THE NANTWICH FOOD & DRINK FESTIVAL CELEBRATES FORAGING - Friday 28 September to Sunday 30 September 2007

    /24-7PressRelease/ - MANCHESTER, UK, September 03, 2007 - The sixth annual Nantwich Food & Drink Festival (Friday 28 September to Sunday 30 September 2007) takes a well-earned place in the foodie calendar. As a celebration of rural food excellence, it offers a mouth-watering selection of regionally produced organic food and drink and returns this year with some exciting new features including foraging in the fields of Cheshire.

The Food and Drink festival this year will be championing the local producer; it's all about food miles, traceability and supporting local farmers. Headlining the event will be food-lover and ambassador for rural life, Clarissa Dickson-Wright.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side of Cheshire's hedgerows as this year's food festival invites visitors to try out food's most rural phenomenon yet. Food fans can get back to their roots as 2007 is all about Food Foraging - the art of feeding off the land. A celebrity food forager and wild food expert will be on hand to offer top survival tips and uncover edible undergrowth delicacies. The day can be rounded the day off with a Wild Food cookery session

Low Mileage Menus will be the highlight of The Theatre of Themes cookery demonstrations; using as many local and seasonal ingredients. BBC chef Richard Fox will be joined by a line-up of head chefs from Cheshire's best restaurants including The Ranaulph at Crewe Hall, Belle Époque and Rookery Hall, who will all be using ingredients from the festival. The Menus will be available to all festival-goers both online and at the show so that they can recreate the sensational eco-friendly meals for themselves.

The Gourmet Food marquee will have an impressive line up of over 100 food producers where foodies can sample and buy everything from wild boar sausages and Biltong to fruit coulis and homemade traditional lemonade. A new Taste of the Festival Marquee will offer Tutored Tastings of wine, beer, cheese, olives and even balsamic vinegar.

There's even chef demonstration for 'half-pints' by The Guardian's Amanda Grant who will run the popular kids' kitchen where 5-10 year olds can try their hand at cookery. Under Amanda's watchful eye they'll be making dishes to delight while learning more about food's nutritional benefits. Cocktail Workshops (non alcoholic) led by the Behind Bars group are a must for wannabe bar tenders!

Back by popular demand are the CAMRA Beer Festival, the Farmers' Market and Countryside Comes to Town in the main square.

Evening events at the Food Festival include:
Gourmet Food & Wine Evening at Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa 85
Gourmet Food & Beer Evening with BBC chef Richard Fox 45
The Cheese Experience 10
In the Mood For Food - poetry, music and food 10
Beer & Curry Brewery Tour 15
Tutored Beer Tastings 8 inc entry to Beer Festival
Spanish Aga Food & Wine Evening 20
Wild Food Dinner at Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa 50

The Nantwich Food and Drink Festival runs from Friday 28 September - Sunday 30 September. Much of the festival is free but there's an entrance fee to the Gourmet Food Marquee. Food Lovers' Wristbands covering access over the three days 7.

Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa is offering special festival rate on accommodation from 145 per couple per night (28-30 Sept) which includes 2 tickets to the festival. Please call 0845 0727533 or visit www.handpicked.co.uk.

Advance Festival tickets can be purchased from the website or by calling the Festival Ticket Hotline on 01270 537359. For further information, visit www.nantwichfoodfestival.co.uk.

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For more media information, or images, please contact Hayley Downey, Tracy Nuttall or Sandra McDowell on 0161 817 4200 or email [email protected]

The Nantwich Food and Drink Festival runs from Friday 28 September - Sunday 30 September. Much of the festival is free but there's an entrance fee to the Gourmet Food Marquee. Food Lovers' Wristbands covering access over the three days 7.

Advance Festival tickets can be purchased from the website or by calling the Festival Ticket Hotline on 01270 537359. For further information, visit www.nantwichfoodfestival.co.uk.

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