Visiting the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC Birmingham

The BBC Good Food Show takes place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham twice per year; once in the summer and once in the winter. I was lucky enough to win two tickets to the Summer Good Food Show via a @BrumHour competition on twitter.

The show was running from Thursday to Sunday, and the tickets could be used on any date other than Saturday. After chatting to my mum, we decided Sunday would be the best option. There was no way I was missing the opportunity to see Mary Berry (my baking idol).

Getting there

For convenience, we decided to drive to the NEC as it only takes around 30-minutes by car from me. We pre-paid for parking online, which was £12. It seems expensive, but for two of us it actually worked out cheaper than catching the train.

The show opened at 9am and we arrived at around 9.10. There was a short queue to get into the car park, but it moved quickly and we were in the exhibition hall by 9.30.

The Big Kitchen

Our free tickets didn't include seats in the Big Kitchen, but we decided to upgrade them on the day. We paid £5 each which didn't seem too bad. The demo we saw was by Mary Berry and Alan Titchmarsh (who was there for BBC Gardener's World Live which is held in the same exhibition hall).

They started by cooking a pasta dish with plenty of fresh herbs. It smelt incredible! Next was a quick-and-easy chocolate cheesecake, which my mum is already planning to recreate.

The banter between the two of them was hilarious, and our seats had a pretty decent view considering we'd only booked them last minute. Maybe the 10am show isn't as popular, because the crowds seemed bigger later on in the afternoon.

Mary Berry Book Signing

One of the first things we did when we arrived was head to the WHSmiths pop-up shop to buy a Mary Berry cookbook. After flicking through the books on offer, I decided to go for the "Fast Cakes" cookbook, which cost me £18. At the time of writing this post, the book is actually only 80p cheaper on Amazon, so not a bad offer! I then received a ticket which would allow me to join the book signing queue later that morning.

Although they can't guarantee everyone will get their book signed, priority is given to those who purchase books at the events. I wasn't taking any chances and made sure to join the queue around 25 minutes before the book signing was due to start. It turned out to be a wise decision, as soon after I could soon see a long line building behind me.

Mary Berry was adorable. She's so small in person, and very polite. You only get around 30-seconds to stop and say hi while she signs your book. You could tell the security guards were trying to move people through as quickly as possible. She wasn't able to pose for photos, but there was someone from WHSmiths stood opposite who was happy to take a couple of phone pictures as she signed each person's book.

The Exhibiters

As you walk around the exhibition hall it can be a little overwhelming. There are so many stands with fantastic food and drink you can try and buy. I'm a vegetarian and didn't struggle to find stuff I could eat. You'll find everything from sweet to savoury. I'm not allowed to drink alcohol at the moment but my mum had a great time trying all the booze on offer!

We bought quite a lot in the end, including some popped veggie crisps, the most delicious garlic butter and all the cheese. I also treated myself to a halloumi and vegetable Greek wrap because I fancied something warm. It was tasty but I'm not sure it was worth the £9 I paid. My mum didn't bother buying anything specifically for lunch as she was so full from all the samples we'd been trying!

BBC Gardeners' World Live

Our tickets also included entry to BBC Gardeners' World Live, which was being held in the same location as the Good Food Show. I'm not big on gardening, but it was fun to wander around and look at the plants and flowers. The Show Gardens in particular were beautiful!

Both shows closed at 5pm but we were finished by 2pm so headed off early, satisfied with our purchases.

My top tips for visiting the BBC Good Food Show

• Get there early - it was so much quieter when we arrived at 9.30am compared to when we left around 2pm
• Pre-pay for parking. If you decide to drive it's £12 when you book online in advance, or £16 on the day
• Plan your budget and have an idea of what you'd like to buy before you arrive. It's easy to overspend when there's so much food and drink on offer. I think I spent around £30 in total (not including my Mary Berry cookbook) but I easily could have bought more
• Bring cash - most vendors do accept card payments but some don't. There are cash points on site if you need them
• Take a bottle of water with you. This is my top tip for most events, but I'm going to include it here too. It can get very warm inside the NEC. Although you can find drink samples as you're going around, if you were to buy a full bottle of water or can of coke the prices aren't cheap
• Bring a big bag to store your purchases. We even saw people with wheeled shopping trolleys, which I believe you can also rent on the day

Have you ever visited the BBC Good Food Show?

Visit bbcgoodfoodshow.com to find out more about the next event and to book tickets.