PLANS for this year's Saltburn Food Festival have been unveiled as preparations for the annual celebration of culinary delights.

On Sunday, July 29, thousands of food and drink lovers will be able to sample goods from 150 different stalls as the seaside town is taken over for the day by the hugely popular festival.

Independent traders come from all over the North East, including the Redcar and Cleveland area, Durham, Tynemouth, Hambleton, Stockton and as far as York, to take part in the event.

Organiser Lorna Jackson, who co-owns Saltburn’s Real Meals Deli and Bistro and also runs the monthly Saltburn Farmers’ Market, had the brainwave of holding a festival during a holiday in France.

The festival began in Milton Street but now sees much of the town centre filled with stalls offering an ever-growing range of tempting delights, as well as exhibitors, entertainment and world-class demonstrations from award-winning chefs in the live cookery theatre.

She said: “We worked closely with the council last year and they encouraged us to double the festival footprint, so the crowds could spread out and make the day even more enjoyable, with an arts area, live music, exhibition corner and chill-out areas.

“We were a little bit worried we’d have empty streets but that didn’t happen, the response was amazing and the buzz just got bigger. We’ve got some excellent exhibitors and traders and more and more establishments in Saltburn want to join in, so we've developed a 'fringe' and it’s getting better every year.

“Last year we brought in more street food in the world cafe areas but people told us they also wanted to take food and drink home to enjoy, so we’ve increased the shopping area too.”

Although the emphasis is firmly on local produce and ingredients, the cuisine on offer has a distinctly international flavour, with sizzling street food from all corners of the globe, including Armenian, Chinese and Russian cooking.

* Saltburn Food Festival takes place on Sunday July 29 from 10am to 6pm and admission is free. A park and ride system will be in operation from Guisborough, Brotton and Saltburn. For further information and updates visit saltburnfoodfestival.co.uk