Street Eat Festival 2019

Date published: 25 May 2019

Street Eat Festival returned to Rochdale Town Hall Square this weekend, with food lovers enjoying something to eat, drink and free entertainment in fair weather.

Activities were on offer for children, including showing the little ones how to make tasty and nutritious fruit kebabs, and rides, as well as a bar for the adults and live entertainment for everyone throughout both days, hosted by Revolution 96.2. Saturday's entertainment included a Punch and Judy Show and music from The Jackson Kay Band.

Leader of Rochdale council, Allen Brett attended the festivities with Member of Parliament Tony Lloyd, Town Centre Manager Paul Ambrose and local councillors.

Street food traders served an array of delicious Chinese, Spanish, Italian, English and Thai food, all priced at £3.50 each, to hundreds in attendance. Traders included La Mancha, The Medicine Tap, Pudding Paradise, Vicolo del Vino, The Baum, The Flying Horse Hotel, Bombay Brew and the latest edition to the town centre WowYauChow, as well as other stalls offering glitter tattoos, sweet treats and face painting.

Rochdale Artisan Market was also open on the day, showcasing some of the best food, drink, handmade goods and arts and crafts from the North West, located next to Rochdale's indoor market and food hall.

This year was the first time the Street Eat event has been completely plastic free, with organisers banning single use plastics and all traders using environmentally friendlier paper alternatives.

All food was served in compostable sugar cane cartons or on sugar cane plates that are heat resistant and grease proof. Wooden cutlery was also provided and drinks were served in 100% paper cups with paper straws. Even the table linings were 100% recycled kraft paper.

Town Centre Manager Paul Ambrose, who organises the event with support from Rochdale Borough Council, said: “This is an important event for local eateries as it provides a real opportunity for them to get face to face feedback from customers. I’m pleased this really popular event is back for its third year to bring people together through food and drink and to celebrate Rochdale’s town centre eateries in a fun festival setting."

The event, sponsored this year by Willmott Dixon with support from Pulsar Property Solutions and Rochdale Round Table, was hosted in Rochdale Town Hall Square on the same bank holiday weekend as last year's festival (25 and 26 May).

The Street Eat Festival is open through to 9pm tonight, and will re-open tomorrow (Sunday 26 May) from 11am - 9pm outside Rochdale Town Hall. Admission is free.