Five star festival for food lovers

Chef James Holden will be showing just how easy it is to cook healthy and tasty food from scratch using fresh ingredients at Rochdale Feel Good Festival

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Food lovers are in for a treat at this year’s Rochdale Feel Good Festival, with five chefs cooking in the celebrity kitchen over the two days.

The festival opens on Friday 4 September with an appearance by local restaurateur Andrew Nutter.

He’ll be joined by festival stalwart Aazam Ahmad. The BBC Fusion chef has been a fixture at the event since it began back in 2008.

A new face on Friday will be James Holden, a member of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and a champion of the ‘Chefs Adopt a School’ food education programme.

On the Saturday Rachel Khoo, known for her ‘Little Paris Kitchen’ BBC television series, headlines a group that also includes ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ presenter Kevin Woodford and the return of Aazam Ahmad.

Councillor Janet Emsley Cabinet Member for Culture, Health and Wellbeing at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We’ve got some fantastic names in our celebrity kitchen who’ll be bringing us flavours from across the world and it looks like being another great year with over 30 food and drink stalls on our festival market letting you taste, try and buy fabulous food and drink too.”

On Friday afternoon Rochdale AFC manager Keith Hill, accompanied by players from the League One club, will be trying their hand in the celebrity kitchen, along with catering students from Hopwood Hall College.

The celebrity kitchen is being sponsored by Hopwood Hall College, Sue Hadfield, Head of Catering, said they are thrilled to be sponsoring the food stage: “It will be a great opportunity for our students to learn from some of the best chefs in the country and showcase the skills they’ve gained so far on their courses with us.”

Traders at the festival's food market will offer a vast range of food and drink including wood fired pizzas, BBQ pulled pork, Italian and Polish street food, Chinese food, deli stalls, barista coffees, gourmet homemade beef burgers, homemade lemonade and more.

There are still a small number of stall spaces available – email events@rochdale.gov.uk to apply.

Rochdale Feel Good Festival returns on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September, for its eighth year, promising another incredible showcase of entertainment, food and culture.

There will be live music across indoor venues a main stage sponsored by The Flying Horse Hotel and a second outdoor stage showcasing local acts. Music acts on the main stage line up include The South, Toploader, Kirsty Almeida, ska band The Uplifters, new indie band Shakedown Stockholm and rock trio The Renegade Girls.

The summer festival is funded by Rochdale Borough Council with sponsorship from local businesses including Hopwood Hall College, The Flying Horse Hotel, Rochdale Football Club, o2 Rochdale, Balfour Beatty Living, Link4Life and The Royal Toby.