Familiar faces, first-time appearances and some very special guests are heading to Truro this September.
Our 2026 Chef’s Theatre line-up is taking shape, bringing together chefs from across Cornwall and beyond for five days of live cooking, conversation and plenty of good food.
And while there are far too many to introduce properly here, we thought we’d give you a taste of who’s joining us.
Some familiar faces are coming back
It really wouldn’t feel like Truro Food Festival without Kate Attlee of Sabzi.
Kate has become a bit of a festival regular over the years and, with Sabzi right here in Truro, she’s very much part of the city’s food community. We’re really pleased to have her back on the Chef’s Theatre stage for 2026.
Nisha Parmar is returning too. You might know Nisha from MasterChef, her brilliant food or her work with Big Green Egg – and if you caught her at the festival before, you’ll know why we’re so happy to have her back.
Some very special guests
We’re also hugely excited to welcome Adam Handling MBE to Truro as one of our headline chefs for 2026.
Adam has built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading chefs, and his connection with Cornwall has grown through his restaurants here in the county. We can’t wait to welcome him to Lemon Quay and see what he brings to the stage.
Joining him is Ben Prior from Porthminster Beach Café in St Ives, another chef with a real connection to Cornwall and its produce.
And that’s only scratching the surface.
Celebrating our local food community
One of the things we love most about the Chef’s Theatre is being able to put the spotlight on people doing brilliant things right here in Cornwall.
Athena Selina from The Magic Whisk will be returning to the stage this year, while 2026 will mark a first for another familiar festival face.
Natchaya Nakurai of My Mum Makes will be swapping her hugely popular street food stand for the Chef’s Theatre and taking to our stage for the very first time.
If you’ve eaten from My Mum Makes at the festival before, you’ll already know Nachaya and her food. This year you’ll get the chance to see her on the other side of the counter, cooking in front of the Chef’s Theatre audience and sharing a little more of the story behind what she does.
That mix is exactly what we want our Chef’s Theatre to be about: established names alongside emerging talent, visiting chefs alongside people you might bump into around Truro, and plenty of opportunities to discover someone new.
Meet the full 2026 line-up
There are plenty more names still to come.
We’ll continue adding chefs to our Meet the Chefs page as we get closer to September, where you can find out more about everyone joining us for Truro Food Festival 2026.
Keep checking back – the line-up isn’t finished yet.
Truro Food Festival returns to Lemon Quay from Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 September 2026, with our daytime Chef’s Theatre demonstrations free to attend.
