A TOWN centre food festival will run for an extra day this year after key sponsors were found.

The Nelson Food and Drink Festival will return this year over two days, Friday September 7 and Saturday September 8, thanks to support from Pendle Rise Shopping Centre in the town, Oddie's Bakery, and both Pendle Borough and Nelson Town councils.

This year, the festival will welcome a continental market, where on the Saturday, 30 stallholders will present their delicacies from all around the world.

There will be Spanish tapas and paella, Italian dough ball pizza, Asian curries, German sausages and burgers, traditional Lancashire food, and Asian sweets, French crepes and traditional fudge for those with a sweet tooth.

Craig Brandwood, managing director at Pendle Rise, said: "We are thrilled to see the festival back in Nelson this year and extremely proud to be sponsoring the event as gold sponsor for the second time.

"The community is incredibly important to Pendle Rise and we have witnessed thousands of people flock to the town every year for this event – we understand the opportunities it provides for local people and businesses, which is why we opted to sponsor this year."

Pendle Council's tourism team leader, Mike Williams, added: "Nelson is a town that celebrates multiculturalism and the festival is the epitome of that with food from countries all over the world being shared on the day. We are really looking forward to it and hope people from near and far come to support the effort."

A live cooking demonstration will be held by celebrity chef Richard Fox, who will prepare two meals. Young children can enjoy rides, face painting, henna art, craft stalls, and a cupcake decorating competition overseen by Oddie's.

All families can watch a performance from the Punjabi Roots Academy, and music from the SambAfriq band.

Full details of the event can be found online at www.nelsonfoodfestival.co.uk.