TV star Nadia Sawalha will be among the special guests showcasing their culinary skills at this summer's Seaham Food Festival.
The actress and talented cook will be joined by older sister Dina on her visit to County Durham in August for the festival which will be making the most of its coastal location by combining its food and drink focus with the likes of beach games and sea shanties. The pair, who call themselves The Curly Cooks of Croydon, will be joined by fellow stars of the kitchen - former MasterChef winners Eddie Scott and Nikita Pathak plus familar faces from The Great British Bake Off: Syabira Yousoff, Freya Cox and Briony May Williams.
Seaham Food Festival will take over the town's seafront on the August 5-6 weekend where there will be an array of cookery demonstrations and food and drink stalls. Its organiser Durham County Council has now revealed the programme for the free day of family fun and it includes theatre shows and live music.
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On the Saturday, performers will include Rock Choir, billed as the world’s largest contemporary choir, and North Tyneside Steel Band who will adding sounds of the Caribbean. Among the attractions for young ones that day will be Luna Bubbles, a 'bubbleologist' who will be creating gigantic colourful bubbles, bubble tubes and even bubble monsters.
Music on the Sunday will come courtesy of a "motley crew", known as Old Time Sailors, who will bring foot-stomping, dancing and singing to an outdoor amphitheatre with a performance of old folk songs and sea shanties, says the council. The street entertainers that day will be shopping trolley dance display team Granny Turismo and inclusive dance theatre company TIN Arts.
And performing on both days will be street circus duo Bell & Bullock; juggler Darryl and Mad Alice Theatre Company while the local SeaScapes project will be hosting beach games throughout. Coun Elizabeth Scott, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said the live music, theatre shows and rock songs plus children's activities make for "a cracking programme of family entertainment".
She said: “This will all be happening alongside the stalls and the ever-popular cookery demonstrations from the celebrity chefs. What we want is for families to come down and make a real day of it."
She added: "We'll soon have a confirmed list of traders to share. It’s shaping up to be a great weekend.” For more information about the festival keep an eye out here.
