Good start to the York Food And Drink Festival (From York Press)

Good start to the York Food And Drink Festival

8:21am Thursday 20th September 2012 in News

TICKETS are still available for the YorkshireVision event at this year’s York Food And Drink Festival as traders from around the region descend.

Now in its 16th year, the festival will feature scores of events with celebrities and Michelin star-winning chefs cooking with local produce at venues from tomorrow.

Debbie Waite, from the festival, said tomorrow night’s YorkshireVision would be a light-hearted take on the Eurovision Song Contest, with locallybrewed ales and beers in place of foreign songs.

She said: “It’s a good laugh, as an alternative to the serious side of the food festival.

“Everything is coming together nicely.

“The market place is absolutely chock-a-block, and traders will start to arrive from this evening, which is quite exciting. We’ve got a lot of new traders and a lot of old favourites too.”

This year’s theme for the festival is Feeding The City – in the past, present and future – and events include a tour around the Mansion House’s Georgian kitchen, and looking back at how chocolate made its way to York. The Demonstration Kitchen in St Sampson’s Square has a packed programme of events, mostly free of charge, including Michelin-starred chef Bruno Loubet, who will put a unique twist on classic French dishes, and Yorkshire’s own Michelin-star chef James MacKenzie, from the Pipe and Glass.

A number of Yorkshire participants from BBC’s Great British Menu will also appear, including Stephanie Moon, Colin McGurran and Andrew Pern.

After 5pm, the Fountain Marquee in Parliament Street, sponsored by The Press, will come alive with live music, including the Y Factor competition, and Oxjam – the charity music event, which will take place on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with a host of bands playing live music to raise money for Oxfam.

Anyone wishing to take part in the event needs to email a brief description of their act, and organisers will contact them with confirmation of their allocated time.

Tickets for YorkshireVision, which takes place at Guildhall tomorrow from 7.30pm, cost £15, and include supper and samples of beers from ten breweries, including Cropton, Rudgate, York, Hop Studio, Trebeom, Great Newsome, Brass Castle and Wold Top.

Full details about the festival and tickets are available at yorkfoodfestival.com or by phoning 01904 466687.

York’s got talent

THIS year, the Fountain Marquee, in Parliament Street, is sponsored by The Press, and will include a host of live music events, including the Y Factor talent competition on Sunday.

Festival organiser Michael Hjort said: “We’ve got about seven or eight entries so far, which is not bad, but we’ve got space for more.

“This is the fourth year we’ve run the Y Factor, and it’s been really successful previously. We’re expecting to be even more so this year. The Fountain Marquee comes equipped with speakers, amps and microphones, so people just need to bring their own instruments, plug in and play.”

Anyone who wants to perform in Y Factor should email admin@yorkfoodfestival.com with details of their performance, which should last about three minutes.