The York Food Festival offers a series of FREE cookery workshops – hands on events, which are designed to provide visitors with an opportunity to learn new culinary skills and understand how food is made. All the activities are available at all times during the opening times – on a roll up and start basis.
Opening times for public:
(also home to our Schools Workshop programme, where we welcome over 1000 children to participate over the weekdays)
Fri 18th introductory session only see below 2pm to 4pm.
Sat 19th & Sun 20th – 10:30-5pm (last entry at 4pm).
Mon 21st to Thurs 24th – 3:30-4:30pm (last entry at 4pm).
Fri 25th – 12pm to 2pm (Last entry 1:30).
Sat 26th & Sun 27th – 10:30-5pm (last entry at 4pm).
Activity: Bread making, pasta making, dairy (including, butter, ice cream and cheese) and preserving (smoking and salting and fermentation and bottling)
The workshops are open to all ages and held at St Sampsons Centre
Due to the technical nature of some of the workshops this activity is most suitable to Adults and Family groups with children over 5, but if you want to bring your little one along there’s still plenty for them to do!
For groups of 10 and more, please email admin@yorkfoodfestival.com
Did you know that the York Food Festival is a not-for-profit organisation?
Any money generated (from trader fees to ticket sales) goes back into the festival to improve it year after year.
During the festivals we run this extensive free food education programme for all visitors to the festival.
Please consider making a donation to support this programme and keep it running.
Design and create your own chocolate bar with York Cocoa Works
Various times available throughout the day.
Learn the full magic of creating chocolate from the raw bean itself to making actual chocolate. The secrets of the chocolate making process will be shared to create your very own chocolate recipe.
Available Fri 18th, Sat 19th, Fri 25th, Sat 26th
Each participant will work with the base chocolate ingredients to make their own signature blended chocolate that they can take home to use in their own chocolate creations.
Learn how to develop flavours and qualities from each stage of the cocoa bean processing
Learn how to combine ingredients to create desired chocolate recipes
Make a personalised signature chocolate blend to your own recipe
Beautifully package up your creations so you can enjoy them or re-use them at home in your own recipes
Go home with recipes and your newly found chocolate knowledge
Learn how to master the making of Ganache to create your own flavoured truffles however you like.
Chocolate lovers will have the opportunity to get hands-on at the Chocolate Truffle Making Masterclass at York Cocoa Works on Saturday 19 September.
The session will introduce participants to the art of making ganache, the rich and versatile chocolate mixture that forms the basis of delicious handmade truffles. Guests will learn the techniques needed to create their own truffles before experimenting with flavours to develop their own personalised creations.
Taking place at York Cocoa Works on Castlegate, the masterclass will offer an enjoyable insight into the craft and precision involved in professional chocolate-making, while giving participants the chance to get creative.
Whether you are an enthusiastic home baker, a keen chocolate lover or simply looking for a new experience during the festival, the session will provide plenty of inspiration and practical skills to take away.
With hands-on chocolate making and the freedom to create your own flavours, this promises to be a deliciously indulgent festival experience.
Learn the basics of working with chocolate, creating ganache and crafting your own chocolate truffles.
Available 20th, 24th, 27th
Discover the basics of chocolate making, from working with chocolate to make simple, gorgeous ganache to how to professionally temper chocolate so you can work with it to create a whole gorgeous array of delights. Participants will take home approximately 300g of their own chocolate creations together with lots of hints and tips to be able to make chocolates easily at home.
This is our initial workshop for working with chocolate, it’s a perfect starter for any budding chocolatier or cake maker that wants to understand more about how chocolate works.
York Food Festival is proud to feature once again our Education Workshop Programme.
The programme offers free places to over 1000 Key Stage 2 primary school students, and local Scout & Guiding Groups, the opportunity to participate in workshops focused on various themes related to food and cooking.
The school program workshops cover the same themes as those in the main festival, including bread making, pasta making, vegan dips, smoking your own food, and more. The workshops are designed to be engaging and informative, providing students with a fun and interactive way to learn about food and cooking.
Each visit runs for two hours and involves a series of workhops. The workshops can start at either 10 am or 1 pm, depending on the availability and schedule of the school group.
Teachers and school administrators interested in enrolling their classes in the York Food Festival school program can find further information and apply to attend with our online form
Did you know that the York Food Festival is a not-for-profit organisation?
Any money generated (from trader fees to ticket sales) goes back into the festival to improve it year after year.
During the festivals we run this extensive free food education programme to local schools.
Please consider making a donation to support this programme and keep it running.
A tour through the history of drinking chocolate
The Making of Drinking Chocolate will take visitors on a fascinating journey through the history of one of the world’s oldest chocolate traditions, at York Cocoa Works from 21–25 September.
The experience will explore drinking chocolate from its South American origins and arrival in Europe, through to the elaborate drinking traditions of Georgian Britain and York’s own important history of chocolate manufacturing.
Visitors will discover how drinking chocolate has evolved over the centuries, before learning about the process used today to create the hot chocolate crafted at York Cocoa Works.
Combining history, chocolate-making and York’s rich industrial heritage, the experience will offer a fascinating insight into how a drink that was once considered an exotic luxury became a much-loved everyday treat.
For chocolate enthusiasts and history lovers alike, The Making of Drinking Chocolate will provide an engaging and informative look at chocolate’s journey through time, right through to the delicious drink enjoyed today.
Step inside a working piece of history and experience how wind is turned into flour!
On Wednesdays and Fridays, experience how wind power is transformed into flour.
Arrive early to catch the sails turning and stones grinding (wind permitting).
Families will enjoy hands-on displays, and fresh stone-ground flour may be available to take home.
Entry is £5, under-16s free, with all proceeds supporting the ongoing preservation of the mill.
Please note, access involves steep steps. 45-60 minutes recommended.
Learn the basics of working with chocolate, creating ganache and crafting your own chocolate truffles.
Available 20th, 24th, 27th
Discover the basics of chocolate making, from working with chocolate to make simple, gorgeous ganache to how to professionally temper chocolate so you can work with it to create a whole gorgeous array of delights. Participants will take home approximately 300g of their own chocolate creations together with lots of hints and tips to be able to make chocolates easily at home.
This is our initial workshop for working with chocolate, it’s a perfect starter for any budding chocolatier or cake maker that wants to understand more about how chocolate works.
Step inside a working piece of history and experience how wind is turned into flour!
On Wednesdays and Fridays, experience how wind power is transformed into flour.
Arrive early to catch the sails turning and stones grinding (wind permitting).
Families will enjoy hands-on displays, and fresh stone-ground flour may be available to take home.
Entry is £5, under-16s free, with all proceeds supporting the ongoing preservation of the mill.
Please note, access involves steep steps. 45-60 minutes recommended.
Learn the full magic of creating chocolate from the raw bean itself to making actual chocolate. The secrets of the chocolate making process will be shared to create your very own chocolate recipe.
Available Fri 18th, Sat 19th, Fri 25th, Sat 26th
Each participant will work with the base chocolate ingredients to make their own signature blended chocolate that they can take home to use in their own chocolate creations.
Learn how to develop flavours and qualities from each stage of the cocoa bean processing
Learn how to combine ingredients to create desired chocolate recipes
Make a personalised signature chocolate blend to your own recipe
Beautifully package up your creations so you can enjoy them or re-use them at home in your own recipes
Go home with recipes and your newly found chocolate knowledge
Learn how to master the important tempering process as we explore a range of tempering techniques so you can confidently work with chocolate at home.
The science behind chocolate tempering can at times be overwhelming however it is an essential component to being able to master chocolate. We’ll be exploring the process and the different techniques that can be used to effectively temper chocolate.
Learn how to master 3 different tempering methods – slab tempering, seed tempering and our own hair dryer method.
By the end of the workshop you will be able to recognise and correct bloom and crystallisation errors.
You should be able to identify ways to effectively manage your environment to achieve perfectly tempered chocolate.
You will make a variety of chocolate products, including bars, shells and crystallised couverture for you to take home and work with.
You will beautifully wrap your creations to take home and enjoy
Go home with recipes and your newly found chocolate knowledge
Learn the basics of working with chocolate, creating ganache and crafting your own chocolate truffles.
Available 20th, 24th, 27th
Discover the basics of chocolate making, from working with chocolate to make simple, gorgeous ganache to how to professionally temper chocolate so you can work with it to create a whole gorgeous array of delights. Participants will take home approximately 300g of their own chocolate creations together with lots of hints and tips to be able to make chocolates easily at home.
This is our initial workshop for working with chocolate, it’s a perfect starter for any budding chocolatier or cake maker that wants to understand more about how chocolate works.
