THOUSANDS braved the weather to visit the annual Calne Food and Drink Festival on Saturday.

They were joined by former Great British Bake Off quarter finalist Christine Wallace, who showed her skills and performed a demonstration by making a recipe from her cookbook.

Mrs Wallace was a contestant in the fourth series of the popular BBC show, which aired in 2003.

Rob Merrick, chairman of the festival committee, said: “It was a really good day, Christine Wallace was excellent. She did a meet and greet with festival goers and then made some walnut whip muffins which were up for tasting.

“It was a shame about the weather but it managed to stay dry, the turnout was still really good with between 2-3000 people attending.”

This marked the fifth time the festival had taken place, with an unfortunate cancellation last year. But the show means to go on.

“We are already planning for the next one, which will take place on September 3 next year,” added Mr Merrick.

Alongside demonstrations there were also a number of competitions. The Cake For Calne competition pitted contestants against each other to design a cake or bun on what Calne meant to them.

The winner, Calne councillor Glenis Ansell, was crowned victorious with her cupcakes decorated with pigs. The prize was for her recipe to be produced and sold by the Farmhouse Café on Phelps Parade for a year, and she was also presented with a £30 voucher to enjoy a meal there.

A wide variety of food stalls boasted tastes from around the world from Tastes of Africa to homemade tacos to deli stalls. Visitors also had the chance to buy homemade wooden cheeseboards from a craft stall.

One stall paid homage to the heritage of Calne. Calne Cure, invented by the Harris Meat factory, showed up to relaunch its brand on the back of the food festival and to tie in with the upcoming heritage week this month.