A pizza pop-up based in East Lancs will be stationed at an upcoming food festival and it looking for more venues to serve its food.

Killa Carbs, owned by Lara King and based in Darwen, will be at the Darwen Food & Drink Festival over the Easter weekend (Sunday, April 9 and Monday, April 10) serving their Neapolitan style pizza.

Lara, originally from Dublin, started the business in 2021 after her time in the beauty industry was halted due to the pandemic, and after moving to Darwen from Bolton, she is now on the look-out for more venues.

Lancashire Telegraph:

She said: “I was working in the beauty industry and it was completely closed down, so like everyone else I needed to start doing something that wasn’t going to be closed because of Covid and lockdown.

“We ran it out of my back garden for that first winter and then slowly progressed.

"We started at Astley Bridge Cricket Club and we’re now based in Darwen doing pop-ups in different breweries and pubs, and we’re starting to do festivals this summer.”

Many new food businesses started as a result of the pandemic, but Lara believes her pizzas stand out among the crowd due to their taste and quality.

Lancashire Telegraph:

She said: “I’m not willing to compromise. I try and use the best ingredients.

"We have Italian suppliers importing a lot of ingredients and I try and get some local produce if I can.

“I try to make it taste the best. I don’t want it to be like a frozen pizza. There’s so much room for improvement as well. It’s non-stop learning.

“There’s a huge different between this and ordering a standard takeaway pizza. I make the dough two or three days in advance, I ferment it, use fresh yeast and Italian flour. It makes a huge difference.

“It’s not factory made, it’s not a fast process but it makes all the difference when it comes to taste.”

Having made appearances at lots of events across the county, Lara is excited to be doing a big event in her local community.

Lancashire Telegraph:

She said: “There are other pizza places around but the community is really friendly. I’ve had nothing but love from them.

"I like being based in Darwen and doing it here. I want to do it for our community.”

As well as running her own business, Lara is also involved in the 1K Pizza Project with two of her friends who are also in the industry.

They go to community centres and food hubs across the North West to cook free pizzas for them, and she is now trying to bring it to Lancashire at a food bank in Darwen.

Killa Carbs is available on most Fridays at The Old Function Room pub in Darwen.