This year will see top chefs and food writers travel from Norfolk, Cumbria, London and the South of France to be part of the Ludlow Food Festival. Amongst them will be MBE’s, best selling authors, Michelin star holders and trophy winners from some of TV’s toughest cookery shows.

Chefs cooking at the 2016 Festival will include Great British Menu winner Richard Bainbridge and Masterchef: The Professionals winner Mark Stinchcombe, alongside his wife and fellow award winning Chef Sue.

Shropshire born Adam Johnson, development chef to Raymond Blanc and his TV partner on ‘Kitchen Secrets’, will be making a return to the county to share with us what if takes to keep the famed Oxfordshire restaurant at the top of its game.

Romy Gill MBE, is one of the few female chefs in the UK and owner of Romy’s Kitchen in Thornbury Bristol. A recent Masterchef judge, she will be sharing her passion for Indian food and talking about her role as a Slow Food Ambassador.

Sophie Michell is well known as one of the four female chefs behind the cult TV series Cook Yourself Thin. She is a chef, speaker and author of a number of bestselling cookbooks.

This list of female talent continues with an appearance from Jo Hampson, owner of Smoky Jo’s Cookery School in Cumbria, considered the UK’s experts in smoking food and the first place in the UK to offer a smoked food course.

Warwick Kidd from the Dormy House Hotel in the Cotswolds is joined by friend and fellow chef Eric Delande of the Place des Marches in Corbieres, Southern France, while Great British Bake Off fans will undoubtedly welcome a second visit from show favourite Howard Middleton, cooking more of his gluten free bakes.

There is plenty of local talent too with Marcus Bean of Brompton Cookery School in Shropshire, Daren Bale of the Hop and Pole in Bewdley, Anthony Murphy from the Beefy Boys in Hereford and chocolatier Dan Jones amongst the line-up. Joining them will also be Andrew Birch, Head Chef at Fishmore Hall who you can catch on the new series of Great British Menu.

In a fantastic line-up there are too many names to mention but also look out for Dean Cole, Head Pastry Chef at The Belfry, and Ian Swainson, Head Chef at the Michelin-starred ‘The Pass’ at South Lodge Hotel in Sussex.

For a full list of chefs please visit the Festival’s website www.foodfestival.co.uk and if you are planning to extend your visit into the evening, then you may be interested in James Sherwin’s pop-up restaurant. James is currently the Sous Chef at Shrewsbury’s House of the Rising Sun and there will be a seven-course menu from this experimental chef and keen forager.