Romford held its first food festival over the bank holiday weekend, featuring street food from across the world, cooking demonstrations - and even a Gordon Ramsay lookalike.
Romford Business Improvement District’s (BID) Food Festival, spread across Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27, saw a huge variety of food and drink stalls and live entertainment come to Romford town centre.
It also included a dog show on Sunday where dogs in innovative fancy dress outfits grabbed the attention of locals.
Dog-related activities like photography, grooming, and even an ice-cream seller for dogs were available.
The food festival offered a variety of international savoury and sweet street food – everything from Caribbean, Mexican, Turkish, Chinese, Spanish, Indian, Nepalese food to waffles, donuts, pies, brownies, macaroons, and vegan treats.
Attendees could join in with free cooking demonstrations and enjoy live music throughout the two-day event.
Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal lookalikes also made a surprise appearance.
To add to this, there were family-friendly fairground rides, magicians, stilt walkers, and face painters.
Sunday was filled with canine charisma, with categories like 'cutest puppy', 'golden oldie', and 'best in show' for Romford BID's first dog show.
The competition raised £225 for Scruffy's Angels, a charity helping to rescue and rehome lost animals.
Monday gave amateur bakers a platform to showcase their skills in the free 'make and bake' competition, with winners bagging customised aprons and prize hampers.
Across the weekend, the Cakeybakeydoodaa team hosted free biscuit decorating workshops at The Liberty shopping centre.
Businesses including Pizza Express and Wagamama offered samples and deals for festival-goers to enjoy.
Julie Frost, Romford BID director, said: "We had an absolutely spectacular weekend – thank you to everyone for joining us and making this the biggest and best food event the town has ever held.
"The dog show was especially hilarious – I had no idea there were so many dog lovers in Romford that wanted to show off their furry friends and dress them up for the event.
"Given the popularity of the events I think we will have to bring them back in 2025 – but maybe with a twist."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here