NORTH Yorkshire’s biggest free food and live music festival returns for its sixth year next month, with a new theme.

The multi-award-winning Homegrown Food Festival in Northallerton will be held at the Applegarth on June 25.

Organisers have chosen the theme of the “Great Outdoors” to celebrate local towns and the countryside, its producers, chefs and restaurants.

And as well as the popular stalls, live music and children’s activities, this year there will also be a range of outdoor cookery demonstrations from well-known, local chefs.

Last year’s Homegrown Food Festival was the most successful to date with over 7,500 visitors enjoying local bands, top chefs and a range of locally produced food and drinks.

The aim of the festival is to showcase local producers, international street food and local musicians and offer ideas for growing food at home and it is organised by a small committee.

Thanks to its growing popularity, the festival has clinched a number of awards including the national “Town’s Alive” Social and Community award in 2014 and Hambleton District Council’s Green and Environmental award in 2015.

The festival is also the current holder of the ‘Community Event of the Year’ in the Hambleton Community Awards, having been handed the accolade in March.

One of the organisers, Sally Anderson, said: “We never imagined, six years ago, that the Homegrown Food Festival would be growing year-on-year and attracting thousands of people from across the whole region.”