THE “power of baking” was on show today as local residents and businesses joined forces to support the first-ever ‘Great Bingley Bake Off’.

The two-day event has been organised by the Bingley Chamber of Trade and Commerce in its bid to revive the town’s former food festival.

Families flocked to the event’s stalls, rides, and cooking demonstrations yesterday, which were led by Sandy Docherty, a welfare officer at Titus Salt School in Baildon and contestant who appeared on the hugely popular Great British Bake Off in 2015.

Speaking after a cake-decorating demonstration with two young sisters in which she encouraged the audience to “bake down barriers”, she said: “It’s great to be involved in anything local, and to be able to host the whole day is a great privilege, with the presenting a bit of a new venture for me.

“It’s just to get the message across that anybody can bake. It’s anger-free, you cannot bake and be in a bad mood.

“The kids love it, adults are engaged, and we’ve had a room full of people watching two girls decorate cakes and be totally engrossed.

“That’s the power of baking, the power of pudding!”

Others taking part in cooking demonstrations during the event have included Mike Armstrong, also known as Baker Mike, the award-winning Sainsbury’s baker from Keighley, Will Hawksworth and Jonathan Elvin from Greencore plc, and food consultant Adam Palmer.

Jamie Illingworth, president of the Bingley Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said of the event: “We just felt we wanted to revive the Bingley Food Festival from when Bradford Council did it ten years ago.

“We’ve got local businesses and residents on board, and it’s about getting the event off the ground this year and then building for next year.

“It’s a family event, and we want to continue it but to do that we’ll need support from local businesses.

“It’s all about the Bingley business community working together and improving the economy of the town.”

The event continues from 10am to 4pm tomorrow, with attractions on offer to visitors set to include more cooking demonstrations, an Easter Egg hunt, stalls, and donkey rides.