Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival is seeking 10 to 15 new innovative food and drink producers for the festival, which takes place on September 27 and 28.

Organisers of the event say they want to give a platform to new small producers who might not have the budget or the resource to take a stand in the main marquee for the whole weekend.

They are looking for new businesses, which have been in business for less than two years, and possibly still based at home and considering taking the plunge and would like to reach out to producers who wouldn’t necessarily think of exhibiting at the festival.

Organisers hope to give a platform to the start-up Suffolk food and drink businesses, which may be doing occasional farmers markets, to reach a new audience of consumers, chefs and journalists who visit the festival, which attracts in the region of 10,000 people.

To make it accessible, they will are offering stands at a discounted rate of £50 day or £100 for two days, and are happy to consider those wanting to dip their toe in the water for one day only.

The festival will provide a trestle table, tablecloth and some useful tips on presentation. The stalls will be in a dedicated area so these small producers are on a level playing field and not alongside estabished brands with budgets for smart stands and displays.

Potential stallholders will be asked to complete a form answering questions on their ambitions, business and products and to submit some of their product for organisers to sample.

Enquiries to be sent to jess@aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk by June 30.

Judges will select the best applications to be part of the prestigious festival weekend.

Katherine Manning of Rendham-based Marybelle Dairy, which has exhibited at the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival for many years, said: “Having just won the Great Taste Supreme Champion, beating nearly 10,000 entries from across the UK, being at our local food festival gave us a fantastic opportunity to meet our customers, hear their feedback on our products and our new packaging range. We also love getting to see what other wonderful products are made in the area. It is most certainly a date that we never miss and see it as the focal point of our calendar. The event is so well organised and attended and it just gets better year after year.”