World Curry Festival spices up city centre

12:13am Monday 24th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Jonathan Redhead, Ilkley/Otley Reporter

Street entertainers perform at the World Curry Festival Street entertainers perform at the World Curry Festival

Spices and flavours from across the globe were tantalising tastebuds in Bradford as thousands visited one of the district’s main attractions at the weekend.

A range of events were taking place across the district including the World Curry Festival in Bradford city centre and the popular Otley Folk Festival, which came to a close last night after four days of traditional entertainment.

A host of food stalls offering curries, kebabs and a smattering of other delicacies attracted visitors from far and wide to their sites planted around the City Park mirror pool.

The crowds outside were kept amused by on-street entertainment, including the Fairly Fresh Fish Co, Comedy Chefs and Cake Ladies.

Meanwhile, demonstrations were held inside a pop-up curry theatre in the former Tulsi restaurant, from some of the curry world’s most well-known chefs.

On Saturday morning Kaushy Patel, the founder and executive chef at Prashad in Great Horton , which was named Gordon Ramsay’s best Indian restaurant in 2010, took part in a demonstration to showcase her skills and dishes at the venue. Organiser Zulfi Karim said he was delighted with how the event had gone.

He said: “It’s been amazing. Obviously this is the first time in Bradford – City Park is still relatively new and it was a good move.

“I think one of the highlights has been turning a unit which has been empty into a pop-up curry theatre. It’s become a place where people want to visit, with the backdrop of the City Hall and the lake.

“We have innovative chefs here. The theme has been community and bringing in new talent, so the chefs we have got on stage are people that are innovators of curry.

“This event is the Glastonbury of world food – it’s not just about food, it also about culture.”

Comments(17)

Fawzia says...
10:44am Mon 24 Sep 12

Would like know more about this amazing and so yummy event, I absolutely agree that is not only about good food but about Culture, tolerance and diversity as well

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webess says...
2:33pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Fawzia wrote:
Would like know more about this amazing and so yummy event, I absolutely agree that is not only about good food but about Culture, tolerance and diversity as well
A bit late now, it ran from Friday to Sunday. Was very good - hopefully it'll be back

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Beckster55 says...
2:57pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Thought it was poor tbh. Where were Akbars, The Aagraah, Mumtaz etc. Only a handful of stalls there and hardly any selling curry :(

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A Casual Observer says...
4:10pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Beckster55 wrote:
Thought it was poor tbh. Where were Akbars, The Aagraah, Mumtaz etc. Only a handful of stalls there and hardly any selling curry :(
Selling curry? I was under the impression it was free event with free food being served, glad I didn't go now. Was there any vegetarian food on offer?

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Albion. says...
4:32pm Mon 24 Sep 12

A Casual Observer wrote:
Beckster55 wrote:
Thought it was poor tbh. Where were Akbars, The Aagraah, Mumtaz etc. Only a handful of stalls there and hardly any selling curry :(
Selling curry? I was under the impression it was free event with free food being served, glad I didn't go now. Was there any vegetarian food on offer?
Or a Hog Roast?

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Foolroy says...
4:53pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Relative went and said it was dear, so they went to Greggs instead.

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webess says...
5:31pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Foolroy wrote:
Relative went and said it was dear, so they went to Greggs instead.
They sound quite classy...

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TirNaNog says...
5:36pm Mon 24 Sep 12

webess wrote:
Foolroy wrote:
Relative went and said it was dear, so they went to Greggs instead.
They sound quite classy...
Now,now! It is sometimes fun to go to Greggs - for the pushchair derby!
A Greggs pacifier for all the contestants. Quality!

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mad matt says...
7:43pm Mon 24 Sep 12

I passed there in the afternoon and honestly thought it was closed because there was hardly anyone about.

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jacko99 says...
10:11pm Mon 24 Sep 12

there was a stall selling Pie & Pea's to pensioners.

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jacko99 says...
10:15pm Mon 24 Sep 12

there was a stall selling vindaloo Pie & Pea's to Pensioners.

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JAtkinson says...
11:10pm Mon 24 Sep 12

We went on Saturday and was packed! Queues of 30-50 ppl at most stalls. Really good atmosphere and truly delicious food - and pretty good value.

Not sure what extra the big names would have brought. Would be good to see more non-SE Asian curry: Thai, Carribean, etc next year.

The demonstrations looked great, too. A really positive day (am I allowed to comment positively on T&A?).

Roll on next year :-)

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shornoff says...
11:15pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Saturday was packed. A superb atmosphere. Great curry. Loved it!

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Rambo says...
12:46am Tue 25 Sep 12

We went on Friday. Were all the stalls not set up? It seemed there were only about 12-15 and quite a few of these were for well-established local restaurants anyway e.g. Zouk, Prashad, Zaaras. Not really a "World" Curry Festival was it?

And like JAtkinson says, whats the point of more big names? We can go to their restaurants any day of the week.

Now I like Zouk, but after looking at what they were doing, they only had 2 curries (unless we missed something) - a lamb and chicken version of the same thing. That seemed pretty lame.

But yeah, as mentioned, where were the Thai, Carribean, Japanese etc curries that had been at past events in Leeds?

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Stanglienne says...
7:50am Tue 25 Sep 12

We took the family along saturday and sunday... Saturday was heaving and the puddle was full of kids having a great time. Sunday was quieter, but as the queues were shorter we got to sample more of the restaurants. I'm not sure what extra mumtaz etc would've brought to the event - the best food we had (also best value) was brighouse's "street" and it was great to try something different (it wasn't the bradord curry festival, after all!) . Also great value was the thai food from dragon thai's stall - unfortunately it was hidden a bit with no signs up, so probably got missed by many.
Looking forward to this coming back next year - but more variety of world curries and some live music wouldn't go amiss!

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Fawzia says...
9:11am Tue 25 Sep 12

Hello, would thank all of you for your comments , Have a Nice Day.

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BradfordStranger says...
10:28am Wed 26 Sep 12

Foolroy wrote:
Relative went and said it was dear, so they went to Greggs instead.
Foolroy - you have done something the T&A and Bradford Council have not managed.

Provided hard evidence that somebody came to City Park for an event and ended up spending money in the city centre.

Even if was just a cornish pasty and an iced finger from Gregg's.

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