Final preparations are being made for the 10th annual Christchurch Food & Wine Festival which takes place from 8 to 17 May at venues throughout the Borough.

Celebrity chefs Lesley Waters and Gary Rhodes will join the Mayor, Cllr David Flagg, to officially open the Festival on Saturday 9 May at 10am from the balcony of the Mayor’s Parlour in the High Street.

However, the Festival really gets going the previous day – Friday 8 May - with the final of the Junior Cook of the Year competition in the Rangemaster demonstration theatre in the marquee in Saxon Square. The top young cooks from Twynham, The Grange and Highcliffe schools will battle it out from 9.15am to produce a prize-winning meal.

One of the competition judges, Lesley Waters, will then demonstrate her own culinary skills at 11.30am and 2pm. Lesley will be back again on Saturday 9 May for demonstrations at 12 noon and 2.30pm. Fellow celebrity chef, Gary Rhodes, will be featuring recipes from his new book ‘365’ at a demonstration at 11am on Saturday 9 May.

TV chefs The Tanner Brothers are the featured guests on Sunday 10 May when they will be giving a light-hearted presentation of modern English cooking at 12 noon and 2.30pm. Local chefs from the Old Vicarage, The Rising Sun, The Tempest, The Captain’s Club, Splinters, The Ship in Distress and the Crooked Beam complete the 3-day programme of demonstrations.

The popular International Food Market fills the High Street with exciting tastes and smells from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May and children aged 5 to 11 can have a go at food tastings and a cookery workshop free of charge in Ester’s Kids Kitchen in Druitt Hall behind the Library at 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2.15pm and 3.30pm on both days. Older children, aged 9 to 14, can join a free hands-on pasta workshop at the Clay Studio in Castle Street – to book a place at the Clay Studio, call 01202 475000 or email info@theclaystudio.

A whole host of exciting food-related events take place throughout the ten days of the Festival. Details of these can be found in the free programme available at many outlets in the town or by calling 01202 471780 or by clicking on the Events link