First international festival coincides with Olympics

It’s designed to coincide with the Rio Olympic Games - with the focus on the delights of the town’s international food community.

A wide range of eateries will have special offers during the event, along with quizzes, cultural nights and in-house activities, while on Sunday, August 14, food demonstrations will be given by some of the town’s top chefs in a specially-erected marquee in St Annes Square.

It’s all organised by the St Annes Enterprise Partnership (STEP) and Darrel Treece-Birch one of its Food Fayre event managers, said: “This town has at least 17 restaurants, 16 cafes, several pub-restaurants plus all our hotels which also provide food and drink.

“Within that group there are cuisines from many nations including China, Britain, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico. Morocco, Russia, Thailand and Turkey.

“We have many high quality chefs and they will be showcasing the town’s wide offering of food and drink, and more importantly we encourage locals and visitors to ‘try out’ the plethora of dishes available.”

Veli Kirk, owner of Anatolia Turkish Restaurant in Park Road, who is a five-star chef, a member of STEP, and whose career in food includes working in London’s prestigious Ritz restaurant, added: “We want to bring a buzz back to St Annes, to show what we can do when we work together.

“I know I’m a restaurant owner but my first aim is to promote this town and to see it thriving again.”

Menus, restaurant information and their specific festival deals will be contained on the St Annes Enterprise Partnership website (www.stannesenterprisepartnership.co.uk) and associated social media.

Among the establishments with special offers and events will be Vanilla Artisan Bakery, Fresh Café, Clockhouse Café, Elbournes Tea Lounge, Treats of St Annes, Fresk Kitchen, Health Bar YMCA, Moghul Premier Indian Cuisine, Zen Chinese/Thai Restaurant, Greek Flame Taverna and Anatolia Turkish Restaurant, which will be draped in flags and Turkish memorabilia throughout and feature two Turkish quiz nights.

The demonstration event on August 14, on the car park which hosts the monthly Farmers’ Market, will feature seven local chefs, with all tastings free.

Those involved in succession through the day from 10am will include Tiggis,

Olivers, Moghul Premier, Greek Flame, St Annes Bistro and Anatolia, while after 5pm, there will be music in the marquee culminating in entertainment from singer Eva Fox, to tie in with the 1940s weekend being held in Lytham. There will also be assorted stalls offering food and drink through the day and Darrel added: “We hope plenty of people will join us and really make the most of the Fayre.”