Review of 'Foodies Food Festival: Tatton Park (2024)'

https://foodiesfestival.com/events/cheshire-2/

We first visited the Tatton Park version of the travelling “Foodies Festival” show in 2022 but gave it a miss last year as it is much the same as other shows we have attended over the years. Is this year any different? No, not really.

The most interesting part about these shows are the cooks and chefs who talk here. You can get free tickets for these a few hours ahead of time from near the front entrance but, unless it is a particularly popular person, it is OK to just be early to bag a seat (theoretically those with tickets have seat priority but I have never really seen this enforced). This year we attended demonstrations from Dan Hunter of Great British Bakeoff fame (finalist in 2023) who had his family in the audience (including new baby), Tom Rhodes from Masterchef (champion 2021) and Nick MacGregor from “20 Stories” restaurant in Manchester.

There were five “theatres”, “La Espanola Chefs Theatre”, “Pots & Co Cake & Desserts Theatre”, “Lumberjaxe Fire Stage”, “7up Drinks Theatre” (pre-booked tickets only) and the “Kids Cookery Theatre” (pre-booked tickets only) in addition to the music stage (“Mah Music Stage”, headliners Blue, no we did not stay). Masterchef “Yui Miles” also offered sessions throughout the day on how to cook authentic Thai Green Curry though at £25 extra we gave this a miss.

There were a few local producers displaying here but most were from further afield.

As far as food is concerned, I tried Korean Corn-Dogs which are battered and deep-fried from “Koreanese”. Mine had half hot-dog and half cheese. Quite good but VERY expensive at £9 to £11 each (my “half half” was £10).

We also tried some loaded fries from “El Piloto” - “Dirty Fries” (“Shredded Chicken, Burger Sauce, Gerkin + Crispy Onions”) for £7.50.

For freebies this year there were plenty of the small 7-Up tins on offer as were full sized tins of non-alcoholic versions of popular drinks such as Gordons. “Emmi” were also giving away plenty of cold “caffé latte” drinks which I am told were not bad. The “goodie bag” was, as usual, packed with some interesting items so was worth the extra £6.

We purchased “Early Bird” entrance tickets for £21 each. Parking was free in a nearby field but you had to pay to enter the Tatton Park itself.

Interesting? Yes, I suppose so. Worth it? Perhaps. Despite the weather being bad we still did find some interesting things to listen to and eat so it can't be all that bad…

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2024-07-13

Location: Cheshire (England)

Address: Tatton Park Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6SG ENGLAND

Telephone: +44 (0) 1625 374400

URL: https://www.tattonpark.org.uk/

In addition to the estate houses of Tatton Park there is a lot of park here to enjoy with a large lake, farm, and parkland to visit. Your parking ticket (currently £8 peak) includes admission to one attraction: The garden, mansion house or farm but the grounds are free to enjoy.

The main house has a small nearby courtyard with a restaurant, toilets and access to the gardens.

The site is a short distance south of Manchester and the M56 near to the small town of Knutsford (easily dwarfed by the estate itself).