Crowds to gather for Coventry Food Festival

Local restaurants are being given the chance to showcase their culinary creations in a ‘Coventry cook-off’ as part of Coventry Food Festival in June. Food businesses, restaurants and chefs from in and around the city can enter the first ever Coventry Cook-Off to show off their favourite dishes and get up on stage to introduce themselves and their businesses to keen foodies.

Each restaurant will have a 30-minute slot to whip up a dish on the Saturday and Sunday of the food festival The Cook-Off will be hosted by local food personality ‘Funny Francis’ and the winner of the fun, light-hearted contest will be presented with their Coventry Cook-Off trophy on Sunday afternoon as the festival closes.

The Cook-Off is just one part of a food-filled weekend on June 17 to 19 the city centre. The Coventry Food Festival will feature demonstrations by top chefs Glynn Purnell and Paul Foster, as well as local talent Sophie Hyam, plus a packed food market around Broadgate offering something for everyone.

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Entertainment will include fun for all the family, including a kids’ workshop, travelling roadshow and an array of entertainers. Throughout the weekend, there will also be ‘Meet the Trader’ moments on stage, where local producers and food businesses will tell their stories to festival compere, local food blogger Ellen Manning.

The evenings of the food festival will bring a Coventry BID’s Music Live event headlined by top DJs Paul Oakenfold and Eddie Halliwell and M People’s Heather Small, performing at the Assembly Festival Garden alongside other great acts.

Joanne Glover, from Coventry BID, said: “The Coventry Food Festival is shaping up to be a great event that really champions our local area. Not only do our headline chefs have links to Coventry, but we’re looking forward to getting some of our great city centre businesses and others from in and around Coventry up on stage to showcase what they do. Our weekend of family-friendly food and music will be a great highlight of what is shaping up to be a brilliant summer for our city.”

The Coventry Food Festival will take place from 11am to 5pm on Friday, June 17, 10am to 5pm on Saturday, June 18, and 11am to 4pm on Sunday, June 19, with music acts performing on the Friday and Saturday nights.

Entry to the food festival is free, but tickets must be purchased for Music Live. Early bird tickets have already sold out, but tickets priced £30 remain on sale here and here. Any local restaurants wanting to be involved in the Cook Off should contact [email protected].