FOOD lovers were given inspiration for their next culinary creations by a star-studded lineup at Didcot Food Festival on Saturday.

More the 1,000 people descended on the town’s Civic Hall to see live cooking demonstrations from former Great British Bake Off contestant Christine Wallace, who organised the event, and a host of fellow television chefs and bakers.

There were also more than 40 food and drinks stalls both inside and outside the venue for food fans to explore, with everything from authentic Caribbean sauces to non-alcoholic distilled spirits on offer.

Jeannette Howse, who set up the festival three years ago with the Bake Off star, said: “It was a great turn out and it continues to get more and more popular each year.

“We are now probably one of the biggest events of this kind in the region.”

She added the festival has proved so successful that the decision had been made to spread next year’s over two days to fit in even more foodie events.

She said: “We had so many chefs who wanted to do live masterclasses but there was only so much time throughout the day.

“With Christine’s contacts from Bake Off it means we can attract a lot of really well-known people.”

This year they included Benoit Blin, chef patissier for Raymond Blanc at South Oxfordshire’s Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and one of the judges in the last two series of the BBC Two programme Creme de la Crème and more recently Channel 4’s programme Bake Off – The Professionals.

There were also live demonstrations from MasterChef The Professionals competitor Nick Bennett, who is head chef at Sudbury House’s Restaurant 56 in Faringdon, and his boss executive head chef Andrew Scott.

Bake Off alumni included Siberian baker Julia Chernogorova, who appeared in the 2017 competition, sharing different cooking traditions from around the world, as well as Howard Middleton, who competed in the 2013 series alongside Mrs Wallace.

The pair reunited for a joint live demonstration showing how to make traditional and gluten free cake variations.

Young chefs were also not left out of the fun, with a host of interactive activities in the ‘kidz kooking room’.

These included pizza making and cupcake decorating as well as game ‘guess the vegetable’.

The festival supported local good causes, with organisers working with Team Mikayla and Style Acre. Team Mikalya volunteers greeted visitors as they entered the hall.

The charity was set up in 2010, following the diagnosis of Wantage-based Mikayla Beames’ with brain cancer at the age of four and helps make wishes come true for children being treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital Kameran Ward. The festival also supported Style Acre, which helps young adults with learning disabilities and autism.