A popular food and drink festival will return to the streets of a market town next month as "one of the region's first" post-lockdown.

The Beccles Food and Drink Festival will showcase an array of local and East Anglian artisan producers when it returns to the town centre on Saturday, August 14.

The festival will also feature a number of new traders, including some selling rum, chilli sauces, apple juice, macarons, olive oil and shortbread.

Beginning at 10am, the festival, which takes place in the town centre around New Market, Sheepgate and in and around St Michael's Church, runs until 4pm.

It will also feature a selection of street food, music and children's entertainment.

Lead organiser Paul Parravani said: "Having been unable to host the festival in 2020, we are looking forward to holding as full an event as possible.

"Beccles Food and Drink Festival is due to be one of the first events of its type to be held in the region now that Covid restrictions have been further relaxed, and though this year's festival will look a little different to normal, it should celebrate a wonderfully diverse range of local produce."

As well as nearby town centre parking, a free park and ride shuttle service will run throughout the event from Beccles Quay, where additional parking will be available.

Like countless other events in towns and cities across the UK, the festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic and the first national lockdown, despite plans being at an "advanced stage".

Originally scheduled for the end of May, the festival was postponed again earlier this year amid the uncertainty of when coronavirus lockdown restrictions would ease.

At the time, organisers said the delay would allow all involved to plan accordingly and minimise business disruption, while labelling social distancing as a "show stopper."

Now many restrictions have eased as of Monday, July 19, organisers are pressing ahead with plans for the August showcase.