Traders at Bolton Food and Drink Festival brought the world to Victoria Square this weekend with a unique batch of on-trend treats and unique eats.
The festival, which celebrates its 18th birthday this year, celebrated the milestone anniversary in style, with many traders serving up a unique spin of tried and tested classics.
Once again, the hugely popular tornado potato, consisting of a twist of fried potato on a stick, made a return, with the eye-catching snack seen in hands all over the town centre.
Other traders have also brought unique offerings to the festival this year, catching the attention of foodies across the region.
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Elle Watson, 24, runs Salt and Pepper, a Chorley-based business with a twist on fried chicken inspired by a trip to New York. It serves seasoned fried chicken in an ice cream cone.
For Elle, who is originally from Farnworth, catering is a family affair as she grew up learning from her parents, who ran a similar business selling kangaroo and ostrich burgers.
“She said: About 25 years ago now, [my parents] were at the market one day and they’d seen someone selling venison burgers, they thought it was a good idea and they went a place called alternative meats and ask about it.
"It's come about that they could do kangaroo, ostrich wild boar, its evolved from there and I’ve grown up around it.
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“This is the first-time salt and peppers has ever come here. The response has been really, really good, these kinds of places attract a lot of foodies, especially on the social media side.”
Another unusual burger comes from North West Game who’ve brought venison and wild boar burgers to Bolton.
Owner Nick Holding, from Newton-Le-Willows, says he got into selling elevated fast-food around 10 years ago through farming wild game.
“Bolton Food and Drink Festival is always good for us, that’s why we keep coming back, it’s a good solid event.”
Hayley Conlin, 39, and from Blackpool is one of two stalls at the market selling snow cones, a colourful ice-based dessert sweetened with flavoured syrups. Her stall Sno Fro has been a big hit at the festival, especially with children.
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She said: “When I was doing this eight or nine years ago, people literally had no idea [what snow cones] were, my dad made these polystyrene ones to show people what it was like.
“It’s actually called Hawaiian shaved ice but I just call it snow cones because people know what a snow cone is because of Tik Tok.
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“Everybody absolutely loves it because it because they’re like a walking advertisement.
“What’s not to love it’s just like a slush but better!”
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