5 August 2015
Get Stuck In And Tuck In At This Years Woking Food And Drink Festival!
This year's Woking Food and Drink Festival, taking place from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 September 2015 across Woking Town Centre, is set to be bigger and better than previous years with more, exciting interactive activities planned for foodies and all the family.
New to the festival this year, the Tante Marie Culinary Academy masterclasses will give participants the chance to learn new skills from the Academys experienced instructors. Hosted in its new state-of-the-art home in Commercial Way, budding chefs will have the opportunity to perfect pasta, master the art of macarons, create delicious light Danish pastries, decorate eye-catching cups cakes and learn the trade secrets of Tante Maries twice baked haddock soufflé one of its signature dishes!
The masterclasses, available for adults and children, will be held on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September from 11am to 3pm at Tante Marie Culinary Academy. Tickets cost £10 per person plus a small booking fee. All proceeds will be donated to LinkAble, a Woking-based charity for children with learning difficulties.
Adding some sizzle to the festival will be the Broil King BBQ Demonstration Stage, located in Gloucester Square. If you thought BBQ fayre was the sole domain of the burger and sausage, then think again as expert chefs and presenters, Richard Fox and Clover Hutson, will inspire, entertain and inform.
Each day, the free drop-in sessions, will run from 11am to 3.30pm, will demonstrate how to BBQ fish and how to create gourmet burgers with all the fixings, BBQ desserts, BBQ side dishes and create the perfect marinades.
For those wishing to experience the 'thrill of the grill' for themselves, there will be cook-along opportunities for individuals, friends and couples that are inspired to have a go by cooking alongside the chefs to create their own BBQ masterpieces! Each BBQ cook-along session will have four BBQ stations available and can accommodate up to four people per station.
Keep the kids entertained at the festivals Childrens Cookery Workshops, held on all three days of the festival. The free workshops offer children of all ages the opportunity to experiment, play and learn. They can discover where the food comes from and how to combine basic ingredients to create delicious items, such as jammy biscuits and rainbow biscuits, which can be taken home to share with all the family.
Also included in this years timetable will be Kids Food Laboratory workshops, where children can experiment with food and combine simple ingredients to create spectacular results! Experiments include creating jelly eruptions, edible slime and bicarb rockets!
The workshops will be run by an experienced chef and children's cookery workshop leader, and a team of friendly helpers. Each day, there will be a scheduled timetable of classes from 10.30am to 3pm, which can accommodate up to 20 children per session.
It is advised that tickets for the Tante Marie masterclasses, and the free childrens cookery classes and Broil King BBQ cook-alongs are pre-booked in advance of the festival to avoid disappointment. Subject to terms and conditions, bookings can be made via the festivals website only at www.wokingfoodadndrinkfestival.co.uk and will be made available week commencing 10 August 2015.
Last, but not least, The Lightbox and WWF-UK Living Planet Centre will be hosting activities in a Fairtrade and Family Quarter on Saturday 5 September.
The Lightbox Café courtyard will feature a range of local produce suppliers and Fairtrade stalls, as well as inviting visitors into the gallery and museum to view its running exhibition, Warhol and the World of Pop Art.
The WWF-UK Living Planet Centre will be bustling with family friendly activities too. Discover where our food comes from, what we should eat more of, and how we can limit food waste. Or, visit WWF-UKs Learning Zone, which will host some creative workshops about healthy food. The workshops are suitable for children aged 4 and over
Talking about whats on at the festival this year, Cllr John Kingsbury, Leader of Woking Borough Council, said: For the third year running, the table is set for another mouth-watering, free Woking Food and Drink Festival. Last years festival attracted in excess of 60,000 visitors over the three-day event and with all these activities on offer, as well as jammed packed schedule of live demonstrations from top chefs and a wide selection of food and produce stalls on offer, its easy to see why!
Im also delighted to announce that last years Woking Food and Drink Festival has been shortlisted for the Best Local Food Event in the Surrey Life Food and Drink Awards. Its great recognition for the team that put on this free, three-day culinary experience, which brings people together to taste something different right on their doorstep, in the heart of their town.
The festival is also enhanced by the Boroughs ongoing transformation, the increase in food and drink related businesses setting up in the area and its growing and diverse population. It has also strengthened partnerships, especially between Woking Borough Council, local businesses and partner organisations, including Tante Marie the jewel in the festivals crown.
In addition to the hands-on culinary activities taking place at the festival, there will be a tented village of over 70 exhibitor stalls located across Woking Town Centre selling freshly prepared dishes and produce.
Celebrity chefs, Monica Galetti (MasterChef: The Professionals co-presenter and judge) and John Whaite (Great British Bake Off winner 2012, author and regular guest chef on ITVs Lorraine) will lead the cracking line up of local chefs who will wow the crowds with their culinary masterpieces and professional stories in Tante Marie Culinary Academy Theatre, Jubilee Square.
So, save the dates, turn up hungry and tuck in its going to be a feastival for all of the family!
Woking Food and Drink Festival 2015 is delivered in partnership with Woking Shopping and sponsored by Tante Marie Culinary Academy, Woking Advertiser and Celebrate Woking. For more information, visit www.wokingfoodanddrinkfestival.co.uk or follow on Twitter at @WokingFoodFest
