The second Budelicious Festival was held in Bude on September 21 and 22 and it didn’t disappoint, as thousands gathered to enjoy all things food!

The event was hosted by The Falcon Hotel, where a marquee was put up for large crowds to enjoy a variety of different cooking demonstrations. There were street food vendors enticing passers-by with their culinary delights. There was even a beer and cheese pairing function — unsurprisingly, very popular.

Over the two days nearly 3,000 people were able to take part in the festival in some way, learning, sampling or even showing off their skills.

The whole weekend was free to attend, with sponsorship money being being used to promote the local businesses involved and help the longevity of this relatively new festival.

The main marquee in the hotel’s garden gave an opportunity for local chefs and even some celebrity faces to offer crowds some new and inspiring recipes, and take tips back to their own kitchens. It also included celebrity Indian chef, Hari Ghotra who travelled from Gatwick and did two demonstrations, as well as cooking a slow roasted lamb dinner on Saturday night.

The weekend of food was hosted by celebrity chef, Peter Gorton (Master Chef of Great Britain) a past Michelin star winner.

He started the festival in Bude last year to help promote the local restaurants, producers and showcase the quality and diversity of food and drink in the local area.

He said The Falcon Hotel proved to be an obvious choice as a location, as it provided a large enough venue to be able to host the 20 to 25 producers, a community marquee, street food vendors and of course the chef demonstration area.

Peter wanted the two days to be able to justify the work and variety of food available in both Bude and the surrounding areas.

He explained: “It was a full day out for everyone with lots to enjoy. The chef demonstrations were brilliant, being able to bring a variety of talents in one place was fantastic.

“Having the ability to show members of the public what is on offer is great and for them to be able to learn and ask questions themselves is what it’s all about.”

Inside, The Falcon Hotel hosted a variety of local producers who each had their own stands to show off what they had to offer.

For Peter, one of the highlights of the weekend was the passion shown by members of the public.

He said: “The public were really keen and interested about learning something new which was supported by the passion shown by the chefs and producers involved.

“We had loads of positive public feedback with what people had learnt, ideas of how to make their own cooking easier and not to stress when hosting dinner parties. It was a chance to give them confidence in their own cooking.”

The venue welcomed AHDB (Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board) to give their support to the local farming community. West Country Beef and Lamb PGI were also there to show the quality of meats in the area and to inform people about the supply network from pasture to plate.

Budehaven Community School students were also on hand to give their own cooking demonstration, which Peter described as being ‘amazing’.

Peter has a personal investment in Bude, especially The Falcon Hotel, as he trained the current head chef, Aaron Vanstone. He said: “I think he’s a talented chef and he will go places but being involved in his training gives me an interest here in Bude.

“Knowing the area as well, I know there is so much it has to offer and the variety of talent around. Events like this highlight what there is on offer and gives a great representation of the restaurants and chefs here.”

Peter has no doubt that there would be another festival, but he was also approached by visitors asking him to take this concept to other places in the country.

He added: “I work all around Britain doing chef consultancy work and was approached this year and asked if I would ever consider holding this somewhere else. It goes to show how good it is and the impact it has on people.

“One couple actually sat through and watched the entirety of the demonstrations. It was just a great, informal event where people could try things, get involved and just find out a bit more about what they can enjoy around them.”

As well as the cooking demonstrations, St Austell Brewery and Marc Bishop were on hand to give a much anticipated beer and cheese pairing.

Rupert Brendon, owner of The Falcon Hotel, took part and was impressed by how well each component matched up. He said: “I did attend the beer and cheese pairing put on by Marc Bishop, beer sommelier of St Austell, which was fascinating. The Brewery has a small batch brew house so they can make specialty small production brews. Cornish cheeses were perfectly matched to the flavour profile of each beer whether a citrus or a malt flavour achieved with different hops and barleys.”

St Austell Brewery was grateful to be able to take part in the festival and hoped it transpires into a permanent fixture for Bude.

A spokesperson said: “At St Austell Brewery we were delighted to support the Budelicious event for a second consecutive year. It is very well organised and looks like becoming an established and popular event for years to come. Bude and the surrounding area is a very important trading area for us so supporting the event is a great marketing opportunity for our brands.”

Aside from the food, music was also put on at the festival, which was also free to attend. An evening of Cornish music was held on Sunday night, which included Friggin’ Riggin’, Cousin Jack and an exhibition of morris dancing. Throughout the weekend individual musicians played, as well as the ukulele band, and two separate choirs.

The winners were also announced for the limerick and photo competitions, which The Falcon Hotel had been running in the lead up to the event.

The winners were Lorraine Mcilwham (limerick competition) and Tony Rogers (photo competition) who each won money, plus a dinner and bed and breakfast worth £500 each.