Genuine Futures Young People Take Centre Stage at Bolton Food & Drink Festival 2026
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From Designing a Pie to Selling It at Bolton Food & Drink Festival 2026
What happens when you give young people the opportunity to take an idea from a conversation around a table to a product being sold at one of Bolton’s biggest events?
This weekend, we’re finding out.
Young people from Genuine Futures are joining HM Pasties at Bolton Food & Drink Festival 2026, gaining hands-on experience working on the stall, meeting customers and helping sell a very special product.
And it isn’t just any pie.
It’s a pie the young people have helped design themselves.
For Genuine Futures, this is exactly what bridging the gap to opportunity is about.
Luis Takes Us Inside Bolton Food & Drink Festival
As part of our History of Bolton series, Luis headed into Bolton town centre for the first day of the festival to explore what’s happening and give viewers a look around one of the town’s biggest annual events.
But this year’s visit has an important difference.
Luis isn’t simply reporting on an event happening in Bolton. Young people from Genuine Futures are becoming part of it.
Throughout Saturday, Sunday and Monday, they’ll be working alongside the HM Pasties team on their stall.
And Luis has an important message for anyone wanting to try the young people’s creation:
“You can only get them here!”
Watch Luis inside Bolton Food & Drink Festival 2026 on YouTube.
From an Idea to a Product People Can Buy
The journey started before the festival.
Through our work with HM Pasties, the young people have taken part in a Design a Pie project, exploring ideas and contributing towards developing a product that could eventually be made and sold.
Now they’ve reached perhaps the most exciting part of that journey.
Their pie is going on sale to the public at Bolton Food & Drink Festival.
That changes the experience completely.
It isn’t a classroom exercise or a hypothetical business challenge. There is a real product, a real stall and real customers.
The young people can see the connection between an idea, production, marketing, customer service and ultimately generating income.
Youth Enterprise Should Be Experienced, Not Just Explained
We regularly talk about preparing young people for employment.
But preparation cannot only mean writing CVs, completing worksheets or telling young people what employers expect.
Young people also need opportunities to experience the world of work.
Working alongside HM Pasties gives them the chance to develop skills including communication, teamwork, customer service, confidence, punctuality, problem-solving and commercial awareness.
Importantly, they are developing those skills in a real environment.
For a young person who may previously have struggled to engage with traditional education or employment routes, an opportunity like this can reveal strengths that aren’t always visible in a classroom or formal interview.
Local Businesses Can Help Create the Next Generation of Opportunity
This partnership also demonstrates why businesses have such an important role to play in tackling youth unemployment.
Organisations like Genuine Futures can build trusted relationships with young people, provide mentoring and help remove barriers.
But we cannot create sustainable pathways alone.
We need businesses prepared to open doors.
HM Pasties has done more than talk about supporting young people. They have created an opportunity for young people to participate in the process and then stand alongside them at a major public event.
That experience has value.
It gives young people something they can talk about at their next interview. It builds networks. It develops confidence. And, perhaps most importantly, it helps them begin seeing themselves differently.
Social Impact and Economic Opportunity Belong Together
There is another important lesson here.
Supporting young people isn’t separate from economic development.
Young people working at the festival are contributing to a local business, serving visitors and participating in an event that brings people into Bolton town centre.
That is why Genuine Futures believes social and economic impact should reinforce each other.
When young people participate in enterprise, they aren’t simply beneficiaries of a programme.
They become contributors.
Customers see their work. Businesses discover their potential. Communities see young people positively participating in their town.
And young people begin building the experience and relationships that can lead towards employment, education and enterprise.
Come and Meet the Young People
If you’re visiting Bolton Food & Drink Festival 2026 this weekend, we’d love you to support them.
Find the HM Pasties stall, meet the Genuine Futures young people and try the special pie they’ve helped create.
And remember Luis’s message:
You can only get it there. 
Every purchase represents something bigger than a pie. It shows young people that their ideas, contribution and potential have value.
Want to Create Opportunities With Genuine Futures?
We’re always looking for businesses and organisations willing to create meaningful opportunities for young people.
That could mean providing a workplace visit, mentoring, work experience, a Try a Trade session, enterprise opportunity, volunteering placement or ultimately a route into employment.
If your organisation believes young people deserve the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do, we’d like to hear from you.
Genuine Futures — Bridging the gap to opportunity.