2:01PM, Sat Dec 1, 2012

Tynemouth Food Festival: Celebrating Local Produce

By India Adams Location: North Shields

Video: Tynemouth's first ever food festival

Food lovers are in for a weekend of culinary delight as Tynemouth celebrates its first ever food festival.

The free event will be centred round the village’s Queen Victoria Park and King’s School with more than 40 local producers gathering alongside a host of North East celebrity chefs on May 12-13.

There will also be beer festival, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, school cooking competitions and a host of other gourmet activities.

Regional chefs including Graeme Cuthell of Irvins on North Shields Fish Quay and MasterChef The Professionals finalist John Calton of the Harbour Lights, South Shields, will be hosting two days of cookery demonstrations in regional food group Taste North East’s state of the art mobile kitchen.

Among the producers taking part are the Northumberland Cheese Company, Doddington Dairy, the Glass Slipper Bakery, Riley’s Fish Shack, Kenspeckle Confectionary and Moorhouse Farm.

The Cumberland Arms’ Beer Festival will feature around 50 seasonal real ales, many of them never before seen in the North East.

Landlord David Irving said: “We’re going to feature a variety of seasonal beers for the festival.

Video: Fishmonger gives tips on buying fresh fish

“Some of these are only available for three or four weeks of the year and many will never have been seen in the North East before.

“I wanted to create something special to mark the first Tynemouth Food Festival, and with the broad selection of beers and real ales we will have on offer, I believe it will be a memorable occasion.

“After all, real ale and high quality food go hand-in-hand.”

Tynemouth Food Festival is free to attend and will take place on May 12-13 between 9am-4pm at locations across the village.

For more information go to www.tynemouthfoodfestival.co.uk or visit

www.facebook.com/tynemouthfoodfestival