Paisley Food Festival will feature a familiar face this year.
As MasterChef 2017 appears on tonight’s TV schedules, this seems a good time to mention that Gary Maclean, the winner of MasterChef – The Professionals 2016, will appear at the upcoming Paisley Food Festival.
The free event will take place on Saturday 22 April at Abbey Close from noon-7pm. Chef extraordinaire Gary will host a series of cooking demonstrations at the festival.
Now in its third year, the festival will showcase the breadth of Scotland’s vibrant street food scene. This event forms part of the push for Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021.
Make your own ginger
The Cooking Demonstration tent offers a jam-packed programme of free workshops around the theme of food and where it comes from.
Gary Maclean will be showing how to produce show-stopping dinners while Bottle of Ginger will deliver a fermentation workshop. Want to know how to make your own healthy ginger beer? This is your chance.
STV’s Julie Lin Macleod will be demonstrating Asian cooking and the chefs at seafood restaurant A’Challtainn will be teaching visitors how to conquer their fear of cooking fish.
Demand for the demonstrations is expected to be high, so pre-booking is recommended.
Show-stopping meals at Paisley Food Festival
Gary said: ‘I love everything about cooking from preparation through to patisserie. I also get a real buzz from teaching others how to be a success in the kitchen. I look forward to sharing my passion with Paisley’s cooking enthusiasts and showing them how to create show-stopping meals at Paisley Food Festival.’
In addition to the cooking demonstrations taking place, there will be plenty to keep the kids entertained. Children will be able to take part in hands-on cooking fun.
Also confirmed to attend is CBeebies star Katy Ashworth. Katy will entertain children and families and give them the chance to participate in fun, interactive games, stories and sing-a-long songs.
Three food and drink festivals in Paisley
The festival is just one of three food and drink events taking place that week. Scotland’s largest beer and ale festival, the 30th annual Paisley Beer Festival, will return to Paisley Town Hall from Wednesday 19 to Saturday 22 April. Paisley Restaurant Week will run from Saturday 15 to 23 April.
Paisley 2021 Bid Director Jean Cameron said: ‘The range of food and drink events taking place in April is likely to attract around 15,000 visitors over the course of the week. It demonstrates our capacity for hosting large-scale, national events that bring visitors to the area. I for one can’t wait to head along and try some of the tasty treats on offer.
‘The timing of the events gives us even more reason to celebrate as they take place one week before Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021 is due to be lodged with the UK Government.’