Devizes Food and Drink Festival got off to a scorching start on Saturday as the sun shone down.

Dozens of stalls selling everything from venison to fudge filled the Market Place while the staff of Country Butchers, the main sponsors of the festival this year, demonstrated their butchery skills and provided advice on how best to prepare different cuts of meat.

The large marquee in the centre of the square also hosted Gianni Campanella of Dolcipani who had adapted a traditional recipe for Devizes Cheesecake, a local delicacy known for centuries.

Meanwhile, in the Corn Exchange, a number of celebrity chefs gave demonstrations of cookery, with food writer and columnist Xanthe Clay, whose mother Rosanagh Evans lives in Devizes, delivering a masterclass in the afternoon.

The festival continues this week with a famous foodie quiz at the Lamb Inn today, a Sicilian festival in Old Swan Yard tomorrow and a hands-on experience of bread in the Tudor period at Vaughan’s Kitchen on Wednesday.

On Thursday there is a bangers and beer supper at The Southgate Inn and a Bangla banquet at the Bengal Bite.

Then, on Friday there is a gala cocktail evening in the town hall, a pop-up restaurant at Erlestoke Prison and a festival of ales and ciders will continue at The Vaults in St John’s Street each evening until Sunday.

Full details of the events are available at www.devizesfoodanddrinkfestival.info