KENDAL Festival of Food will not be a half-baked event as organisers announce a raft of celebrity guests and quirky activities.

Last year’s Kendal Festival of Food brought in 23,000 visitors across the weekend and contributed over £1.5 million to the economy an it is hoped that the event will benefit the area even more this year.

Celebrity chefs Paul Rankin and Nick Nairn will be in attendance, with both hosting the Best of Cumbria stage throughout the entire festival and offering demonstrations at 11am each day.

Meanwhile, drinks expert Ewan Lacy will lead a session at the festival’s exclusive Northern Spirit event on the Saturday evening – a vibrant night celebrating the region’s best spirits including regionally crafted vodkas, gins and a number of high quality Scottish whiskies.

As well as the celebrity guests, the festival's organisers are hoping to provide a much-needed boost to local shops and show that Kendal is 'still open for business'.

They have put together a Go Herdwick Hunt that will take participants into a variety of stores throughout the town.

Cath Dutton, one of the founders of the festival: "Kendal Festival of Food is immensely proud of the following that we have built up over the past few years, bringing so many people into Kendal Town Centre over the weekend.

"In a bid to boost the town’s economy, we are working with businesses and hope that they too will get behind the festival.

"The festival is a huge celebration of Northern food and promises to be the biggest and best yet with talks, tastings and demonstrations from some of the North’s finest food and drink specialists."

This is in addition to other attractions, like the Edible Garden complete with its own potting shed, hosting informative talks from gardening experts, an entire Family Festival Village offering a whole mini-festival for kids, more than 80 stalls of regional produce within England’s North Country Market, the annual AGA Bring a Bake competition and the Brewery Arts Centre Beer Festival, all complemented by live music and street entertainment.

There is more information on our website: www.kendalfestivaloffood.co.uk/.