On Sunday October 10, from 10.30am to 4.30pm, Wells Food Festival will return to its rightful place, in the medieval heart of England's smallest city, and it will features businesses from the Shepton Mallet area.

With the support of the festival headline sponsor, Charlie Bigham's, this year's free, family-friendly event is set to be a jam-packed celebration of Somerset's rich and diverse producers.

"After a really challenging 18 months for our artisan producers we are determined to make this festival our best yet," said Jon Abbott, festival director.

"We were obviously proud to be able to support them with a virtual event in 2020, but there's nothing quite like the real thing for the full experience, meeting and talking with the people behind our finest food and drink."

More than 150 producers and street food sellers will be in the Artisan Market, showcasing the extensive range of fine food and produce that comes from the region.

Stalls will stretch from the Market Place, along the Moat and into the Recreation Ground and the Bishop's Barn.

There are several producers from the Shepton area attending, including a new business, CULTJAR.

This unique company focuses on age-old fermentation and pickling methods, but updated with the use of creative ingredient combinations and recipes.

Peter Prescott, founder of CULTJAR and owner of Worminster Farm where the company is based, said: "I've been fortunate to attend some of the previous festivals and appreciate that it is such a great day for those attending and the traders – it's going to be even better this year post-Covid.

"As a new food business located just three miles from Wells, I am pleased to be able to present our produce at the festival."

Meanwhile award-winning Worley's Cider has had a cider bar at the festival every year.

"We all really missed it last year," said Neil Worley.

"For us, it marks the start of the autumn season of events, with a cool morning and our first hot mulled cider of the year.

"We'll be serving our Special Reserve cider again this year which has just received a Three Star award from Great Taste.

"It was the only cider to receive this prestigious quality mark - so draw your own conclusions from that."

In addition to the Artisan Market, there are some new feature areas to explore, starting with a celebration of English wines in the Recreation Ground.

Local vineyards, including Fenny Castle Vineyard just outside of Wells, will be represented alongside those from further afield.

Ben Franks, of Novel Wines in Bath, will be sharing his passion for English wine with three exclusive tasting sessions during the day. The themes are: Bacchus wine from different regions; a wine and canapé pairing; English fizz.

The tasting sessions are £12 each (£15 for the wine & canapé) and can be booked at wellsfoodfestival.co.uk.

Meanwhile, there is lots to entertain younger visitors starting with an interactive Gingerbread Man Trail. Pick up a map at the entrance with clues hidden in each of the main areas. A prize awaits all correctly completed sheets.

Simon Gray and his team from Fun Kitchen, an award-winning pop-up cookery school, will be providing four cookery sessions throughout the day for children aged 3+.

With a focus on seasonal food, and full of informative fun, children will have the chance to get stuck in and create their own apple scone bread twist.

The cookery sessions are free to join in but numbers are limited so head over to the Fun Kitchen marquee in the Recreation Ground early on the day and book a place.

Visit the website www.wellsfoodfestival.co.uk to get all the latest news and information.