A CELEBRITY chef, the council leader and business owners have hailed Bolton Food and Drink Festival a “huge success” after thousands of residents and visitors descended on the town for a jam-packed weekend of food and fun.

The 16th annual showcase saw 88 musical acts, as well as dozens of stalls pop up in Victoria Square and its surroundings - attracting large queues over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Celebrity Chef, Jean-Christophe Novelli, who hosted a special gourmet lunch and delivered free cookery demonstrations in the Chef Zone, was delighted to see so many people in the town centre.

He said: “I can’t believe how busy it is. I’m happy because it is a good sign of recovery.

“To have the festival back on for one day is good, but to manage it over four days is amazing, I don’t think anyone else has done this.

“It is an amazing location, I forgot how beautiful the place is.”

Bolton Council leader Cllr Martyn Cox said: “This year’s event was a huge success, and it was wonderful to see the town so busy again.

“I want to thank everyone who came out to support the festival, businesses and everyone who helped make it a Bank Holiday weekend to remember.

“We intend to make Bolton town centre a vibrant and exciting place to visit and great events like this have a huge part to play in helping us achieve that.”

Local chef Gareth Mason, from Westhoughton, the group executive chef of Retreat, had the pleasure of meeting Jean-Christophe.

He said: “It was a brilliant day. He’s a typical French chef. It was a massive privilege to cook alongside him.

“It’s what this town really needed after the year that we’ve had. It was touch and go for a while whether it was going to go ahead or not but I’m so glad it did. It wasn’t the same doing it online last year.”

Bolton Wanderers also made a special appearance yesterday afternoon. Players signed autographs between 2pm and 3pm while mascot Lofty the Lion surprised everyone in the morning for a photoshoot.

People queued outside the Warburtons van near the steps on Victoria Square - as free hot crumpets were dished out with the choice of a butter or Marmite topping.

Ella-Marie Danson, Isi Ogbo and Tracy Mellish manned the stall while collecting money for Bolton-based charity Urban Outreach.

“Margaret and Rita” from The Bread and Butter Theatre Company were out and about entertaining visitors to the festival over the weekend.

They said: “It’s great to be out in Bolton. This is one of our favourite food festivals - we’ve been here before. The weather has been amazing and it’s great to be able to put smiles on people’s faces.”