More than 7,000 people enjoyed a day of food, drink and entertainment as Nelson hosted its annual Food & Drink Festival.
The free-to-attend event featured more than 30 food and drink stalls, a live cooking demonstration hosted by TikTok star Shabaz Says, and entertainment for all the family.
An incredible range of food was on offer throughout the day, including Finch Bakery, ice-cream, fudge, pies, pizza, cheeses, Turkish, and Caribbean food, with flavours from all around the world.
The live demonstrations got underway at 11.30am on Saturday (September 14) with local legend Mama Shar preparing a mouthwatering dish of loaded Caribbean fried dumplings.
Star of MasterChef: The Professionals Matt Willdigg then took to the main stage to cook up a Tallegio, potato, rosemary and wild garlic caper pizza with hen of the woods mushrooms and black garlic mayo.
The last demonstration came from Fazila Foods, developers and creators of modern Halal foods, offering a blend of Asian spices and irresistible flavours.
Led by their founder Fazila Malek, audiences got to learn how to make their extremely popular vegetable samosas and chicken spring rolls.
The festival also featured activities for all the family with further stalls featuring a henna artist, facepainting and Talons Bird of Prey.
Earlier in the day local nursery and primary school children took part in a special procession led by a lone piper from the world-famous Accrington Pipe Band.
Ahead of the event, more than 4,000 school children were invited to take part in a competition which saw them challenged to decorate a chef’s hat. The decorated hats were worn in the procession before being judged in Nelson Library by councillors from Nelson Town Council. Prizes for the winners included £50 cash for first place, £25 for second and £20 for third.
Cllr Ruby Anwar, Chair of Nelson Town Council’s Events Committee, said: “This has been a fantastic community event and one that the people of Nelson, and those from our neighbouring towns, have thoroughly enjoyed.
“We have had food, drink and entertainment for all the family, and it has been wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves.
“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the event and we hope everyone had a fabulous day!”
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