Celebrity chef and TV presenter James Martin will take centre stage at this year’s Taste of Grampian as the headline act.
The north-east of Scotland’s premier food and drink festival returns to Aberdeen’s P&J Live on Saturday June 3 and will see the popular chef attend the show for a second consecutive year.
James, who is best known for his ITV cookery show James Martin’s Saturday Morning, has also written numerous recipe books and is a household name when it comes to quality cooking.
James Martin’s love of Taste of Grampian
He has just opened his second venue in the 600-year-old Cotswold hotel, Lygon Arms, and is looking forward to making his return to Scotland.
This year he will host two live cooking demonstrations at the event which runs from 10am to 5pm. The first will be at 11am and the second at 3pm.
His three demonstrations sold out last year so festivalgoers are encouraged to grab tickets, which are on sale now for £18 plus booking fees, while they can.
Almost 7,000 people attended the event last year.
“I’m excited to be returning to Taste of Grampian for another year,” said James Martin.
“I enjoyed meeting so many of the festivalgoers and the producers in attendance, and it was fantastic to see how much the food and drink scene in the north-east of Scotland has changed since my last visit.
“There were familiar faces and new ones, too, which is always great for any food festival. I can’t wait to be back cooking and who knows what I’ll do this year as last time I ended up spinning hot sugar onto someone’s crutch because my rolling pin went missing!
“Those heading along will get to experience something a little different with me, which is going to be really fun, but I can’t say too much more on that for now. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone.”
Showcasing the best of local
James will be joined by another high profile chef who will be announced in the coming weeks.
This is the festival’s 22nd year of running and it is organised in association with farmers’ co-operative ANM Group and economic development partnership Opportunity North East.
Over 150 businesses including street food vendors, local crafters and food and drink firms signed up to take part last year with similar numbers expected. The children’s zone and entertainment throughout the day will also return.
Grant Rogerson, chief executive of ANM Group Limited, is proud to the group is one of the founding partners of Taste of Grampian and is delighted to see the event return to P&J Live.
He said: “Supporting local producers, farmers and the rural community is of great importance to the group and is at the core of our co-operative values.
“The north-east food and drink sector plays a vital role within our local economy and our farmers and producers provide a the diverse range of high quality produce.
“Taste of Grampian, as one of the most successful and recognised festivals in the country, showcases the very best our region has to offer, bringing producers, suppliers, and visitors together to do business. We look forward to supporting the event again.”
Director of food, drink and agriculture at Opportunity North East (ONE), Peter Cook, is looking forward to seeing more north-east businesses sign up to the event.
He said: “Taste of Grampian is a tremendous celebration of food and drink from the region and is a vital market development and learning opportunity, particularly for new businesses.
“The north-east of Scotland is generating exciting new food and drink start-ups of which ONE has supported more than 40 in the last two years, with 21 going through intensive start-up accelerators.
“The festival enables these businesses to sell directly to consumers on the day while also gleaning customer feedback, meeting other businesses and making contacts for future sales.
“ONE continues to work with Taste of Grampian to build the region’s reputation for leading Scotland in entrepreneurial food and drink production.”
Early bird tickets are now on sale at £10 per person plus booking fee and children under 12 go free.
For those purchasing celebrity demonstration tickets you must also purchase a general admission ticket to the festival, too.
Parking at P&J Live will also be free on the day.
For tickets to Taste of Grampian, the celebrity demos and for more information visit www.tasteofgrampian.co.uk
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