Beccles Food and Drink Festival is starting this Saturday, August 14.

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Over 40 artisan food and drink stalls will fill the town centre to showcase their locally-made produce.

Stalls will include old favourites, like Fen Farm Dairy, Harris and James, and Maisebrooke Farm, as well as traders selling everything from craft brandy, to chutney.

The festival will also feature a number of new traders, including some selling rum, chilli sauces, apple juice, macarons, olive oil and shortbread.

There will also be street food on offer, including Thai cuisine, Porchetta rolls, wood-fired pizza, and hot dogs, as well as music and children's entertainment.

Additional refreshments and seating will be available at the church, as well as in the nearby Waveney Centre, where cream teas will be served

Beginning at 10am, the festival, which takes place in the town centre around New Market, Sheepgate and in and around St Michael's Church, runs until 4pm.

There will be parking available in the town centre, while a free Park and Ride shuttle service will be running throughout the event from Beccles Quay, where additional parking is available.

Paul Parravani, lead organiser, said: “While the event will be smaller than 2019’s, our visitors will be able to feel more comfortable in the extra space provided.

"Despite the pandemic badly affecting many businesses, we are very pleased to welcome a good number of new traders to the Festival to give it a fresh feel.”

Like countless other events in towns and cities across the UK, the festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic and the first national lockdown, despite plans being at an "advanced stage".

Originally scheduled for the end of May, the festival was postponed again earlier this year amid the uncertainty of when coronavirus lockdown restrictions would ease.

At the time, organisers said the delay would allow all involved to plan accordingly and minimise business disruption, while labelling social distancing as a "show stopper."

However, once many lockdown restrictions, including rules surrounding social distancing, were eased as of Monday, July 19, organisers pressed ahead with plans for the popular festival's long-awaited return.