A TELEVISION star will be transforming part of Bolton’s Food and Drink festival into a giant children’s zone.

Katy Ashworth, presenter of I Can Cook on CBeebies, will be appearing between Friday, August 22, to Monday, August 25.

Le Mans Crescent will be closed off to traffic, with a giant marquee set up for the shows.

Katy will perform half-hour shows featuring singing, dancing and audience interaction for the whole family.

She said: “I love doing live shows and the happy faces of the children always bring me such joy.

“At CBeebies we put a strong emphasis on teaching kids to care about where their food comes from and festivals like this are a great way of doing just that.”

The news comes as it was announced a mini festival would be held this weekend with tickets for the August event on sale from Saturday.

A mystery top chef will perform free cookery demos in Victoria Square at 11.30am, 1.15pm and 2.30pm on Saturday and street entertainers will add to the festival vibe.

Bolton Market ambassador Simon Rimmer will be cooking dishes at noon in the market’s Lifestyle Hall, and chatting with fans at 2.30pm. A balloon artist and face painter will also be in the Market Place from 11am to 3pm.

Bolton Council leader, Cllr Cliff Morris, said: “Katy is very well known and loved by thousands of children and their families so we know the free shows will be very popular and I’d advise people to reserve their tickets early on.”

Katy’s shows will be on daily at 11am, 1pm and 3.30pm with a chance to meet the presenter afterwards. Admission is free but places are limited.

A cast from the Octagon Theatre will be putting on free performances of Peter Pan and Wendy in the marquee, and the Crompton Place shopping centre will host free children’s activities, including magic shows and cookery classes.

On the bill this year is Italian chef Gino D’Acampo on Saturday, celebrity Aussie chef and restaurateur John Torode on Sunday, and James Martin on Monday.

The four-day foodie spectacular will also feature a large speciality food and drink market in Victoria Square and surrounding streets.

Festival organisers have arranged a mini-festival flavour this Saturday, June 7 to coincide with tickets going on sale.

Tickets are available from boltonfoodanddrink festival.com.

For the chefs’ demos, standard seats cost £5 and reserved premiere seats cost £8. For more information, visit the website or contact 01204 334321.