Celebration of food and drink gearing up for return this weekend

A popular food and drink event is making a highly anticipated return to Suffolk this weekend.

Following its successful event last year, the Beccles Food & Drink Festival is back and will feature more than 60 food and drink stalls, including many local artisan producers, when it returns on Saturday, May 28, from 10am-4pm.

Located in the centre of the town, the free festival will offer people cookery demonstrations and talks, world street food and children's entertainment.

Traders will be offering delights such as artisan charcuterie, cookery books, gluten free bakes, porridge, brownies, fresh herb salts and rustic oak serving and chopping boards.

Music will be delivered by acts including Rumpus Ukelele, Paul Strowger and Tin River, and there will be Punch & Judy shows to keep families entertained.

Richard Bainbridge, chef owner of Benedicts Restaurant in Norwich, has been announced as this year's headline chef in the Cookery Theatre, located behind St Michael's Church.

Mr Bainbridge's restaurant has been named in The Times' Top 100 Restaurants in the UK since opening and was awarded three AA Rosettes in January 2018, while he also was a winner of BBC Two's Great British Menu in 2015.

A free Park & Ride shuttle service will run throughout the day from Beccles Quay, where additional parking will be available. 

Updates will continue to be posted on the festival's website and on the Facebook page.