Three more celebrity chefs announced for Seaham Food Festival

Seaham Food Festival returns on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 August, bringing with it a spectacular line up of food and drink traders, family entertainment and live music.

We have already announced Saturday's line-up for our outdoor cookery theatre, with Eddie Scott, Syabira Yusoff and Freya Cox confirmed.

Cllr Elizabeth Scott, our Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: "With preparations well underway, we are thrilled to be able to announce the latest famous faces that will be heading to Seaham this summer.

"We have a jam-packed programme lined up for the cookery theatre and I am sure the celebrity chefs will leave audiences' mouths watering with their demonstrations."

The Curly Cooks of Croydon

And now, the next set of stars on the menu have been revealed. On Sunday Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha and her sister Dina will be bringing their new show, The Curly Cooks of Croydon, to the stage.

With a show like no other, the sisters have a no-nonsense approach to cooking. They keep each demonstration real, even if they have a few mishaps in the kitchen, they won't hide it!

There is no long list of ingredients with their recipes, just two mums finding ways to feed their fussy families for £5 and under.

Briony May Williams

They'll be joined by presenter of BBC One's Escape to The Country and Channel 4's Food Unwrapped Briony May Williams. Briony is also one of the food experts on BBC Ones' Morning Live and has been seen on Would I lie to You? and House of Games amongst others.

Briony is also a former Great British Bake Off semi-finalist. Her warmth, humour, resilience and ingenuity made her a firm favourite amongst the show's millions of viewers.

Briony will be demonstrating some of her favourite recipes when she takes to the stage on Sunday.

Nikita Pathakji

Completing the Sunday line-up is Nikita Pathakji, the MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 Champion.

For over seven years, 25-year-old Nikita has been working as a professional chef in top restaurants in London, including Michelin-starred Kitchen W8 and two Michelin-starred Claude Bosi at Bibendum.

Nikita wowed viewers last year with her incredible dishes and distinctive style of fine dining, inspired from her extensive travels around the world and the traditional cookery techniques she picked up at Kitchen W8.

Once again, they'll be joined by crowd favourite and TV presenter Chris Bavin, who returns as host across both days.

Something for everyone 

Cllr Scott added: "Whether you are looking for family friendly meals with the Curly Cooks, fine dining with Nikita or baking with Briony, there is something for everyone.

"There is just over eight weeks to go now, we are well and truly in the countdown and can't wait to show everyone what our seaside festival has to offer."

Seaham Food Festival is just one of the many cultural events taking place in County Durham this year, cementing Durham's position as the 'culture county' and demonstrating our ongoing commitment to cultural-led regeneration.

This includes delivering key projects within County Durham's shortlisted UK City of Culture bid; progressing major capital projects and raising the county's profile as a fantastic place to live, work, visit and invest.