Food Festival to return to North Notts

North Notts BID has kickstarted its plans for this year’s North Notts Food Festival – which will be held on Saturday 3 July 2021 – following the Government’s announcement about the easing of lockdown.

Held on the Old Market Square in Worksop, the free event includes live demonstrations by celebrity chefs, competitions and entertainment. The festival will also include a mixture of artisan food market stalls from local vendors.

Celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli will be holding live demonstrations to show visitors how to put together different dishes. The multi-Michelin star and 5/5 AA rosette-winning chef, author and restauranteur has appeared on a number of TV programmes – including Hell’s Kitchen, Celebrity X Factor and Celebrity Hunted – as well as running his own cookery school, The Novelli Academy.

Novelli will be joined by young local chef Laurence Henry, who is based in Nottingham and a former Masterchef winner. Henry has previously worked for Michelin Star chef Sat Bains and is currently working towards the opening of his own restaurant.

Along with Jean-Christophe Novelli and Laurence Henry, food economist Teresa Bovey and “Snobby Butcher” Johnny Pusztai will also be making an appearance, and the comedy chefs of Liver Cottage will be returning.

Sally Gillborn, chief executive at North Notts BID, said: “We’re so excited about the possibility of being able to hold the food festival this year. We were devastated when we had to cancel our event last summer, so this glimmer of hope from the government means that we can start to prepare for restrictions to be lifted and work towards bringing the community back together again.

“Following a difficult year for many businesses – especially those in the food and drink sector – we’re hoping that the festival will attract footfall to the town centre and provide local business owners with a way of attracting new custom to help them get back on their feet.”