THIS Saturday the highly anticipated Christchurch Food and Wine Festival will be kicking off in the town.

The Mayor of Christchurch will open the event, which will be attended by celebrity chefs Lesley Waters and Gary Rhodes.

Now in its 10th year, the Christchurch Food Festival is regarded as one of the best food festivals in the UK and this year’s will run all week until Sunday May 17.

Visitors can expect free cookery demonstrations from celebrity chefs, plus a host of local chefs during the first weekend of the festival.

An international food market also takes place over the first weekend, which is a free event with live entertainment. This has developed into a popular attraction and draws thousands of people to the town centre.

The number of stalls in the market, which takes place in the pedestrianised High Street, has grown to more than 100 in recent years – all selling a wide variety of food and drink.

Keeping the little ones occupied during the festival is the Kid’s Kitchen in Druitt Hall, which will be open on the first weekend (May 9 and 10).

Running the kitchen will be food writer and nutritionist Ester Davies, who aims to bring her years of experience promoting healthy eating to the workshops.

Ester hails from Melbourne, Australia, but has lived in Britain for 22 years. She studied nutrition in Australia and has also worked in education.

Ester is brimming with ideas, which were first recognised by the Chewton Geln Hotel when she worked as a nutritionist.

“Some of the staff there were horrified that I was going to give Michelin-starred chefs tips on how they could make their dishes a little healthier,” she says.

“But they were marvelous and happy to learn some new ideas and translate them in their own way.”

Ester’s cooking talents and outgoing personality have found a perfect home on television – first on Meridian’s daytime programme House Party and later on Channel 5’s morning programme Espresso.

Away from television work, Ester has written A Basic Encyclopaedia of Food, a book that is now used on the national curriculum for Key Stage 2.

Ester also works for the Prison Service, running cookery courses as part of their education programme.

“I take part in a programme called Family Man, which is for prisoners due for release,” says Ester.

“It looks at their role in their family with the aim of making them better partners and better fathers.

“I do several sessions called Healthy Dads, educating the men about healthy eating.

“They learn how to cook lighter and healthier foods so that when they get home, they can spend some quality time with their children cooking some simple but healthy dishes.”

Under the auspices of the Christchurch Food Festival Education Trust, Ester is hoping to run similar courses for fathers in Christchurch later this year.

In the meantime, at this year’s festival she is planning to share some simple recipes for children, which they can cook themselves, Sessions, which are free of charge, will be run in Druitt Hall, Christchurch High Street, at 10.30, 12.30, 14.15 and 15.30 on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May.

For more details visit christchurchfoodfest.co.uk.

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