Melton Mowbray set to welcome 20,000 food lovers

The award-winning East Midlands Food and Drink Festival will take place at Brooksby Hall near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire from 4-5 October 2008. The UK’s largest regional food and drink festival will spread over 50,000 sq ft of covered marquee space at the site, will feature over 200 exhibitors from around the region, and is expected to attract over 20,000 visitors this year.

Top celebrity chefs including Clarissa Dickson Wright, Rachel Green and Anjum Anand from the BBC’s ‘Indian Food Made Easy’ will lead on the celebrations by hosting talks and demonstrations throughout the two-day festival.

The theme for this year's festival is 'Diversity: Food and Cultures of the East Midlands’. Besides traditional delicacies such as Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, Bakewell Pudding and Stilton Cheese, the East Midlands has a wealth of foods from communities that have settled in the region since the second world war.

Leicester won the coveted accolade last year of 'Curry Capital' of the UK and Melton Mowbray’s gastronomy has been enriched by its large Polish population. The festival will celebrate this diversity in food with demonstrations of gastronomy from a range of different cultures, many of whom will also display their art, dance, music and crafts during the weekend.

Advanced tickets are priced at £6 for adults (16+) and £5.50 for senior citizens (60+). Entrance for children under 15 is free. Tickets can be purchased from the Leicester Tourist Information Centre in Town Hall Square, Leicester or by using the eShop facility on the official visitor guide to Leicester and Leicestershire at goleicestershire.com. Ticket prices on the day will be priced at £7.50.

Visitors to the newly revamped food festival website at eastmidlandsfoodfestival.com are being offered the opportunity to enter a free prize draw to win a host of superb prized including dinner, bed and breakfast at the fabulous Sysonby Knoll Hotel in Melton Mowbray, a luxury hamper, Denby dinner service, Sunday lunch at Brooksby Hall or free tickets to this year's festival. Simply log on and fill in the online entry form.

Festival Chairman, Matthew O'Callaghan said: “The East Midlands Food Festival has evolved into one of the most popular and progressive food festivals in the UK. The festival is a truly unique celebration of food and drink, combining the great rural cuisine and culture of Melton Mowbray and Leicestershire, with the diverse gastronomy of the region as a whole.”