Seaham Food Festival to serve up a summer crowd as organisers confirm its return dates

The debut celebration was held in 2019 and drew in huge crowds, but was called off last year as the pandemic hit, with some parts heading online for people to follow.

Now Durham County Council has confirmed it will be held on the weekend of August 7 and 8, with covid safety measures to be in place to reduce the risk to visitors.

Bishop Auckland Food Festival, which has proved a hit with people from across the region, will also return in October, with dates to be confirmed in coming weeks.

By staging the food festivals later than normal – Seaham’s first event was held in June and Bishop Auckland’s was last held in April – the council is hopeful it can reinstate the festivals for this year, with plans to move them back to their usual dates in 2022.

The council has said Seaham Food Festival will “look and feel a bit different” to ensure the safety of the public and everyone involved.

However, it will once again be located on Terrace Green, overlooking the heritage coast, and will serve up the same vibrant mix of food and drink stalls, celebrity chefs, cookery demonstration and family-friendly entertainment.

Alison Clark, its head of culture, sport and tourism, said: “We have reviewed the Government roadmap on the easing of national restrictions carefully and are now making arrangements for the return of our food festivals to Seaham and Bishop Auckland.

“Keeping people safe is our top priority and we will provide more information about the measures we will put in place in Seaham shortly, as well as announcing the celebrity chef line-up and information about the traders and entertainment.”

Initially, the council will be inviting traders that did not get an opportunity to trade at Seaham last year to reapply, before opening up the applications to other interested food and drink producers.

All traders can now register their interest online at www.seahamfoodfestival.co.uk.

Updates will also be shared via that site and it can be followed through @SeahamFoodFest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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