Now in its ninth year, the Festival goes from strength to strength and the first weekend of the Festival, which hosts the International Food Market as well as cookery demonstrations from celebrity chefs, is sure to attract thousands of visitors.

The popular Rangemaster demonstration kitchen returns to the marquee in Saxon Square for the first three days of the Festival. It will play host to the Festival’s patron, Lesley Waters, on Friday 9 May when she takes part in a special Education Day which will also include the final of the Christchurch Junior Cook of the Year competition.

Lesley will be back on Saturday 10 May when she will be joined by fellow chef Brian Turner to officially open the Festival at 10.30am from the Mayor’s Parlour in the High Street. Lesley and Brian will be showing off their culinary skills later that day in cookery demonstrations, together and separately.

On Saturday and Sunday Christchurch gets a chance to taste the delights of its twin town of Christchurch New Zealand when one of their top chefs will be conjuring up some Kiwi dishes in the demonstration kitchen.

Sunday also sees a visit from award-winning TV chef Nick Nairn who will be presenting recipes from his cookery school in two sessions during the day.

The International Food Market on the weekend of 10 and 11 May is a favourite attraction and the High Street will be closed to traffic and instead will become the venue for more than 100 stalls selling a wide variety of food and drink. Entertainment will be provided on both days and there will be plenty to keep the whole family amused.

Youngsters have not been forgotten as this weekend also sees a Kid’s Kitchen in Druitt Hall where children aged 5 to 11 can try their hand at special recipes and taste food they may not have tried before.

All ten days of the Festival feature special meals and events in restaurants, cafes and pubs throughout the Borough - everything from two-for-a-tenner lunches to special VIP lunches where diners get a chance to mingle and chat with the celebrity chefs.

Two evening events will be taking place in the Saxon Square marquee. On Friday 9 May diners will be whisked off to a holiday island paradise in the middle of Christchurch whilst enjoying fantastic food prepared by local acclaimed chef, Ian Hewitt from the Cliffhanger Café.

On the evening of Saturday 10 May the marquee will be transformed into an Antipodean beach for a sumptuous barbecue and wonderful entertainment provided by a group of New Zealanders all the way from the twin town of Christchurch NZ.

The Festival’s President, Mary Reader, said: “This year’s programme is really exciting as there a number of newcomers to the Festival as well as some of our regular contributors. So many establishments have agreed to take part that there really is something for everyone over the ten days of the Festival.

“I know that thousands of people come to the International Market and to see the celebrity chefs, but I would really recommend looking through the programme to see what other events may take your fancy. While the celebrity chefs’ demonstrations in the marquee promise to be great entertainment, the other demonstrations are well worth staying for.”

This year has seen the launch of the Friends of the Festival which gives the opportunity to take advantage of special offers including priority booking for Festival events and priority seating at cookery demonstrations.

For further details of this and a full programme of Festival events, visit the Festival’s website by clicking on the link below.

As last year, the Festival’s main sponsors are Dr Alistair Somerville Ford and The Daily Echo and Taste magazine but many other companies and organisations have contributed to making the Festival such a great event, including Christchurch Borough Council, Christchurch Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Christchurch Tourism Association, Christchurch Community Partnership, Christchurch Rotary Club, Deutsche Asset Management Group, Purewell Electrical, Williams Thompson Solicitors, The Roman Group, Cliffhanger Café, Mathews Shoe Centre, Lillian Jefferis, Sewards, Peeks Partystore, Lloyds TSB and Waitrose.