Foodies Festival returning to Bristol in 2023

Foodies Festival, the UK’s biggest touring gourmet food and music festival series, is returning to Bristol in a new venue with a star-studded lineup of celebrity chefs and chart-topping music stars, including Scouting For Girls and Blue.

Known as Gastro-Glastonbury, the festival will take place at Little Stoke Park from 12th - 14th May. The three-day event features live cooking demonstrations from top chefs drawn from the ranks of TV’s MasterChef, Great British Bake Off and Great British Menu, plus top-rated Michelin-starred and award-winning chefs.  

Early announcements of star names appearing in the live cooking theatres include MasterChef 2020 champion, Thomas Frake, Great British Menu and MasterChef finalist, Larkin Cen, chef-patron of Bristol-based Daily Noodles, Great British Menu favourite, Hywel Griffith and MasterChef champion, Dhruv Baker.  

The musical feast is just as sumptuous with platinum-selling festival favourites Scouting For Girls and award-winning boyband Blue, who have sold a phenomenal 16 million records and had multiple number 1 hits, making them one of the biggest bands of the last two decades. 

Duncan James from Blue, said: “We are so excited to try out all the tasty food! The band has toured around the world trying out different cuisines, but to have it all in one place…what a treat! We’re looking forward to performing all our hits and meeting the Foodies audience.”  

Scouting For Girls said: "We always look forward to Foodies and it just wouldn’t be summer without it! The festivals have a great vibe, and we often bring our family and friends along to enjoy the fun. We’ve all taken a liking to the Japanese Bao Buns and the Jamaican Jerk Chicken, so we will also be looking forward to scoffing that!” “See you soon Bristol.”  

Highlighting the best of Bristol and the south west, many of the most-highly acclaimed Michelin and multi-award-winning chefs will also appear, including: Chris Cleghorn, head chef from The Olive Tree - Bath’s only Michelin starred restaurant, Florence Wilson, head chef from Michelin recommended Little Hollows Pasta, Louise McCrimmon, head chef from Michelin recommended, The Blaise Inn and Elliot Lidstone, head chef from Michelin Bib Gourmand awarded, BOX-E. 

And from Koocha, Bristol’s first totally vegan award-winning restaurant, chef-patron, Noda Marvani.  

New for Fridays: the festival launches ‘Cocktails, Cabaret and Cake’ – kicking off each weekend with a fun-fuelled schedule of events with a comprehensive selection of traditional and on-trend new cocktails to tempt the tastebuds, cocktail-making sessions with flamboyant mixologists and theatre shows. Including: entertaining cabaret sessions, drag artists, competitions, comedy, top tribute acts and local performers, all headlined by a superb ABBA tribute band.  

Throughout the 3-day weekend, visitors will enjoy a jam-packed schedule of TV cooking show champions and award-winning chefs in the interactive live theatres. In the Chefs Theatre, celebrities will create their signature dishes and share new tips and tricks, whilst in the Cake & Bake Theatre, star bakers whip up showstoppers and offer tempting sweet treats.   

In The Kids Cookery School, Foodies SuperChefs make cooking fun, helping younger guests to prepare delicious food which they can take away and enjoy. Masterclasses in the Drinks Theatre include tutored Champagne, Beer, Cider, Cocktail and Wine-tasting.

Visitors can browse the latest food trends in the Shopping Village, meet local producers in the Artisan Market and taste exotic and unusual new dishes in the Feasting Tent – which features a mouth-watering range of street food and delicacies from all four corners of the globe. Other attractions include a fairground, children’s activities, and family-friendly areas.

New for 2023: 

• Top TV Chef Challenge: This battle of the best will see winners and finalists of MasterChef competing with the winners of Bake Off and Great British Menu as they take to the live stage, in a highly competitive cook-off to create the most impressive dish.   
• Theatre Takeovers: Expect comedy, hit songs, audience participation, Drag Queens, and a lot of fun!    
• Green Fingers: meet the experts hosting sessions on grow your own fruit and veg, discover new varieties, recipe ideas and health benefits.  
• Doughnut Dash!: A messy race to eat the most doughnuts against the clock…while our host distracts competitors with other silly tasks!  
• Cake-aoke: Audience sing ’n’ bake-along with Foodies multi-talented hosts.

Foodies Favourites 

• Meet the authors and discover new recipes in the Cookbook Shop – with celebrity signings, photo opportunities and top chefs’ showcasing their latest cookbooks.   
• World Chilli eating Champion Shahina Waseem will challenge those brave enough to compete. Competitions will be broadcast to ‘League of Fire’ audiences around the world.   
• Kids Can Cook!: Budding junior MasterChefs get creative in the Kids Cookery School, hosted by Foodies SuperChefs.   
• The Musicians Against Homelessness main stage will feature over 25 superb artists. Including top headliners, the best of local bands and an introduction to exciting new acts from across the UK.   

Director Sue Hitchen said: “Foodies Festivals are a celebration of amazing food, drink and entertainment and we are proud to support local artisan producers and restaurants."

“We’ve all had a difficult few years, so to help keep things affordable festival prices have been frozen for the third year running – even though our stars and features get bigger and better every year. We offer a great value day out for families and friends.”  

For the fifth year running, the festival is supporting Musicians Against Homelessness (MAH) with tickets raising money for UK-wide homelessness charity Crisis.  

MAH founder Emma Rule said: “We are thrilled to be back at Foodies with our music stage and fantastic line-up of artists, raising much needed funds during these challenging times.”