THIS Saturday Malton’s second food festival gets under way in the centre of town.

Malton Game and Seafood Fest is now in its second year. The festival is a celebration of what this part of Yorkshire does best; autumn and harvest produce, the best wild food, game from the moors and seafood from the coast.

And folks, what a line-up we have in store for you. Leading the live demonstration will be none other than the godfather of Italian cuisine himself, Antonio Carluccio. Antonio, who will be visiting Malton for his fourth time, has seen the town develop over the years.

As well as meeting the new Made in Malton producers in Talbot Yard and elsewhere in town, he will be delighting the crowds inside the Milton Rooms. I am pretty certain we will see some wild mushroom dishes from the Italian legend as they are perfectly in season and he is known to be one of the world’s great mushroom experts.

As well as celebrity chefs and other excellent Yorkshire chefs, there will be more than 60 fabulous stalls specialising in the best autumn foods and a fantastic selection of game and seafood.

There will be the very best Yorkshire street food, including steaming bowls of mussels, game pies, oysters with Prosecco and much more besides.

My mum Isabella is doing a stall this year, so make sure you come and get a brace of grouse, the king of the game bird.

Part of the idea of the game and seafood festival is to encourage the eating of slightly more adventurous food groups, so if you haven’t had an oyster or think they are inedible, I urge you to come down and give it a try.

Washed down with some local ale, or even Prosecco, they can’t taste that bad. Personally, I could eat about two dozen. Oysters are also meant to be a "super food" and apparently a bit of an aphrodisiac.

Live music will be coming from the excellent Malton White Star Band, as well as other local bands, and there will be cookery lessons going on in Malton Cookery School.

Talbot Yard Food Court and the other Made in Malton producers will be getting in on the act with specials from Groovy Moo Gelato, ButterBees Butter will be creating a special butter to commemorate the weekend and Food 2 Remember butchery will be doing their fantastic barbecue again.

At the Talbot Hotel head chef Dan Graham will be cooking up several game and seafood specials and in lots of the eateries in Malton, chefs are planning special dishes.

In other food news, we are pleased to welcome the newly opened Yo Bakehouse on Market Street and across on Market Place East, No 46 (previously Market Place Bistro).

Malton’s food scene is changing and with several new operators waiting in the wings, this autumn should be an exciting time to visit Malton.

Malton Game and Seafood Fest runs on Saturday, from 9am to -5pm. Entry to the stalls and demonstrations is free for all.