Day 1 at Bolton Food and Drink festival

Families from far and wide came to sample the delights, with tasty treats being offered at more than 180 speciality food and drink stores around the town centre.

The festival has grown in popularity and size in recent years and is now regarded as the premier food and drink festival in the North West.

One again there will be a selection of top celebrity chefs carrying out demonstrations across the four-days, including Great British Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain, James Martin and John Torode.

But the job of launching the festival today was given to twice Michelin-Starred chef Michael Caines, who returned to Bolton for the sixth year in a row.

For the first time, the launch — which included a special demonstration from Michael for the great and good of the town — took place inside the newly-refurbished vaults beneath the Market Place shopping centre.

Michael said he was delighted to be back at one of his favourite events and said he was hugely impressed with the work that has taken place in the vaults as well as around the town centre.

He said: “It’s great to be back for this brilliant event and it is also really good to see the changes that have taken place in Bolton since last year.

“It feels like the place is starting to regenerate. Here we are in the vaults, which is a really nice addition to the space here and it is really good that it is focused on restaurants and food and will definitely bring people into the town centre.”

“I think events like this are critical, but it’s a very brave thing to do to bring 200,000 people into the town across a weekend, but it’s brilliant.”

Encouraging people to come along across the whole weekend, he added: “We’ve got big names here and I think those guys, along with the various line-ups and all the things going on around the town, points to a demonstration of what can be achieved when you put your mind to it — it is going to be a great weekend.”

Council leader Cliff Morris, who attended Michael’s demonstration, said he was delighted with the popularity of the festival on its opening day.

He said: “Just look at the number of people out and about in the town centre, it’s fantastic and it gives everyone a lift.

“You can feel the excitement around the festival and everyone is buying into it.”

He added: “We have to keep making it better and we have got new additions this year, like the Mad Science Zone, which families are really enjoying.”

The Mad Science Zone will be based in Le Mans Crescent all weekend and based on yesterday, it is going to be a smash hit with youngsters — with scores enjoying the fun and informative displays.

Mum Jashu Bhudia, from Bolton, brought her eight-year-old son Yash Pandya to enjoy one of the shows.

She said: “He has really enjoyed it, he is very interested in science so he has been listening really closely.

“The talk was really clear and fun and I think this is a really good addition to the festival.”

Anyone wanting to get passport tickets for the science zone can pick them up from the box office at the Octagon Theatre.

The theatre itself is hosting a new feature this year, in the form of a special beach which has been created in the round.

It is the brainchild of artistic director Elizabeth Newman and looks to be another huge success — with more than 1,000 children visiting the venue on the first day.

Octagon press officer Emily Armstrong said: “This has taken months of preparation to bring Elizabeth’s vision to life and we are so happy with how much the kids are enjoying it.

“We have real sand, donkey rides and stalls — and we are open from 11am until 4pm each day of the festival.”

As well as inviting traders from around the country, the festival also gives local retailers a chance to showcase what they do best.

This includes larger than life character Alain Job, who runs the Nkono Cameroonian food stall at Bolton Market.

This weekend he is based in Le Mans Crescent and spent the first day serving speciality salmon and serenading his customers.

He said: “It has been a brilliant first day but I am going to do even better tomorrow and will be cooking a shark.

“The whole festival is amazing, it gives us guys a chance to show everyone else what Bolton can do and how proud we are of our town.”

The festival fun continues tomorrow with cookery demonstrations from Masterchef star John Torode, who will be performing in the main marquee in Victoria Square at noon and again at 2pm.

John will then join wine experts Oz Clarke and Kate Goodman for a special demonstration and wine tasting event in the vaults at 6pm.

Oz and Kate will also be doing wine tasting sessions in the vaults at noon and 3pm.