BILL ELMS ASSOCIATES I PRESS RELEASE
XX MARCH 2014 I FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FARM FEAST ANNOUNCES EXPLOSIVE, FIERY AND FLAMBOYANT
PROGRAMME OF DEMOS FROM CELEBRITY CHEFS AND LOCAL FOOD HEROES
A trilogy of top culinary experts from very different areas of the food and drink world has been
announced to headline the Chef’s Theatre at Farm Feast - a food, drink and music extravaganza
which takes over Wirral’s Claremont Farm this May Bank Holiday on Sunday 25 and Monday 26
May. In addition to these three famous names, a host of local food heroes and acclaimed
Merseyside chefs will deliver exciting and varied interactive demos and masterclasses over the
course of the weekend.
Stefan Gates, better known as TV’s ‘The Gastronaut’, Indian food guru Nisha Katona and Great
British Bake Off finalist Brendan Lynch will join a host of the Northwest region’s most talented chefs
to wow visitors with exciting demonstrations and workshops at the ‘Chef’s Theatre’ and other areas
of the festival.
TV food adventurer Stefan Gates will provide an action-packed gastronautic experience for visitors
to the Chef’s Theatre. Expect to see the food maestro - with the help of audience volunteers perform custard-powder flame-throwing, milk frothing leading to the Bernoulli air pressure effect
and air-golf using leaf blowers and beach balls, as well as distributing his food creations including
‘bum sandwiches’ for all...
Onlookers will also have a chance to see live grasshoppers and be offered edible insects while Stefan
gives an exploration of digestion using flatulence experiments, rumination and a cow’s 400 litres of
daily gas, explained using a fire extinguisher. Expect multiple explosions with weird food science
that is sure not to disappoint.
Farm Feast organisers are also delighted to announce that The Great British Bake-Off finalist
Brendan Lynch will visit the festival this year to wow visitors with his flamboyant and beautiful
baking talents.
Brendan will be bringing his expert baking know how to the Good Life Marquee on the Sunday of the
festival to wow watchers with his Baltic Cinnamon and Orange Kringle. Visitors won’t be able to
resist giving this show stopper a go when back at home after Brendan guides them expertly through
the preparation, baking and decoration of this classic Estonian desert. The passionate baker will also
appear at the Chef’s Theatre, demonstrating a bake that people often shy away from, Petit Four
Choux Cygnets. This complicated bake will be well within individual skill set after Brendan fills
visitors with confidence, as he talks step by step through some favourite choux recipes, such as
eclairs and profiteroles.
Those that watched Great British Bake-Off know of Brendan’s passion to encourage others to use
baking as a form of therapeutic activity in retirement villages. He is also loved by a young audience
and is aiming to run courses for teenagers in the future.
Curry Queen Nisha Katona will not only be compering the Chef's Theatre, bringing her passion and
personality for all things food to the stage for the weekend, but also she will present her outstanding
skills of making the perfect curry, taking visitors step by step through the creation of, arguably,
Britain’s number one dish, the Chicken Tikka Masala. It’s one of Nisha’s favourites and visitors will
have a chance to get some tips and tricks from the curry guru herself!
Farm Feast visitors will have a chance to meet and take photographs with all the chefs appearing
over the weekend, as well as having their own culinary queries answered in q&a sessions.
Farm Feast will also see master classes from acclaimed local chefs including Adam Franklin, chef at
Liverpool Yacht club, arguably the purveyor of Liverpool best Sunday roast, and the brand new head
chef at Liverpool’s acclaimed London Carriageworks, Dave Critchley. Adam and Dave are heavily
involved with Liverpool’s ‘Project Scouse’, whose mission is to produce a range of regional dishes
(some traditional and some new) and accompanying beverages with the emphasis solely on local
produce, and their demos will have local cuisine at their heart.
Other demonstrations will include a master chocolatier demo from The Chocolate Cellar, Cheese
Making with The City Cottage and Chorlton Cheese, a Butchery Masterclass from Edge & Son, and a
Drinks and Punches Masterclass with cocktail expert Pedro Hunter.
Farm Feast is a held in the lush green fields of Claremont Farm. The Farm is located in beautiful
countryside in the heart of the Wirral and famous for its asparagus, strawberries and potatoes. This
idyllic setting is the perfect backdrop for this exciting event.
www.farmfeast.co.uk
Tweet @FarmFeastFest
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Tickets on sale NOW, exclusively from See Tickets: http://www.seetickets.com/event/farmfeast/claremont-farm/755316
Claremont Farm is situated on Old Clatterbridge Road, Bebington, Wirral CH63 4JB
Directions and public transport information can be found here:
http://www.claremontfarm.co.uk/contact.html
-EndsNotes to Editors:
For more information, hi-res images or interviews please contact Jenny Morgan at Bill Elms
Associates: jenny@billelms.com or 0151 235 0136
More about Farm Feast:
Previously known as Wirral Food and Drink Festival, the new and improved Farm Feast - although keeping
quality local, seasonal and artisan food and drink at its heart – will this year evolve into a fully fledged family
festival with two music stages, providing the perfect start to a summer of fun.
For the grown-ups, Farm Feast will feature a Beer and Cider Festival, with over 40 ales and ciders showcasing
the quality and diversity of the region’s brewers. Children will have their very own Little Feasters area, jam
packed with interactive storytelling, bush craft workshops, cookery lessons and educational fun and games in
the food and farming tents.
The Good Life Marquee at Farm Feast will deliver a programme of demonstrations, talks and ʻhave a goʼ
exhibits. This is set to be a fascinating and engaging area of the festival where visitors will have a chance to
learn skills such as how to make sausages, brew beer and keep bees.
The Chef’s Demo Stage will focus on clever cooking of fresh ingredients by some of better known chefs and
cooks in the industry and a fantastic selection of traders will deliver a wide variety of street food that will
celebrate the colours, flavours and styles of many cultures at an International Street Food Market on site.
Other attractions will include a Chilli Festival including some competitive chilli eating for those feeling brave,
and a Vintage Village (more details to be released soon).
Elements of the old festival that visitors know and love, such as the farmers market, a wide variety of stalls
from the region’s top food and drink producers and exhibitors, and the ever popular ‘sheep show’ will also be
back for 2014. The Food and Farming Tent is one of the most popular areas of the festival, with live animals
like calves, pigs and sheep.
Farm Feast will feature main and acoustic music stages and a separate night time ‘Livestock’ music event. Two
of Liverpool’s best known music promoters will programme the daytime stages - The Dovedale Social will
present the Main Stage, showcasing an eclectic line up that ranges from talented amateurs to seasoned
performers and Mellowtone will programme the Courtyard Stage, which will feature the best local talent and
acoustic performances.
Livestock, an evening festival style party in the great outdoors, will host an eclectic and alternative line up of
performances from well known local bands to big name headliners. Farm Feast organisers are delighted to
announce that Livestock will be programmed by Liverpool Sound City, hot on the heels of their yearly festival
which takes over Liverpool City Centre every May in what is the largest metropolitan music and arts festival in
the UK. Tickets for Livestock will be available separately at a later date, and, like Farm Feast, Livestock is FREE
to attend for all under 18s!
Chefs Biographies
Nisha Katona is a British born Indian and full time barrister, who at heart is a dedicated curry evangelist. She
has spent her life between India and England and burns with a desire to convey the shrouded formulas of curry
making, from her ancestral Indians, to her beloved Brits. She has spent many years teaching Indian cookery to
all age groups. Her lessons trace the evolution of Indian cuisine through the culture and history of India. She is
in the process of writing her first book with the aim of imparting the secret formulas of the Indian kitchen,
freeing curry cooks from slavishly following recipes.
Stefan Gates, ‘The Gastronaut’, is renowned for his love of quirky culinary quests and extraordinary food
adventures - fascinated by unusual ingredients and recipes, very often blowing them up in the process! He has
had a number of successful TV shows, including BBC1’s Food Factory and Incredible Edibles on CBBC. He’ll be
entertaining and educating all over the festival this year, showcasing his talents in the Chef’s Theatre and
inspiring younger audience in the Little Feasters area. Stefan performs live shows to huge acclaim at some of
the UK’s most prestigious science and food festivals, including the vast NEC Big Bang Fair run by Engineering
UK. He has also appeared at BBC Good Food Show, Cambridge Science Festival, Jamie’s Big Feastival,
Cheltenham Science Festival, Ideal Home Show, Wellcome Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Liverpool Food Festival,
Abergavenny Food Festival. He’s current holder of Cheltenham Science Festival’s Overambitious Demo
Challenge.
Brendan Lynch is known for being one of the finalist for The Great British Bake Off in 2012 and is currently
giving cookery lessons at a new state-of-the-art training school at Caxton Hall, a converted stable set in
beautiful countryside and proving to be a very popular and talented teacher. He also gives talks and
demonstrations at venues throughout the UK.