Overview

• Running August 22–25, the four-day festival spans Bolton town centre with key sites including Victoria Square and Le Mans Crescent.
• Marco Pierre White debuts on Saturday with cooking demos at 11am and 1pm followed by a 3pm Q&A, while James Martin returns Monday with demos at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.
• Around 180 traders are set to serve global dishes as thousands of visitors are expected, with stalls and stages now being set up across the town.
• General entry and most family programming are free, but celebrity cookery demonstrations and select events require tickets, with organisers advising pre-booking.
• Both headline chef sessions will be BSL interpreted, and the council bills the event as the UK’s biggest free food-and-drink festival.