THOUSANDS of people will descend on Bolton tomorrow as the 10th Food and Drink festival gets underway.

The town and its businesses are set to receive a major boost from the flagship event which takes place across the whole weekend.

As well as featuring a host of top celebrity chefs including James Martin and Michael Caines, the festival will see scores of smaller traders setting up shop all around the bustling town centre.

Town centre businesses always look forward to the annual event which provides a significant increase in their profits.

Well-known restaurateur Mouloud Allaoui, who runs the well-established Ciao Napoli restaurant in Mawdsley Street and has recently opened the Tapaz Ristorante in Bradshawgate, said: “We are really looking forward to the weekend and hope to see a real benefit from the number of people coming to Bolton. We are predicting a very busy time but I will also hope to get out and have a look around the festival.”

The Market Place Shopping Centre is one of the festival’s sponsors and will this year host a special pop-up stall in its refurbished underground vaults, featuring Debbie Halls-Evans, winner of television show The Taste.

Nikki Wilson-Cooke, Centre manager, said: “There is always such a buzz about the town during the festival and we are really pleased to be more involved than ever this year.”

The headline sponsor of this year’s festival is supermarket giant Aldi. Virgil Simpson, the firm's logistics director, said: “The Bolton Food and Drink Festival is a celebration of quality local produce and suppliers, and we are pleased to be headline sponsors, particularly in the 10th anniversary year of the festival. Bolton Council has so many exciting initiatives planned over the Bank Holiday weekend, and we are looking forward to seeing the quality and variety of food and drink that Bolton has to offer.”

Bolton Council leader Cliff Morris is also looking forward to seeing what the foodie fest has to offer. He said: “Everyone feels the benefit of this event, including retailers in the town centre who will be boosted by the thousands of people coming along. There has been a great deal of planning and preparation undergone and now I can’t wait for it to start.”