The countdown is on as Harrogate gears up for Marco Pierre White's Food and Drink Festival

Up to 15,000 people are expected to attend the three-day Great White Food Festival which takes place at the Royal Hall and Harrogate Convention Centre from October 28 to 30.

The festival will see a variety of interactive foodie experiences and delights on offer, including authentic local, national and international cuisine, a host of refreshments and live cooking all weekend.

The event is inspired by and centred around celebrity chef Marco Pierre White who began his career in Harrogate 45 years ago.

Marco has led the country's restaurant scene for 25 years and helped kick-start the careers of chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal.

The Great White Food Festival offers something for all tastes and appetites with experiences including the Kallo Cooking School, where you can learn how to make fantastic dishes with chefs Lisa Marley and Simon Shaw, the opportunity to meet and greet the fabulous chefs cooking over the weekend, award winning beers and artisan producers.

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Yorkshire produces some of the country’s finest food and drink products with great stories and heritage behind them and the festival gives people the chance to meet passionate producers and hear the stories of sustainability and provenance behind their food and drink.

Two of the main sponsors, Howdens and Le Creuset, will be providing the main kitchen stages, where many leading chefs will be cooking up a treat.

Chefs including Pierre Koffmann to Jean-Christophe Novelli and of course Marco Pierre White will be featuring throughout the weekend.

Steve Moncrieff, director of The Great White Food Festival, said: “With over 20 demonstrations and over 75 stalls, plus the Franklin & Sons Art of Mixology stage and Kallo Cooking School, there is going to be so much going on.

"Many of our stalls will be offering samples with several feature stalls like Le Creuset doing demonstrations with sampling, so it is promising to be a great event and very different from any other food & drink festival in Yorkshire.”

For more information about the Great White Food and Drink Festival and to book tickets, visit https://www.greatwhitefestival.com/

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