Sunderland teenager who wowed on The Voice Kids to entertain crowds at Chester-le-Eats food festival

Jessie Dale reached the battle round of the hit ITV show as part of Danny Jones’s team in 2018 and has since travelled around the country gigging at festivals and events

Now, she’s set to take to the stage at a new food and drink event, Chester-le-Eats, which takes place at Durham Cricket Ground on October 1 and 2.

She will be performing as The Jessie Dale Band at the festival on Saturday October 1 as part of a line-up of musical entertainment, which also includes Sunderland band Picnic.

Also featuring on Saturday is solo artist Lewis Curry. The North East vocalist, pianist and guitarist will be covering a range of Motown and soul as well as classic pop and rock hits.

Indie rock musician James Berry will feature on both Saturday and Sunday, with a repertoire of classics from down the years, such as Bob Dylan, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Foo Fighters and Ocean Colour Scene.

On Sunday, guests can expect to get their groove on to colourful, sax-driven funk-pop band Picnic as well as live acoustic looper, Rich Gilroy, who will perform hits from across the decades.

As well as a host of food and drink stalls, the event will also include an appearance from Durham Cricket mascots Chester and River, as well as face painting for the kids.

Ythan Sale, Durham Cricket’s Event Manager, said: “We are really excited to announce such a fantastic line up of entertainment, which we hope that along with seriously good food from the North East’s top producers, will be the key ingredients to the first ever Chester-le-EATS.

“Chester-le-EATS has been launched by us not only to provide a free family fun day out for all but to support local businesses and help boost the local economy after two years of not having any events due to Covid.

“It comes after the success of Chester Fest, a community event which we held in 2019 which saw thousands flock to the venue. Chester-le-EATS aims to build on our excellent relationship with the local and wider community.

“With just four weeks to go until the event, we hope visitors are looking forward to it just as much as we are.”

The free event will include stalls from Scream for Pizza who were finalists in the British Street Food Awards; The Seahorse Coffee Box; Greek street food favourite, Phi Pie; street food veterans Spud Gun Loaded Fries; Caribbean favourites The Calabash Tree who run Washington’s Cove Caribbean; The Geordie Banger Company; Churros Barcelona and DCC Events with their hog roast and Lebanese shawarma vans.

Visitors will also be able to pick up some North East produce from Calder’s Kitchen, which makes home-made traditional piccalilli and a range of chutneys; curry sauces from Spicy Monkey; sweet treats from Bake for the Soul and Le Mini Macaron; and a range of beers and spirits will also be available for purchase from the region’s brewers and distillers.