A TASTE of what visitors to this year’s Bolton Food and Drink Festival will savour was served up in Victoria Square on Saturday.

Celebrity chefs and Dragons’ Den winners were in town for a mini festival to launch August's event which will be celebrating its 10th birthday.

They gathered on the Town Hall steps for a spectacular fireworks and confetti display signalling the start of the official countdown to this year’s "biggest and best yet" Bolton Food and Drink Festival.

Guests included former Coronation Street star and now award-winning cheesemaker Sean Wilson, who was busy serving customers as soon as he had laid out his stall.

He attended the festival last year, and will be back again in August doing free cookery demonstrations in Bolton Market.

Sean said: "I love to come along to food and drink festivals where people come to taste and find out about the products — and Bolton is rapidly becoming one of the best festivals."

He added: "I use traditional methods and I have never had a person who has tasted my cheese and walked away without buying it."

Entrepreneurs Omar Farag and Philip Perera, who won over Dragons’ Den’s Kelly Hoppen for their luxury tea brand Phom, said they were looking forward to the festival, where they will be supplying their tea range at the Slattery afternoon tea on Saturday, August 29.

Philip said: “This is the first time we will be at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival; we have been at others and had heard of this one.

“There has been a really good atmosphere.

“Festivals are great because we get to meet our customers and speak to them.”

Omar added: “If it is like this at the festival, then it will be really good.”

Debbie Halls-Evans, winner of last year’s The Taste cooking programme featuring TV foodie Nigella Lawson, was out telling people about the fine dining experience in the The Market Place vaults.

She said: “I am super excited about being part of the 10th Bolton Food and Drink Festival.

“The dining experience in the vaults will be amazing and it complements and makes the festival even bigger.

“I will be serving up 600 meals in the four days of the festival. This is the biggest event I have done.”

Street entertainers added to the mini-festival feel of the day, keeping shoppers and children entertained as they tried the local produce on offer from the Market Hall traders and found out about the many events lined up.

Lynn Brook, aged 33, from Bolton, said: “It is a really nice launch event.

“We come to the festival every year because I love food, but it is a really nice atmosphere — I am looking forward to seeing James Martin.”

Katie Clinton, aged 36, said: “We come very year and this year looking forward to the experience in the vaults.”

Market traders Great Ale, Shima Rice and Noodles and Nkono were part of the launch selling food and drink on Saturday in stalls set up near the marquee.

Alan Job, from Nkono, said: “I am so proud to be part of the launch. It is a great festival for the town and it shows what traders in Bolton have to offer.

“Every year it gets bigger, bringing more and more people in.

The festival will take place from Friday, August 28 to Monday, August 31 and has been organised by Bolton Council in association with Aldi.

Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, said: “We wanted to do something special this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the festival.

“ It has been really good, and I am looking forward to the buzz going on during the festival."

Keith Davies, Bolton Council’s director of development and regeneration, added: “The launch has been tremendous and has given people a taste of the festival in August, finding out what is going on.

“The festival now has a national reputation and we keep the favourites and bring in new chefs to keep the freshness.”

Celebrities performing this year include actress and winner of Celebrity MasterChef 2010 Lisa Faulkner, Aussie chef John Torode and festival favourite James Martin, together with shows from CBeebies star Katy Ashworth.

* Tickets for the chefs and special events are available from Bolton Octagon Theatre, via www.boltonfoodanddrinkfestival.com or 01204 520661. The box office is open 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday.