Pop star Dannii Minogue is due to add some extra spice to the second annual York Festival Of Food & Drink.

Festival organisers are hoping the Australian actor and singer will make an appearance at the event's food theatre in Parliament Street on Sunday, September 27.

That will be Aussie Day, when antipodean food and wine will be top of the menu.

Miss Minogue, sister of fellow chanteuse Kylie, is performing at the York Barbican Centre the same night.

Fans of Eastern cuisine are in for a treat during the Festival, which runs from Saturday, September 19 to Sunday, September 27.

The food theatre, situated in Parliament Street, is being turned over to the Aagrah group of restaurants, who have organised an ethnic food day for Tuesday, September 22. Mohammed Aslam, from the Aagrah group and the International Indian Chef Of The Year in 1996, will host three demonstrations, taking in the delights of Kashmiri food, healthy eating Kashmiri-style and vegetarian Indian food.

Also taking part will be York's own cookery star Jenny Cook. Jenny, author, demonstrator and TV and radio personality, will be demonstrating Malaysian cuisine, while Chinese and Japanese food demonstrations will also be on the programme.

Matthew Lee, from Maxi's Restaurant in Leeds, will make the Chinese food, while Yoko Banks, who runs a Japanese restaurant in the hotel she owns in Harrogate, will demonstrate Japanese cooking.

The event runs from noon until 7pm and will be hosted by Simon Dunn, of the PR firm Catering Solutions.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.