RIPON Cathedral is setting out its stall for its first food and drink festival.

The Food and Drink Festival will be held in the grounds of the cathedral known locally as the Deer Park on Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 as part of Ripon Cathedral Revealed, a five-day celebration of flowers, music, spirituality, food and drink.

The food festival itself is free entry.

More than 20 businesses, most of them local to the area, will be showcasing their products. They include Davill’s Bakery of Ripon, Old Sleningford Preserves, Brown & Blond, who make and deliver homemade brownies, and Bib and Tucker which recently opened a café in the Arcade in Ripon.

At the Food and Drink Festival there will also be a plant stall which will be selling plants, cuttings and vegetables which have been donated by local businesses and individuals who have an interest in gardening.

The five-day festival will include a pop-up cathedral café, musical recitals, concerts, live readings from the Bible, a Festival Songs of Praise, more than 20 floral displays, embroidery workshops, and displays of ceramic pottery before it closes on Bank Holiday Monday, May 2 with the traditional annual Beer Festival in the Deer Park.

A full programme of events and tickets for Ripon Cathedral Revealed are now on sale on line at www.riponcathedral.info/revealed/ Tickets are from £5 and £3.50 for the beer festival.