COLUMN: Karen Wright - A heady mix of fantastic food and new skills

Enjoying centre stage - Karen Wright at Seaham

However, due to my Bake-Off friend Briony getting pinged, she couldn’t travel up to do her demos on the Saturday, so I was asked if I could cover her.

I always try to say yes to things, so I supplied the cover.

However, this meant my driving from Devon up to the north-east in one day.

I was so glad that I said yes. I had the most wonderful weekend.

Everything was excellent. I have never been to that area before and wow, it is beautiful!

The locals were so friendly, and the venue was right by the sea. Our audience was seated outdoors in deck chairs.

There were so many traders there, all with fabulous things to sample and buy. Even the dolphins came out to say hello, it was amazing!

On day one we had Rosemary Shrager, who is larger than life itself, John Waite, the 2012 Bake Off winner and one of this year’s Strictly competitors, and Mike Bartley who is one of this year’s MasterChef contestants.

On Sunday we were joined by Chris Baber from the TV, and Maunika Gowardhan, a TV chef and food writer. Our compere for the weekend was Chris Baber.

Chris has been compere for the Wakefield Rhubarb Festival in the past and is totally fabulous.

What is so great for me is having the opportunity to spend time backstage with all of these chefs, chatting and relaxing with them, and for me, learning lots of new things that I can then try out at home.

I am back at home now and already I am preparing for my next festival which is coming soon, and again it is another terrific venue. I am booked with Fantastic Food Festivals at Blenheim Palace, Now how fancy is that!