The first Flavours of Yorkshire festival has been hailed a ‘huge success’ – after thousands of people enjoyed cookery demonstrations, live music and a whole array of foods, drinks and more.
The brand new food festival was held over the weekend (Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July) at Galtres Park in Pickering, and featured headline guest TV chef James Martin.
The two-day event was organised by Mark Brayshaw of Rockin’ Horse Promotions, who had previously organised Malton’s Food Lovers Festival.
“We have had a fantastic weekend, with the weather mostly kind to us, inspirational food demonstrations by Yorkshire’s own James Martin and a host of local chefs, the Grand Prix and live entertainment in the bar,” said Mark.
“The response we’ve received has been really positive, with many calls for this to become an annual fixture in Yorkshire’s event calendar.”
In his demonstrations on Saturday, James Martin showed how it is possible to make a three-course meal from scratch in just 30 minutes, with a menu featuring deep-fried soft-shell crabs, barbecue lamb chops and finishing with a lemon Swiss roll topped with strawberries and raspberries.
Whilst cooking, he entertained the audiences with stories of his times in kitchens with top chefs, honing his skills.
It was a homecoming event for North Yorkshire-born James Martin, who grew up in Malton.
“It’s good to be back,” James told YorkMix‘s Victoria Charles at the festival. “It feels a bit surreal to be back after all these years – I rarely get chances to come up here unless I’m coming to see my family.
“The support Yorkshire has for food – it’s always been there. The knowledge that people have for it, and the respect for it. It’s only right that we have an amazing selection of restaurants, hotels, cafes and brilliant suppliers here.”
On Sunday, local chefs took to the stage for free demonstrations, including Gilly Robinson from The Cook’s Place, Ollie Farrar from Malton’s Forty Six, Richie Stamp-Mason from Tofoo & Co, Kathryn Bumby from The Yorkshire Pasta Company and master pâtissier, Florian Poirot.
Flavours of Yorkshire is the first of three events Mark has been working on with the team at Galtres Park to organise this year.
Earlier this year, he travelled to China to source pyrotechnics for a fireworks spectacular taking place on Saturday 7 November. Planning is also underway for Pickering Snowglobe, a giant indoor Christmas market for the first week in December – completely protected from the elements, but full of festive cheer, gift ideas and food.
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