Reaseheath College was a headline sponsor of the hugely successful Nantwich Food Festival which attracted record crowds to the town earlier this month.

Billed as one of the UK’s largest free to enter food festivals, the three day event showcased the best of culinary talent and produce, raised the profile of local businesses and delivered a substantial boost to the local economy.

The Reaseheath sponsored Love Lane Food Theatre in the town centre drew capacity audiences to demonstrations by celebrities including Jack Stein, Chef Director of his family’s famous seafood restaurant in Cornwall and son of TV personality Rick Stein, popular television chef Simon Rimmer of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch and Lesley Waters, who is well known for her regular appearances on Ready Steady Cook, Great Food Live and This Morning.

Local contributors included Spyros Vrakas Head Chef at St Martha, a Greek restaurant in Nantwich, and our own highly talented Bakery and Patisserie Course Manager Sam Copeland, who impressed visitors with a stunning cake decorating display and also judged a banana loaf competition.

As well as providing the location for the main cookery stage, the Love Lane Food Theatre also hosted the official launch of the event with speeches from Nantwich Town Mayor Cllr Steph Wedgwood, Chair of the Food Festival Committee Christine Farrall, and key sponsors.

A team of staff supported our stand and promoted our food based courses and trial facilities for businesses. We also welcomed many visitors eager to find out more about our adult courses and to sample our cheese. We also took the opportunity to help Master Butcher Gary Evans celebrate his 60th birthday by presenting him with a balloon and cake on stage! Gary had been presenting a very popular daily talk on our sustainable ‘field to fork’ mission.

Elsewhere in Nantwich, marquees were filled with top quality food and drink from producers across Cheshire and beyond, and the crowds were further wowed by two stages featuring live music and events including children’s activities.

Big thanks go to everyone who supported this very significant event within our community.