Thousands of food-lovers came together at London’s Business Design Centre over the weekend for the 2024 National Geographic Traveller (UK) Food Festival — a globetrotting celebration of the world’s most exciting culinary destinations. Now in its fourth year, the event has established itself as a fixture on the UK culinary festival calendar with its blend of world-class street food, hands-on workshops and a high-profile Main Stage line-up, which this year included Nadiya Hussain, Matt Tebbutt, Nisha Katona and Theo Randall. 

Nicola Trup, editor of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK), says: “This year’s Food Festival was a huge success, with the Saturday sold out and a brilliant line-up of chefs and speakers representing numerous international cuisines across the two days. The new additions of tasting sessions and photography workshops went down really well too, with many booked up well in advance. Thank you to everyone who came, celebrated global cuisine with us and made this another Food Festival to remember.” 

Highlights of the 2024 Food Festival 

Main Stage 

This year’s Main Stage welcomed its highest-profile chef line-up to date. Nadiya Hussain, Matt Tebbutt and Nisha Katona were just some of the big names who prepared signature dishes live, the latter marking her festival debut with her Bengali prawn curry. The weekend also saw cooking demos from:  

• Restaurateur-chefs Theo Randall and Richard Corrigan 
• Pastry chef, author and broadcaster Ravneet Gill 
• Cookbook author Olia Hercules 

Speakers’ Corner 

Away from the hubbub of the festival floor, food writers and culinary trailblazers sat down with hosts Farida Zeynalova and Alex Outhwaite to discuss the inspiration behind their latest cookbooks.  

• Zuza Zak delved into the recipes inside SIavic Kitchen Alchemy 
• Denai Moore fired up appetites with insights into her book, Plentiful 
• Alex Jackson revealed the inspiration behind Frontières, his love letter to French cuisine  
• Imad Alarnab talked about his acclaimed cookbook, Imad’s Syrian Kitchen 

The Masterclass Theatres 

Visitors to the Cinnamon and Saffron Theatres were shown how to make specialities from Georgia, Ecuador, Indonesia and beyond, with Pino Edwards, the chef behind street-food stall Pino’s Warung in Camden Lock Market, unveiling the secrets behind his charcoal-grilled chicken satay on Sunday. The live cooking demonstrations also saw guest chefs prepare dishes from destinations including Antigua and Barbuda and Malaysia. 

Wine & Spirits Theatre 

As with previous festivals, this perennially popular area remained a hub of activity throughout the weekend, with guests invited to sample the best from wine destinations such as the Czech Republic, Portugal and Georgia, while theatre sponsor Laithwaites invited ticketholders to sip their way around the world in six wines and try a selection of sumptuous summer cocktails.  

New tasting sessions, workshops and more 

This year’s festivalgoers were also given the chance to try two new features. In the Tasting Sessions room, slots for Best of British Cheese, A Taste of Chocolate and Latin American Cocktails all sold out well ahead of the show. So too did spaces for the Food Photography Workshops, which saw Charlie Richards and Giulia Verdinelli provide budding photographers with the tools and know-how to shoot food images like professionals.   

In terms of street food, hungry attendees tucked into duck wraps, lamb burgers, Jamaican classics and more. Elsewhere on the festival floor, exhibitors from across the globe offered up samples, expertise and travel inspiration, while ticketholders were also able to buy gifts and ingredients from a range of food brands and artisan producers.   

See you next year!  

We hope you enjoyed this year’s National Geographic Traveller (UK) Food Festival as much as we did. The event will return on 19-20 July 2025 with a new line-up of chefs, authors, experts and enthusiasts, offering food-lovers yet another chance to explore recipes, ingredients and stories from across the globe. Sign up to receive early access to discounted tickets, competitions, giveaways and more: 

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Finally, huge thanks to our sponsors Atavi and Kenwood, which kindly provided stand mixers for the weekend’s various cooking demos. Meanwhile, trip provider Trailfinders sponsored this year’s Cinnamon Theatre, while online wine retailer Laithwaites sponsored the Wine & Spirits Theatre.