Chef James Martin drops out of food festival

Saturday Kitchen host James Martin will no longer appear at the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival in Skipton

Celebrity chefs James Martin and Galton Blackiston have pulled out of this year's Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival, it has been announced.

Both chefs informed fans via social media that "circumstances outside my control" meant they would no longer be able to attend the event at Skipton's Aireville Park later this month.

Disco performers Brutus Gold's Love Train also announced their withdrawal "due to the organiser's failure to meet contractual obligations".

Festival organisers Cocker Hoop Creative Ltd denied the claim and assured ticketholders that suitable replacements would be arranged for the cancelled appearances.

The three-day festival, which was founded in 2015 and previously took place at Funkirk Farm in Skipton, features street food and pop-up restaurants as well as masterclasses with celebrity chefs.

It was cancelled last year after the company behind it, Events by B3 Ltd, went into liquidation, with Cocker Hoop Creative later acquiring the festival's assets and intellectual property.

The festival will take place at Aireville Park, Skipton, later this month

In almost identical statements, posted on social media, James Martin and Galton Blackiston said they would no longer attend this year's event, which takes place from 18 to 20 July.

"Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of my control, I will no longer be appearing at the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival," the statements said.

"Please contact the organisers if you have any questions."

Cocker Hoop Creative's managing director, Jon Arrowsmith, said they were "gutted" about the withdrawal, explaining they had been unable to reach a compromise with Martin.

"Galton cancelling we didn't even know about," he said, adding that an update would be issued at a later date once new chefs for the line-up were confirmed.

'Challenges'

"When we took this festival on, we knew there were going to be challenges," Mr Arrowsmith said.

"We didn't realise how much was going to come against us but as a team and working with the council and all the local businesses working together, we're going to get this right.

"We're going to give you a weekend you're going to love."

The current line-up includes celebrity chefs Rosemary Shrager and Simon Rimmer and would have seen Brutus Gold's Love Train provide musical entertainment.

However, the group said on Wednesday it had withdrawn from the event, citing "the organiser's failure to meet contractual obligations, including non-payment."

Mr Arrowsmith disputed the claim, stating that the entertainers were dropped due to members of the group allegedly being "abusive and rude".

Brutus Gold's Love Train declined to comment on the allegation.

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