Weekender: Food festival returns for seventh year

North Yorkshire’s biggest free food and live music festival will return for its seventh year next month.

The Homegrown Food Festival, in Northallerton, will be held at the Applegarth on Sunday June 24 from 10am-5pm and will feature a host of new activities for 2018.

Health and well-being will be the key focus with laughter yoga sessions, natural remedy experts and mindful gardening.

This year’s cookery demonstrations local chefs, will have a healthy theme and take place outdoors on a new ‘Festival Street’.

There’ll be a number of themes including vegan, vegetarian, immune-boosting and cholesterol-lowering foods.

Last year’s first ‘Tea Tent’ will return for the second year hosted by Northallerton and District Scouts and Guides providing a range of teas and homemade cakes.

Other new additions include the ‘Tipi of Tranquillity’ with taster sessions throughout the day promoting good health and mental wellbeing, art, yoga, laughter and reflexology.

And children’s craft activities will have the theme of encouraging young people to think about what is good for the body and mind, such as children’s yoga, theatre and a giant operation game which will all be coordinated by Connecting Youth Culture, a Northallerton-based charity.

Last year’s Homegrown Food Festival was the most successful to date with over 9,000 visitors from across the North East and North Yorkshire enjoying local bands, top chefs and a range of locally produced food and drinks.

The festival’s committee relies on funding from a number of sponsors including Simon Bailes Peugeot and the Northallerton Business Improvement District.

Over 100 local producers will be taking part in this year’s event with some of the confirmed names including, Brown and Blond, Clucking Pig, Itzamna’s Cocoa, Kitson Butchers, Mini Macaron Bakery,  Autumn Harvest Mushrooms, Northumbrian Smokehouse, Pucketts Pickles, Twisted Curry Company and Weardale Cheese