Published October 14th, 2019
Padstow Christmas Festival has announced two new high profile chefs to join a long list of A-listers at this year’s celebration of food and drink.
Clodagh McKenna and Matt Tebbutt will be joining the annual four-day event, which takes place from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 December.
Cookery demonstrations across two theatres and a Christmas market will run every day. The Big Cornish Breakfast will be held on Sunday morning, for the second year running, and book-signings, live music, and community events will all take place during the festival.
Chef, broadcaster, author of six cookbooks, and a regular guest on television, Clodagh McKenna will be giving a cookery demonstration on Saturday 7 December. Irish born Clodagh McKenna has appeared on ITV’s This Morning and Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch as well as TV shows in the USA and Canada.
She will be joining other leading chefs on Saturday in the Sharp’s Chefs Theatre: personalities such as Nigel Haworth, chef ambassador of Michelin starred Northcote; Phil Vickery, TV food presenter on ITV’s This Morning; and festival ambassador, Rick Stein, best known for his love of fresh seafood, and his series of cookery programmes for the BBC.
Matt Tebbut, host of BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, and presenter on Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped, will also be making his debut appearance at Padstow Christmas Festival, on Sunday 8 December.
He said, “Padstow may be a small fishing town, but it has a mighty reputation for fine dining and for nurturing the skills of some of the region’s top chefs. I am looking forward to joining the team of talented professionals who all work incredibly hard to make this such a successful event.”
Also new this year is a literary event, organised by Padstow Bookseller, which takes place at Padstow Harbour Hotel on Friday 6 December and Saturday 7 December. Fern Britton, Rick Stein and shipwreck expert Richard Larn OBE, will all be interviewed and available to sign copies of their latest books.
Following on from last year’s incredibly successful Big Cornish Breakfast, the charity event will be repeated on Sunday 8 December. Guest chefs at the festival will be cooking and serving breakfast for 70 people with food and drink supplied by local producers. A ticketed event, guests will have the chance to meet their food heroes who will be on hand to chat.
Open daily is the Christmas Market, a showcase of more than 100 West Country food and drink producers, ranging from artisan bread, cakes, sweets and preserves, to meats, cheeses and a wide range of alcoholic beverages.
Padstow Christmas Festival is free to attend and will be opened officially by Nathan Outlaw at midday on Thursday 5 December in the Sharp’s Chefs Theatre.
Visit www.padstowchristmasfestival.co.uk for the most up-to-date information.
