Bolton food and drink festival review

Last Sunday my friend and I were invited* to Bolton Food and Drink Festival to attend Afternoon Tea. I love afternoon tea so I didn’t need any persuading to attend! It’s also been a while since we had a catch up so it was a lovely excuse to get together.

The afternoon tea took place in a beautifully set out marquee and on arrival you were given a glass of prosecco (thank you Aldi) and then we went to sit at the table. The tables had the pots of tea set out as well as the food on traditional 3 tiered stands.

The food was from The Slattery and as I am fairly local, the other people on our table couldn’t believe that neither my friend or I had heard of it before. I have since had a nosy at their website and they are award winning patissiers and chocolatiers, founded in 1967 in Whitefield near Manchester. They have a shop and also dining rooms that need to be booked in advance it is that popular. Anyway, since tasting their food at the afternoon tea, I can see why. The sandwiches and quiche were delicious, I really enjoyed the cheese and tomato quiche. As for the scone, cakes and chocolate, they were divine.

The afternoon tea was hosted by Ainsley Harriet. He went around the room chatting to people and encouraging people to ask questions to him or the other guests there which included John Whaite (winner of Great British Bake Off 2012) who was making some chocolate brownies. There was also Alana Spencer (baking business woman and winner of The Apprentice 2016) and Rosie Dummer ( Cake Diva) who created Bolton festival’s Cake Show stopper 2015 with her Giant Elephant cake.

I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, it was a fun and relaxed atmosphere throughout and I would highly recommend going next year if you are a fan of afternoon tea’s.

Once we had finished, we decided to have a look around the rest of the food festival. The streets were lined with an array of food and drink stalls. It really was a feast for the senses as you walked around. The majority of stalls had samples for you to try and there was a marquee where you could do free wine tasting with Aldi wines. As well as food stalls, there was also a marquee full of various arts, crafts and homeware to suit all budgets. Throughout the day, there was also live music on 2 stages.

The food festival itself is free as you just walk around it in the town but there are some sessions that you need to pre book for, so do remember that.

I noticed an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party whilst walking round and that consisted of a picnic, crafts and a performance so I will definitely be booking that to go with Lucas next year x