ONE of the UK’s biggest food events is returning to Malton for its 12th year in 2020 – and for the first time, due to popular demand, it will run over three days.

The Malton Food Lovers Festival, which will run from May 23 to 25, is a gastronomical celebration that will welcome visitors from across the country.

With the promise of an extra day’s festivities, this year’s Malton Food Lovers Festival is set to be the biggest yet, welcoming food and drink aficionados in their thousands to savour delicious produce from hundreds of independent and artisan producers from its Yorkshire heartland and further afield.

Visitors can expect a bustling producers’ market, delicious street food, talks, tastings and demonstrations from some of the UK’s greatest culinary talent, live music, family entertainment and more.

2020 signals another change for the Food Lovers Festival, as this will be the debut year for Michelin starred-chef, Tommy Banks, in his role as the Festival’s official patron.

Tom Naylor-Leyland, festival director, said: “Our flagship food and drink event is not to be missed and this year we’re proud to welcome the very talented Yorkshire chef and long-time supporter, Tommy Banks, as our official Festival patron.

“The Food Lovers Festival welcomed in excess of 40,000 visitors over two days last year to enjoy the unrivalled showcase of quality, artisan food and drink producers, entertainment, cooking demonstrations and masterclasses by talented chefs. With the number of visitors and traders growing year on year, we’re pleased to announce the Food Lovers Festival will extend to three days in 2020, allowing foodies to make full use of the bank holiday weekend.”

The Food Lovers Festival is fully committed to supporting the ‘Circular Malton’ vision to be the UK’s first circular economy market town. In its mission to run environmentally friendly events, Visit Malton is committed to the responsible disposal of waste, which led to zero waste from the festival going to landfill in 2019. As part of this commitment a new policy was introduced for the 2018 festival ensuring all street food traders and bars served their wares using only reusable, recyclable or biodegradable utensils and bowls.

Waste from the festival was reduced by over 15 tonnes in one year.

The event is free.