A guided tour is to give foodies visiting the Bishop Auckland Food Festival a chance to travel through County Durham sampling its most delicious food and drink.
A Tasty Tours bus will pick up festivalgoers at 12.00 midday on Sunday 2nd April and take them off on a culinary journey around the county.
One of several events organised by the festival and Visit County Durham’s Taste Durham initiative, the tour will be calling on some of the county’s top food producers.
The tour will kick off with a visit to McCall’s Brewery. This little Teesdale brewery, due to open later this spring, will give the tour’s participants a preview sample of its unashamedly British beers, with the chance to even take a few home.
Kickasscheese… Bishop Auckland Food Festival was unbelievable pic.twitter.com/EwZmKheL5t
— Paul Murphy (@PaulHMurphy) April 26, 2016
The tour will then call at the Bradley Burn Farm Shop. Housed in a log cabin overlooking a burn in the beautiful Durham Dales, the shop will offer the opportunity to taste fine local cheeses and excellent chutneys. Participants will each get a jar of Bradley Burn Farm’s own chutney to take away.
The last stop on the tour will be Cross Lanes Organic Farm. Built and run entirely on ecological principals, the farm makes sure all its produce is organic, green and local. Visitors will get to have a go at making sausages, which they can then take home.
Durham County Council’s portfolio holder for economic regeneration, arts and culture, Cllr Neil Foster, said, “This is a fantastic addition to the festival, and furthermore is a great opportunity to find out more about the culinary delights County Durham has to offer.”
Get the lowdown on the Bishop Auckland Food Festival – April 2017 – via @CannyFood Food https://t.co/7gNOPvh7TX #loveNEfood pic.twitter.com/f4lTgDigoY
— Katie Bryson (@cookingkt) March 9, 2017
Tickets for the tour, of which only a limited number are available, can be purchased from www.bishopaucklandfoodfestival.co.uk. They can also be bought from Durham’s Gala Theatre on 03000 266 600 or from Bishop Auckland Town Hall on 03000 269 524.
The tour is just one way in which the Bishop Auckland Food Festival will be celebrating quality Durham produce. The festival will feature a Durham Producer Market, and the top chefs holding workshops and masterclasses will be using local ingredients.
Tom and Henry Herbert, Channel Four’s Fabulous Baker Brothers, will be using spring lamb from Witton Gilbert’s Broom House Farm when they demonstrate how to make their ‘posh kebabs’.
In addition, a film will be produced to promote food and drink experiences in County Durham. The film will feature the county’s top eateries, its local produce and, of course, the Bishop Auckland Food Festival itself.
Taste Durham is a Visit County Durham initiative that works to improve the quality of the county’s food and drink, encourages the use of local produce and promotes County Durham as a destination for food lovers.
The managing director of Visit County Durham, Michelle Gorman, said, “With over a third of a visitor’s total expenditure being spent on food and drink, this sector has an important role to play in the local economy.”
“We are delighted that Taste Durham is being featured throughout the Bishop Auckland Food Festival, with the new partnership producing exciting additions to the 2017 programme.”
This year’s Bishop Auckland Food Festival will also feature an expanded artisan food and drink quarter, various children’s activities, fine food from around the world, and workshops from a variety of top chefs, including royal chef Rob Kennedy.
The entertainment provided will include brass music in the Bish and Hop, a Bavarian-style beer cellar set up in an empty shop on Newgate Street. A stand-up comedy night, The Big Comedy Feast, will be headlined by the I, Daniel Blake star Dave Johns.
More details about the festival, which will take place on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd April, can be found at www.bishopaucklandfoodfestival.co.uk.
