A weekend packed with entertainment, food from across the globe, and arts and crafts is set to be served up at Sunderland Food and Drink Festival.
The event will get underway on Friday June 6 and run until Sunday June 8 across Keel Square, High Street West and Market Square with a range of events, streetfood stands and vendors.
Food from Greece, Germany, the US, Turkey, the Caribbean, Asia and Mexico will be on offer alongside sweet treats including homemade cakes to fudge.
Each day is also packed with events – starting on Friday at 11am at the main stage at Keel Square with a performance by Rock Choir. Throughout the day, the stage will welcome a range of musicians and DJs, ending at 6pm with a performance by local singer Sharna Laidlow – who performed on X Factor as one half of He Knows She Knows.
Stalls will also fill High Street West, with DJ Jimi Dingwall entertaining visitors at the pop-up stage in Market Square 11am-3pm on Friday.
June marks Pride In Sunderland, and on Saturday, Pride Radio will be on hand at Market Square with drag queens Sugar and Spice. Musical performances will also take place throughout the day at Keel Square, starting at 10am and ending at 6pm with Abba tribute act Voulez 2.
Sunday will see Market Square play host to all things African, courtesy of an Afrobeats pop-up. Running 10am-4pm, the day kicks off with traditional African drumming by the Igba Drummers, a masquerade appearance and a welcome from the deputy mayor Cllr Melanie Thornton and deputy mayoress Carol Hopps hosted by Hypeman Best and Hypeman Blaze, and an African-inspired fashion show and giveaways. There will also be performances from Fred Chyke, DJ Sushi Sound, and DJ Banko.
For the first time, the festival will also include a Green Living zone, with the opportunity to find out about sustainability, upcycling and being environmentally conscious. Visitors will be able to discover more about electric vehicles and learn about Big Bear Clean Ups and the work they do to solve the problem of litter and how that supports animals in Asia. There will also be a Frames Festival pop-up, where people can discover new ways to give picture frames a new lease of life, along with the opportunity to find out about everything from solar energy to hot composting.
A number of hands-on activities are also being planned, with youngsters able to enjoy arts and crafts along with a range of entertainment and walkabout characters such as the Strolling Gardeners and Liver Cottage throughout Saturday.
On Sunday, there’ll be the opportunity to find preloved plushies, while everyone can take advantage of the Heritage Bus that will be ferrying people from Keel Square to the Classic Car Show at Seaburn Recreation Ground.
Roberta Redecke, marketing and events manager at Sunderland BID which organises the festival, said: “Last year’s event attracted around 30,000 people and we hope that it will be an even bigger hit this time round. We’ve introduced a whole host of new elements along with everyone’s favourite activities and we look forward to seeing thousands of people come along and have an amazing time.”
For the full programme, including all timings and locations, visit www.sunderlandfooddrinkfest.co.uk
