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Banging burgers, katsu curries and local cheeses and chutneys are just some of the culinary delights that will be on offer at next weekend’s Bishop Auckland Food Festival.

Durham County Council, which organises the festival, has confirmed that around 140 traders from County Durham and beyond will be taking stalls at the event on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd April 2023.

And alongside the familiar faces that regular festival-goers will recognise, there’ll be 20 new traders selling everything from hot sauces to “vegan scran”.

Last year’s festival pulled in a record 30,000 visitors across the weekend and organisers are hoping for more of the same this time out.

Alison Clark, Durham County Council’s head of culture, sport and tourism, said: “We’re always incredibly proud to see the festival play host to stalls from the region’s finest food and drink producers and this year is no different”.

“It’s particularly pleasing to see so many Bishop Auckland and County Durham-based traders among this year’s line-up and benefiting from the kind of exposure and ability to reach new customers that a festival of this profile will give them”.

“The sheer quality and variety of the food and drink offer pulls in visitors from far and wide, and whether they’re trying something new or sticking to a familiar favourite, people come back year after year knowing they’re in for a treat”.

“This year there’ll be Armenian street food, Teesside parmos, Yorkshire pudding wraps and Scandinavian salads, as well as sweet treats such as brownies, churros and crepes, plus cheeses, jams, teas and coffees and even handmade dog treats”.

“We cater for all kinds of tastes. There’s an A to Z of traders plus a handy street map on the festival website and on both we’ve got those with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy free options all clearly labelled to make it easy for people to find their way around”.

You can find the Bishop Auckland Food Festival street map below…

“Don’t forget, we’ve also got the cookery demonstrations from our celebrity chefs, plus live music, family activities, and street entertainment, so people can really make a day of it”.

The Bishop Auckland Food Festival celebrity chef line up is as follows…

“There’s just over a week to go now and we’re really looking forward to another successful weekend.”

Bishop Auckland 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 the council’s ongoing commitment to culture-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.

Bishop Auckland Food Festival is supported by Bishop Auckland Town Council and Durham County Council’s Towns & Villages programme.

If you are looking for hotel accommodation for your visit to Bishop Auckland in County Durham our bed and breakfast best price and room availability is here Book Online.

Room information including photographs can be found on the Accommodation page of our website.

If you are driving to the festival a park and ride service will be in operation for visitors between Bishop Auckland College (DL14 6JZ) and Bishop Auckland town centre.

Buses will run from 9:30am on Saturday and Sunday, the last return bus will run at 5:30pm on Saturday and 4:30pm on Sunday.

Return tickets cost £2 for adults, 50 pence for children aged five to 15 years old. Free for those under five.

Bishop Auckland town centre car parks will be open but may be busy and drivers should be aware of diversions due to road closures for the event.

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Friday 18th September 2026, 08:01 BST
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