Tens of thousands of food lovers crammed in to Nantwich town centre over the weekend as once again the Food Festival was hailed a huge success.
Many exhibitors sold out of produce and needed to re-stock well before the end of Festival Saturday.
The mixed weather failed to dampen spirits as more than 200 exhibitors and town centre businesses were kept busy.
The two huge food courts and the town centre market-style zone were very popular, selling a wide range of food, drinks and gifts.
Karen Young was chef organiser as hundreds enjoyed the live demonstrations in the Reaseheath Food Theatre.
She said: “We were treated to demos with scrumptious recipes from fruit roulade to curry, sea bass to seafood risotto.
“Many of the demos were accompanied by sign language interpretation in a continuing Festival initiative designed to improve inclusivity. There was standing room only for many of the chef demonstrations!”
Festival director Nanna Pedley organised the popular Cookalong theatre where participants worked under the instruction of trained chefs to produce a meal.
The Whitegates Kids Marquee was a huge success and organiser and marquee manager Laura thanked her team of volunteers.
She added: “We were kept busy all weekend helping the children with making butterflies and flowers from coffee filters, mini pancakes, pasta mosaics, sun-catchers plus of course decorating all those gingerbread men. As usual the Mr Dabber Bear town trail was popular.”
Other Festival entertainment saw fantastic brass bands, choirs, stilt walkers, Punch and Judy and street entertainment.
The Town Food History Walking Tours that started in 2024 were even more popular this year, with almost all places sold out before the Festival started.
The Cocoa Yard was buzzing on Festival Saturday with all the events organised by the businesses in the Yard.
Live music started on Friday and continued right through until the end of the Festival, creating a fantastic atmosphere at both music stages and in the town centre.
Nantwich Town Deputy Mayor Cllr Kim Jamson chose her favourite exhibitor stalls.
Jinger Drinks gained the third place rosette, SA Sauces came second, but ZK Olives was the winner.
The Boughey town centre area stall winner was St Luke’s, with Kickass Cheese taking second place and The Coconut Man in third.
At the Bowling Green Mornflake Pavilion, Harrison & Griffiths Rumcake was third, Cheerbrook in second, but the overall winner was the lovely cake stall Casa Mia.
Visitors heaped praise on the event and the organisers.
Jaine, from Chester, said: “We come every year and although there is a Chester festival, we prefer the Nantwich one.
“There are more things to do and activities for all ages too.”
Jacob came from Wales and said: “I think it’s amazing that Nantwich Food Festival is three days long and is free to enter; the food is amazing.”
Megan, from Nantwich, brought her niece and nephew who had a great time at the Circus Academy.
She thought the entertainment was an excellent idea, with Gus’s favourite being the cup & ball and Nora’s being the stilts.
Exhibitor Antoinetta, of Cara Miss, said: “It’s an absolutely fantastic few days; since exhibiting at Nantwich last year my business has grown, so I’m delighted!”
Isi, of Clotton Creamery, added: “We sold out of lots of our produce on Festival Friday, so had to restock for the rest of the weekend; what a great festival.”
Bobby, of Greek Food, enjoyed their third year at Nantwich: “Everybody is happy, they love Greek food, so business is good.”
Festival Chairwoman Chris Farrall said: “We would like to send a special huge thank you to Nantwich Town Council plus all the generous Festival Sponsors.
“Their continued support of the event enables it to take place every year for the benefit of Nantwich businesses, and to encourage visitors to return to the town to maintain its vibrancy.”
She also thanked volunteers for their work including 15 new volunteers.
She added: “The Festival has continued work started more than three years ago around waste disposal and this year again worked closely with ASH Waste Services to improve our sustainability.
“The recycling and improved waste management system trialled last year was improved for 2025, with great success and will improve further in future years.”
Festival director Nanna Pedley added: “We want to sincerely thank the local residents and businesses for all their support and patience with the organisational and infrastructural demands of holding this event in the town itself.
“We realise it is disruptive to their lives, but we organise the festival every year to ensure visitors experience the town, not just the festival.
“We have a thorough ‘lessons learned’ review planned in a few weeks time to share what worked well and what areas need improvement to feed into our planning for 2026.
“But before then, the Nantwich Food Awards will be presented to winners on October 20th at a special Awards evening in Nantwich Civic Hall.”
Nantwich Food Festival 2026 will take place from Friday September 4th to Sunday September 6th.
(Images courtesy of Jonathan White and Food Festival organisers)
Every year, this is a fabulous event, with a great atmosphere and almost no trouble.
Let’s also recognise the amazing jobs the volunteers do, and if it doesn’t happen already, maybe the stallholders could contribute a couple of items to provide a goodie bag for each of them as a small thank you.