Following a hugely successful inaugural year with over 170 traders, family entertainment, live music and culinary demonstrations, the Three Counties Food and Drink Festival returns to the Three Counties Showground on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July.

The festival has announced the initial line-up of chefs who will be serving up their repertoire of recipes in the 500 seat cookery theatre which is accessible to all ticket holders.

Best-selling cookery writer and TV Chef Rachel Allen will take to the stage on Sunday 28 July to share her expertise with a live cookery demonstration. A celebrated teacher at the world-famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Rachel is a popular figure in the culinary world, with an international audience for her bestselling cookery books. Rachel’s recipes and food writing have been published across a wide range of magazines and newspapers including The Irish Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Tribune, Delicious, Olive and BBC Good Food. 

Joining Rachel on the Sunday is Cyrus Todiwala, chef, author, educationist, and entrepreneur. He is Co-Patron of Café Spice Namaste,the longest running Michelin BIB restaurant in the world. A pioneer as well as an innovator, Cyrus is a staunch advocate of education and training, social responsibility, sustainability, buying British, food waste, the environment and healthy eating. Cyrus has an MBE for his services to education and training and an OBE for services to the catering and hospitality industry. 

TV Chef and author, Marcus Bean also joins the stage on the Sunday. Following his success winning Iron Chef UK on Channel 4, Marcus became a regular chef on ITV’s This Morning. He has appeared on Market Kitchen, Channel 4′s What’s Cooking and Drop-Down Menu, as well as Food Network’s Christmas Special with Matt Tebbutt and Lisa Faulkner.

Meanwhile, food expert and presenter of BBC’s Eat Well for Less?, Chris Bavin, will host the Cookery Theatre demonstrations on Sunday.

“We’re very excited to be returning to the Showground for this year’s Three Counties Food and Drink Festival and are delighted to have such a fantastic line-up of chefs. We’ll be lifting the lid on the Saturday chefs in the coming weeks, along with the many have-a-go activities and planned family entertainment” said Bev Channell, Festival Organiser.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now, with VIP ticket options also available at threecountiesfoodfestival.com.