CHILDREN will have plenty to get their teeth into at this year's Bolton Food and Drink Festival.

A veritable feast of activities have been organised for families to enjoy over the four day festival which gets underway on Friday.

Every year, organisers put on entertainment for children, with previous acts have included popular young people's presenter Katy Ashworth, baking queen Nadia Hussain reading to children and a Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

This year there will be a magical tale of sharing and caring at the Albert Halls where youngsters can join Deedee and best friend Tobias as they help a mysterious and hungry stranger create a delicious soup in The Little Diamond Theatre Company's Stone Soup.

The magic starts as soon as the little ones enter the theatre and are greeted by cast members and together they take part in pre-show craft activities, creating a face mask.

Each child will also be given their own wishing stone and pick a song sheet so they can join in with the show.

There will be song, dance, music and laughter .

Show times are 1pm and 3pm on Friday 24th and 11am, 1pm and 3pm on Saturday 25th to Monday 27th August.

On Saturday, the 1pm show will be a BSL signed performance suitable for a deaf and hearing-impaired audience.

Children can also join in free cooking, arts and crafts activities at Crompton Place shopping centre, in the former Clarks shop, in the town centre.

Crompton Kitchen will open 11am to 3pm from Saturday to Monday.

Families can step back into ancient Egypt with "Bolton’s Egypt", at the Market Place Shopping Centre.

There will be storytelling, craft activities and games, as well as dress-up and archaeological play in sand and water pits

Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Linda Thomas, said: “Every year we push to make the festival bigger and more exciting, and this time we are doing something a little bit different with the children’s activities, bringing them into our fabulous Albert Halls to enjoy a fantastic theatre production.

“Along with all the children’s activities there will be plenty of street entertainment across the festival site.

“There really is something to interest everyone whether they like arts, crafts, cooking or the theatre.”

Paula Wood, centre manager at Crompton Place Shopping Centre, added: "'Crompton Kitchen’ will offer plenty of opportunities to whet the appetite of the festival’s youngest visitors.

“Sparking a greater understanding of food and cooking among children in the community is something that we are really excited about,” she said.

“We will have an interactive station, where over three days kids can have fun learning about putting flavours together as well as creating their own sweet and savoury snacks. There will also be a healthy food trail around Crompton Place for little ones to sink their teeth into, which will involve hunting for fruit and veg hidden in shop windows, with a little treat at the end for each participant.”

Market Place centre manager Nikki Wilson-Cook added: “We’re really looking forward to this year’s Bolton Food and Drink Festival. We always strive to hold events that span the generations and this event is no different. The Egyptian theme is intended to be both fun and educational and something that the whole family can take part in and enjoy!”

For more information please visit www.boltonfoodanddrinkfestival.com