FOOD lovers in Worcester and the surrounding areas have a mouth-watering treat in store as the clock ticks down to the city’s annual foodie festival.

French celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, who runs his own cookery school, will once again be taking centre stage and offering free cookery demonstrations on the main stage, followed by book signing sessions.

While chef Richard Fox will also be appearing again this year. He is renowned for cooking with beer and his other great passion is reducing food waste by performing demonstrations focusing on cutting waste.

Local chefs from some of the new and well-established eating venues in the city will also showcase their skills and summer menus during the three-day event from Friday August 4 to Sunday August 6. Jean-Christophe will be appearing on Saturday August 5.

He said: “I have been lucky enough to present at Worcester before and am delighted to be attending again this year. It’s a great event and I love how they have activities for everyone, such a family friendly festival. I really enjoy to interacting with the local exhibitors.”

The festival, organised by Worcester BID, will offer food lovers the chance to see what’s on offer at 60 different stalls in High Street. They will feature local food and drink producers as well as selected specialist suppliers. There will be food and drink matching sessions and masterclass workshops, as well as the cookery demonstrations.

There are around 150 local restaurants, cafes, bars and traditional pubs for visitors to try during their visit to the Worcester Foodie Festival.

Youngsters can also enjoy a visit to the festival as there will be free face painting, exciting food experiments and dedicated kids cookery workshops.

And a festival would not be complete without entertainment. This year it includes live music courtesy of a range of local artists, fun roving street entertainment, competitions, special offers and in store activities to make sure there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Nadja von Dahlen-Andrews, Worcester BID marketing and events manager, said: “The Worcester Foodie Festival is a great opportunity for people to discover and experience our fantastic city centre food and drink outlets, whether it’s by visiting the street stalls or venturing into local businesses for a tasty treat.

“Who doesn’t want to leave the cooking and washing up to someone else - and get the chance to see famous chefs like Jean-Christophe Novelli sharing his cookery secrets with us?”

For more information about this year’s festival visit www.worcesterfoodiefestival.com, follow @WorcFoodieFest on twitter or take a look at www.facebook.com/FoodieWorcester.

The festival will be open from 10am to 5.30pm on Friday and Saturday, and from 11am to 4pm on Sunday. The organisers say a festival programme will be available on the soon.