Watch Rochdale Food & Drink Festival chef demonstrations live this weekend

Photo: Sam Kutereba-Wall

Andrew Nutter will be streaming his cookery demo online (photo from 2016)

Saturday’s Rochdale Food & Drink Festival may have been cancelled, but three of the chefs who were due to be cooking in the festival kitchen will be streaming their 40 minute demonstrations live on the internet instead.

The chefs are bringing a taste of the festival kitchen to you on Saturday - at 11.15am star chef Andrew Nutter will be streaming his sold out cookery demo on Facebook Live, cooking ‘Nutters Chicken Kiev.’ You’re welcome to cook along with Andrew if you have the ingredients which are listed on the festival Facebook page (link below).

Andrew will be followed at 12.15pm by Austin Hopley from Bombay Brew, Rochdale’s sizzling new Indian street food restaurant.

At 2pm you’ll be able to watch Tom McNeeney, head chef at local family pub The Oxford. A familiar face on the area’s culinary scene, he last appeared at the event in 2018 and attracted a capacity crowd at Rochdale Feel Good Festival back in 2016.

Looking ahead to his demonstration Austin Hopley said: “It’s a tough time at the moment so I want to help by showing you all how to make some of Bombay Brew’s most popular dishes at home. Cooking and serving food for people always makes me feel better and I hope it will you too. Everyone who was planning to visit the festival on Saturday can see me on Facebook Live in the kitchen at Bombay Brew. You’re all welcome.”

To watch live, visit the festival Facebook page on Saturday from 11.15am. You’ll also be able to watch recordings later following the live streams.

• www.facebook.com/RochdaleFoodFestival

Councillor Janet Emsley, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, community and culture at Rochdale Borough Council added:

“We were so hoping to be able to deliver a fantastic festival to support our traders and local businesses this time. We had a fantastic line-up, with the team and our partners putting a lot of time, resources and energy into it. I hope people will enjoy these three live demonstrations which will be a lot of fun and everyone will come back and join us in 2021.”

With Rochdale Town Hall due to close for a major refurbishment at the end of the year, Rochdale Food & Drink Festival is due to move to a new venue in 2021, with the Rochdale Riverside leisure and retail development a likely location.