CityLife

Preview: Manchester Food And Drink Festival 2010

Manchester Food And Drink Festival 2010

October 1 to 11, 2010

Exciting news for foodies everywhere – this week, the organisers of the annual Manchester Food & Drink Festival have outlined some of the highlights in the 2010 calendar.

With lots of fresh names on board and a brand new city centre pavilion, the festival runs from October 1 to 11 and looks set to be the best ever as it celebrates its 13th birthday with the support of media partners the Manchester Evening News, Holland’s Pies, Manchester City Council, Robinson’s Brewery, Metrolink and Forever Manchester.

Manchester Food & Drink’s director, Siobhan Hanley, says this year is all about building on past successes. “This will be the most exciting festival yet,” she says. “The ambition is to create an event that can compete on a national stage, while staying true to the people, products and brands that make Manchester great.”

In previous years, the festival has brought internationally renowned chefs to the region – among them, Michel Roux, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Masterchef’s John Torode – and there’ll be more chef demos this year, too.

As always, the pavilion – this year in Albert Square – is the hub of all the activity. It’s there that everything starts on Friday, October 1 with the MFDF Oktober Festival, in association with Kro, part of the festival’s opening weekend.

A ‘totally new layout and a series of events linked together to start the celebration with a real bang’ is promised.

Educating us about where all this fine food comes from is the Local Producers Market in St Ann’s Square, selling both raw food and cooked dishes throughout the festival.

And for those who prefer to eat out too, there’ll be plenty of great offers on meals in some of the city’s finest restaurants, pubs, cafes and delis.

As always, there’s some local focus to the programme via the Independent And Local Wine Festival, this year from October 9 to 10 at the People’s History Museum.

Back for a second year, the wine festival is a chance to taste and to learn as makers take specialist masterclasses and tutorials in making and tasting.

The City Fete, too, brings the community spirit into the city on October 3, when tombolas, kids’ rides, cakes sales, hog roasts, coconut shies and live music take over the pavilion.

Midweek, the Festival Finale begins in the Festival Pavilion for four days of sensational dining.

This year, organisers have gone all out to make it a memorable event by adding themed dining rooms, multiple bar areas, chef demonstrations, a daily barbeque and food sampling.

There will also be the MFDF Chilli Festival on October 1, the Chocolate Festival the day after and the Real Ale festival in the Pavilion on October 2 and 3.

Over at the Whisky Lounge, in Manchester Town Hall, wee drams produced by some of the finest whisky houses are on offer at the Whisky Festival on October 2.

Also, especially for the festival, headline sponsors of the event, Holland’s Pies, will celebrate their partnership with Coronation Street by literally giving fans a flavour of the nation’s favourite street as it approaches its 50th Anniversary. Holland’s will exclusively reveal their all-new, limited Edition, Corrie Pie range for festival revellers to enjoy.

Co-director and founder Phil Jones leads the gala awards ceremony on October 11, at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate – hosted by the kitchen run by top Manchester chef David Gale (pictured above) – which will celebrate the restaurants, bars, chefs, pubs, shops and other foodie heroes from Greater Manchester who have wowed the judges this year.

Speaking about the festival, Phil says: “We’re truly excited about this year’s event.

“With strong commitment from celebrated local brands, we’re confident this year’s festival will be remarkable.”

Manchester Food & Drink Festival runs from Friday, October 1 to 11. A full calendar of events is available at www.foodanddrinkfestival.com, or on 0161 839 3461. Read CityLife and CityLife.co.uk in the weeks ahead.