favourite chefs.

More information on Phil’s pedigree will follow, but foremost we must focus on the fact that for anyone with gluten intolerance or Coeliac Disease, Phil is most definitely your man!

He is the leading authority on gluten free products and recipes and is the National Food Ambassador for Coeliac UK. Phil’s most recent cookbook, published in 2022, is The Canny Cook.

Finally, it is important to highlight that Volunteers are the backbone of Nantwich Food Festival, so whilst anyone wishing to volunteer for this year will be welcomed with open arms at the first social event, more information about the date and venue will be publicized shortly.

If you just can’t wait, please contact Kate Fox, the new Festival Volunteer Co-ordinator, who would love to hear from you; Kate can be contacted at mailto:volunteers@nantwichfoodfestival.co.ukvolunteers@nantwichfoodfestival.co.uk

In addition to general volunteering roles, there are those that need work throughout the year, and Kate confirms that she is still seeking someone who wishes to champion the cause of Sustainability and Waste management; please contact Kate if you feel you could take on this crucial role.

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