A MISTLETOE Festival is on everyone’s lips this Christmas for a Worcestershire town that has been hailed the kissing capital of England.

The festival is scheduled to take place in Tenbury Wells, the town at the heart of the UK mistletoe trade, on Saturday.

The aim of the festival is to put British mistletoe back on the map because much of the mistletoe on sale in this country has been imported from France.

Mistletoe tea and mistletoe buns are on offer at this year's festival.

A celebrity mistletoe auction will be one of the festival highlights.

Ben Sidwell, the popular presenter from BBC Mid-lands Today, will act as auctioneer alongside professional mistletoe auctioneer Nick Champion.

The auction takes place at 12.30pm in Tenbury's community centre and will feature unique mistletoe ‘wraps’, including those blessed by the local druids, Other events include a Mistletoe ball featuring the debut performance of the Mistletoe Rap by up-and-coming Worcestershire rap star Daniel Tocchini and the crowning of the Mistletoe Queen and Holly Prince.

There will also be a traditional lantern parade through the streets of the town featuring 500 children and their hand-made lanterns.

Other attractions include traditional street entertainment, craft markets, a county market, old-fashioned games and refreshments.

To find out more about Mistletoe Festival, visit tenbury-mistletoe-festival.co.uk.