Excitement is building ahead of one of the region's most prestigious food and drink events which takes place at the end of this month.

Thousands of visitors and 128 producers will descend on Snape Maltings next weekend (September 28 and 29) for the annual Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival.

The show - which has become a magnet for food lovers from other parts of the UK - will feature celebrated local restaurants like The Suffolk in Aldeburgh which is run by a festival director - George Pell - The Greyhound in Pettistree, Pinch by Alice Norman at Kelsale and The Unruly Pig near Woodbridge.

Event headlines are Michelin starred Tom Aikens, Tom Booton of The Grill at The Dorchester hotel, celebrated chef and cookbook author Ben Tish and Ivan Tisdall-Downes of Native at Penson.

(Image: Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival) The two-day celebration also features private chef Pete Harrison, butchers Salter & King, Pump Street Chocolate of Orford and Southwold brewery Adnams.

There will also be newcomers - including Suffolk-based heirloom seed brand She Grows Veg - the first time event planners have admitted a "non-food" brand exhibit.

Its founders Lucy Hutchings and Kate Cotterill will be introducing visitors to their range of unusual veg seeds and demonstrating the link between growing and cooking.

Local food campaigner and festival president Lady Caroline Cranbrook - one of the founders of the event back in 2006 - said its continuing success reflected increasing public interest in the provenance of food and its story.

From left, Kate Cotterill and Lucy Hutchings of She Grows Veg (Image: She Grows Veg)It also benefited from a "wonderful" location which provides a "unique and glorious background".

"Each year we believe that the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival is the best ever. And we have the same high expectations for 2024," she said.

"Above all we are proud of the extraordinary  quality, abundance and diversity of the food and drink made by our East Anglian producers and who are the heart of the festival. They come mainly from Suffolk though Norfolk and Essex are also well represented.

"Our  festival will delight the eye, educate the mind and satisfy everyone’s appetite for good things to eat and drink.

"But at the same time it has a wider role, supporting the East Anglian local food economy by introducing our visitors to its wonderful  produce, to the people who grow or make it and to our lovely countryside, towns and villages from where it comes.

"The festival is a celebration, an education and a feast for mind and body. It is fascinating – and it is fun - a truly unmissable event."

Event co-ordinator Bella Scarr said she was "really excited" - adding that this year's festival "feels like a celebration that’s more than a festival". It was the culmination of year-round efforts to give local food businesses the the recognition and exposure they deserve, she said.

"It’s a showcase of the incredible food community that thrives in Suffolk," she said.

"This year we’ve invited some of our most high profile chefs ever, we have a family cookery class every 30 minutes of each day, recipes to take home, and 128 trading local producers."

Lucy Hutchings of She Grows Veg said they hoped to encourage visitors to grow "unique and delicious produce" they can't buy in the shops.

(Image: She Grows Veg)

"We firmly believe that the only way to give yourself the most incredible range of delicious ingredients, at a price that won’t break the bank, is to grow them yourself and our range of heirloom seeds give people the tools to nurture beautiful open pollinated veg at home, as well as a helping hand to get growing,” she said.

Kate Cotterill said they were thrilled to have been chosen to exhibit among the biggest names in the food and drink industry across Suffolk and showcase what they do.

"We are hoping to add a new dimension to the festival, introducing visitors to the concept of growing their own to achieve the freshest, nutrition-packed foods, no matter what experience they have with gardening,” she said.