BiteBack Festival which took place at Wylam Brewery, Newcastle, on Sunday 09th June 2024 has been a triumphant success, raising a whopping £72,063 for Cancer Research UK.
The event, the brainchild of Sian Byerley, co-owner of Restaurant Pine, Northumberland, saw a stellar lineup of fifteen chefs from some of the UK’s leading restaurants, with 19 Michelin stars and Green stars between them, cook at the pop-up foodie event.
On the day, each individual chef and their teams served up 500 portions of their refined street food creations to eagerly waiting for foodies who’d devoured online tokens in record time to secure dishes from their chosen food heroes.
The free-to-attend event saw thousands gather on the day to help raise much-needed cash to help Cancer Research UK support over 4,000 researchers, clinicians and nurses who are carrying out vital work transforming the prevention, diagnosing and treatment of cancer, and bring hope to millions of people, now and in the future in the process.
The vibrant atmosphere saw revellers tuck into their chosen foodie treats, sample the drinks offering from Wylam Brewery and the Northumberland Coffee Co and enjoy live music from a range of DJ’s including Ben Scott and Charlie Younger.
Online bidders got stuck into securing their chosen lots from the 50+ available foodie and overnight experiences in the silent auction. All provided by supportive restaurateurs and hospitality businesses from across the region and further afield, including foodie icon Simon Rogan, who generously donated a full Day at Our Farm Experience for two people, at his farm in the Lake District, Si King and Terry Laybourne who both generously donated their time to cook a private dinner in the successful bidders own home for up to 10 people, Grace and Savour, Solihull, who donated a dine and stay experience for two at their Michelin starred restaurant and Restaurant 22, Cambridge who donated a tasting menu and discovery wine flight experience for two.
The specially created dishes included:
BBQ Herdwick belly on flatbread by Paul Leonard,
Desperate Dan’s cow pie by Tom Sheperd,
Beetroot & Doddington cheddar by Ian Waller,
Potted shrimp with spiced cauliflower apple velouté by Ryan Blackburn,
BBQ chicken, preserved garlic, and seaweed potatoes by Nathan Davies,
James’ giant peach and game set & match by Cal Byerley,
Craister kipper stottie by Kenny Atkinson,
Ancient grain flatbread and slow cooked pork shoulder by Josh Overington,
BBQ carrot with anise and pumpkin seed by Pam Brunton,
Herdwick sausage roll with Pickled Red Cabbage and Garlic Aioli by Kevin Tickle,
Pork skewer and chimichurri by Alex Nietsvuori,
Jamón croquetas by Nieves Barragan,
‘‘Heston’s Meat Fruit’’ by Kevin Brown,
Chicken Rhug with green asparagus, Our Miso, chicken wing garum and butter emulsion by David Taylor,
Herdwick lamb kofta, steak ragu filled cruffin, mentalista flatbread with crispy ears and burnt Lettuce emulsion by Tommy Banks, Will Lockwood & Callum Leslie.
‘’We want to thank everyone who has been involved in this year’s event. It’s only been made possible by the generosity and hard work of absolutely everyone who has been involved. What we’ve all achieved is amazing! We’d hope that we might be able to raise £60,000 but to totally smash that total and raise over £72,000 is out of this world.’’
”We’d like to thank the 15 incredible chefs who’ve all volunteered their time for this amazing cause, as well as the amazing folks at Wylam Brewery for providing the venue, the amazing suppliers like Wellocks, Wilde Farm, Crosby’s, R & J Butchers, Hodgson’s Fish, Sous Vide Tools, VMS, A7 Media, Beyond Design and many more, who have all been massively generous providing support for the event itself, as well as those businesses that have very kindly donated auction prizes to help the event raise more funds for Cancer Research UK.”
Adding: ‘’What started out as a tentative conversation in 2023 has rapidly grown into something pretty wonderful and indescribable and that’s down to Ian Waller. Who like many of us up and down the country has personal reasons for wanting to support the work of Cancer Research UK. It’s been a long journey to get to this point but every second has been worth it. Now for a well-earned rest for us all and then we’ll have a think about what comes next for 2025…’’
Siân Byerley, co-owner of Pine
Why is fundraising for Cancer Research UK so important?
Every year thousands of adults and children are diagnosed with cancer and many of us know someone who has been impacted by the illness. Which is why it’s vital we do everything we can to increase funding into combating cancer. Funding which ultimately helps charities like Cancer Research UK deliver better treatments and outcomes for people who are living with cancer. It also helps people plan ahead whilst they’re still able to make important decisions about their future care and support needs. As well as helping individuals and their families prepare through the provision of practical advice and support, especially as they face new challenges cancer inevitably brings.
For more information about future events please visit: https://www.bitebackfestival.co.uk and don’t forget to keep an eye on the official Instagram page @biteback_fest too.
