Winchester Cheese & Chilli Festival

Street Theatre

Circus / Fire Performer

Simon Chainey is an accomplished performer based in the South coast of the United Kingdom.  Simon turned his love of circus skills from a hobby into a full time profession by founding a group of performers specialising in high-energy fire shows.

Recently Simon has diversified into street performing and uses his incredible skill and stage presence to great effect.

Cooking Theatre

Chilli Olly & Chilli Dave Presents

A number of cooking demonstrations or talks will be offered by professionals from the cheese and chilli industry. Many sessions will be hosted by the famous Chilli Olly but we will also have many guest speakers. See the schedule for further details. The Demonstration Theatre will also host the popular Hot Food Challenge, Ready Steady Cook interactive cooking session plus many more.

Cooking Theatre Schedule

Chilli Eating Competition

The Chilli Eating Competition takes place each day at around 4pm.  It’s quite a sight to see grown adults struggle to eat tiny fruits and hilarious to see the consequences! The winner of the competition is the person who can stay in the game the longest! If you are mad enough for the challenge, please contact us.

Live Music

A festival is not a festival without some live music! To keep us entertained, we have a number of bands playing for us throughout the weekend. The bands will be celebrated musicians from around the region playing anything from from jazz to rock. See the schedule for further information.

Verses Food Challenge

The Verses Food Challenge is a crazy 30 minutes of watching people try and devour a HOT meal prepared lovingly by our resident chefs Chilli Olly and Chilli Dave.  The winner is the person who can finish theirs first! If you are mad enough for the challenge, please contact us.

Walkabout Wendy

Wendy Sax – Wendy’s versatility enables her to play in many different musical styles including jazz, blues, pop, soul, Ibiza chillout, and contemporary smooth jazz and groove, making her popular and in demand and we get to enjoy her music all day.

Children's Entertainment

We have number of FREE activities available for the kids.  We have Punch & Judy, Magic Shows, Treasure Hunts, Balloon Modelling, Giant Bubble Parties, Meet Kerry the Koala Crazy Golf, stilt walkers, walkabout musicians and Circus Skills available.  There are paid for activities also such as mini fun fair rides, axe throwing, face painting, inflatables etc.

Punch & Judy

“A Classic Whodunit”

Punch & Judy is a classic show which the kids love.  It’s also a time to have 30 minutes or so to grab a drink etc and relax as we’ll take the strain. The show is a fun and interactive play which we all know and love.

Meet Kerry The Koala

We have our very own mascot, Kerry The Koala! She’s 3m tall and filled with air and very friendly?  We’d love you to come and meet her!

Taste Tent

At each event we have a tailored selection of sauces from various traders around the site and we ask you to judge which ones you prefer.  When entering the event, you are given a ballot slip to be used in this area.  Your vote counts!