Lively ingredients

Tantalise your tastebuds and stimulate your senses at this years's lively festival with a variety of displays, demonstrations, exhibitions and events

Walk through the pavilion and you will be overwhelmed by the sheer variety of tasty, original products from more than 50 exhibitors from within the county. Drop in to the Chefs’ Theatre, where many of Cornwall’s top chefs will be sharing their culinary secrets in demonstrations throughout the weekend. And don’t miss the rare opportunity to see Master of Wine Xenia Irwin, one of less than 300 people with the title internationally, as she unravels some mysteries of the subject in her free masterclass on Sunday afternoon - a new attraction for this year.

Arrive in good time to watch popular BBC Radio Cornwall presenters James Churchfield and Pam Spriggs go head to head in a live cooking challenge on Friday morning. Then see budding chefs from local primary schools in a similar competition on Sunday morning. To add to the mix, all these brave competitors will be paired with professional chefs with reputations to protect. The heat will really be on.

Back this year by popular demand is our charity fish auction on Saturday afternoon, led by Newlyn favourite Robin Turner. All proceeds will go to the Fishermen’s Mission, a charity close to Cornish hearts. When you’re ready for a break, head for The Croust Bar, our brand new addition for 2009, where you can sit and relax with a drink or a bite to eat from an exciting range of food. Here you can also enjoy more demonstrations from the Heritage kitchen.

There’s something for the kids too in the Funky Food Zone, where youngsters can get involved on Saturday and Sunday with fun food activities. This tent is sponsored by the Women’s Food and Farming Union, which will be leading the fun and games. For those still wanting more, we introduce the Cornwall Food Fringe, with shops, pubs and restaurants around Cornwall putting on special events or menus to take the festival atmosphere both beyond Truro and into the evenings, making this a real time of celebration.