WARM weather helped draw a crowd of thousands to Devizes Market Place on Saturday as foodies were out in force for the start of a town festival.

Philippa Morgan, chairman of the Food & Drink Festival, was delighted with the numbers who packed the centre of the town from 11am to try a range of different cuisines and have fun with games that included chilli chuckin' and crumpet frisbee.

She said: "A brilliant day was had by all. There were so many good things happening. The Persian street food stall had a queue of at least 20 people from 11am until close.

"The tables and chairs at both end of the market were full all day as people ate their lunch, had a drink and listened to the live music which proved to be very popular.

"There must have been between 2,000 and 3,000 people in and around the market during the day and many were from out of town.

"A group from Swindon had come to Devizes on the bus for a Wadworth Brewery tour in the morning and the Festival Market in the afternoon. I spoke to traders elsewhere in town and the increased footfall had been positive for them too."

Among those celebrating the good turn out was Alison Radevsky chairman of the Devizes friends of Julia's House. She said: "We had a fabulous day.

"Our stall raised just over £260 which is a fantastic total.

"We had a Guess the Weight of the Cake competition, with a brilliant Julia's House logo cake made by Ali Ruscoe."

The winners were Alyssa and Tony Clydesdale from Switzerland who were visiting a relative who lives in Devizes.

Mrs Radevsky said: "It was lovely to find when I went to deliver the cake that we had painted Alyssa's face earlier in the day.

"Joanna Goddard and others painted dozens of children's faces with the Julia's House teddy bear logo, and our talking, walking teddy got lots of attention.

"The Food Festival gave us our stall at no charge, which was much appreciated. There were lots of generous and supportive people, and we had a great day all round."

The Rotary stall pitched next to the Julia's House team sold hot dogs in aid of the charity.

For those who want more food fun there is still time to get tickets for the Black Swan's Argentinian fire pit hogget lunch on Saturday. To check out other events go to www.devizesfoodanddrinkfestival.info