The Council’s annual Bishop Auckland Food Festival, originally scheduled to take place on 18 and 19 April, was cancelled, so a virtual food festival will support the traders instead
With the nation under state lockdown and food events cancelled across the county, many of the festival’s producers are offering special discounts and deliveries direct to people’s homes.
Have a look at all the treats, like local cheeses, baked breads and vegan bakes, spicy sauces, delicious chocolates and macarons, on offer here.
Calders Kitchen has an April-long discount on a mixed box of any three handmade piccalillis for £10, plus a 20 per cent discount off all online purchases.
Street food company Hogs N Chix is offering “Scran 2 U” frozen meals with contactless delivery. Sarah England said: “We are a local family business, the Bishop Auckland Food Festival is the highlight of our year. We created the Yorkie Wrap especially for the Festival in 2016.
We have come up with a unique delivery menu, including individual and pensioner portions. It is important to still have healthy delicious food, with contactless delivery and payment.
We leave the food on the doorstep and make sure the food is picked up before leaving, all at a safe distance. This is an absolutely fabulous idea and initiative by Bishop Auckland Food Festival. We appreciate it, as a lot of small businesses will struggle and may not come out the other side. Based in Durham, we are delivering across the North East including DH, DL, TS, SR and NE postcodes.”
The Hedgehog Bakery has postal treat boxes of six items, including a brownie, a blondie, a rocky road, a slice of tiffin and a cookie, available nationwide: be ready on Monday morning for their Facebook notification and order right away before they sell out for the week.
Burtree Puddings’ new Virus Special offer care packages, which can be delivered throughout the UK, make the perfect gift, including sticky puddings, tea loaves and flapjacks.
Lea Darling said: “I think what Bishop Auckland Food Festival is doing for the traders is fantastic. It is a huge event in our calendar and our most local. We are so sad that it cannot run this year. We, like other traders, are working hard to keep business running with the current coronavirus pandemic putting a stop to all our events we had planned.
We wanted to be able to provide something that people could send to their loved ones to put a smile on their face. We have created care packages for one, two or four people with a mixture of our delicious puddings, cakes and flapjacks. We have had fantastic feedback so far and really hope we are doing our bit to bring some joy to people who are stuck at home during this difficult time.
One customer commented ‘you are bridging a lonely gap in my life with loveliness, it’s at times like this that people like you play an important part in the life of strangers’.”
Cllr Joy Allen said: “Bishop Auckland Food Festival is the region’s biggest food event and a key date in the foodie calendar. With this year’s festival cancelled, we’re hoping that people will take advantage of the great initiatives, offers and services traders are working on.
I’d encourage everyone who can to support our local producers.”
