FOOD and drink products grown or produced in Herefordshire and Worcestershire will take centre stage at a festival celebrating local produce.

A record 41 producers will be offering everything from Herefordshire meats to Worcestershire farmhouse cheese at the Eastnor Castle Festival of Food and Drink, this Saturday, October 4, and Sunday, October 5.

Timed to coincide with the start of Regional Food Week, which runs from Sunday, October 5 to Sunday, October 12, the festival is shaping up to be the biggest food and drink event yet held near Ledbury.

Now in its fourth year, the Eastnor Castle Festival continues to grow bigger and is a highlight of the annual calendar for producers, who have been queuing up to secure a spot.

"We have been overwhelmed with requests from local producers to attend this event," said Sarah Starkey, a project officer with Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF), which runs the event.

"It has really developed into a not-to-be-missed festival for producers and visitors alike. Our visitor survey shows that many people travel hundreds of miles each year especially to attend this event and to take home a taste of the region."

Demonstrations

TV chef Sophie Grigson, from the Channel 4 programme Grow Your Greens, Eat Your Greens, will be doing cookery demonstrations using local produce, and there will be an interactive cookery school, with demonstrations on how to make sausages, bread and chocolates.

Eight Oaks Orchard, from Castlemorton, near Malvern, will be at the festival with a mobile press, and visitors are invited to bring their own apples and containers and press their own apple juice.

There will also be a Get Set Cook competition, where local chefs - including Kevin Capper, from White Season restaurant, Malvern, and Matt Slocombe, from The Scrumpy House, at Much Marcle, near Ledbury - will create dishes out of local produce.

The festival runs from 10.30am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.