FROM fiery chilli sauces to soothing ice cream, a world of flavour came to town on Saturday and Sunday with the Worcester Foodie Festival.

Back for the second year running, the festival filled the High Street and Broad Street with stalls selling tempting taste treats of every description, and with plenty for visitors to see and do.

Acclaimed French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli took to the demonstration stage in the shadow of the Elgar statue to share some of his techniques for healthier cooking, using reduced amounts of salt, sugar and saturated fats.

And on Sunday, it was the turn of Felice Tocchini, from the Fusion Brasserie at Stoulton, near Worcester, showed the audience how to turn local produce into delicious food with an Italian twist.

"The festival has been a great success," said Mr Tocchini "Everyone I've spoken to, stallholders and visitors, say it's gone really well, and people seem to be enjoying it.

"When I came to England in 1982, people thought of food as a chore. But now, a lot more people have the attitude that if you have to cook you might as well do the best you can and make sure that it's as healthy as possible."

He said that his demonstrations made as much use as possible of raw materials which could be bought at the festival.

He said: "I want people to be able to see the demonstrations, an get inspired top go away and buy the ingredients, go home and have a go themselves."

Other demonstrations included instruction in practical knife skills classes and how to match the right food and beer.

Among the wide variety of stalls lining the streets were sellers of gourmet burgers, artisan cheeses, craft beers, bakes goods and much else.

Many of the small producers come from Worcestershire, and a number of city centre cafes, restaurants and other eateries also got into the act with their own stalls.

For the first time this year, the two-day food festival is part of the Worcestershire Foodie Fortnight, which started last Wednesday and features city venues serving special £5 and £10 menus, breakfast and lunch clubs, activities, offers and competitions, the Worcester Food and Drink Trail, and much more.

To find out more, visit worcesterbid.com/foodie.