A POPULAR food festival which attracts more than 40,000 visitors is expanding to three days.

Malton Food Lovers Festival is returning to the town for its 12th year in May, with Michelin-starred chef Tommy Banks, who runs The Black Swan at Oldstead and Roots York, making his debut as official patron.

The festival, which will be the biggest yet, will take place from May 23 to 25, and will feature produce markets, street food, tasting and demonstrations from a variety of chefs, family entertainment, live music and many more.

Tom Naylor-Leyland, festival director, said: “Our flagship food and drink event is not to be missed and this year we’re proud to welcome the very talented Yorkshire chef and long-time supporter, Tommy Banks, as our official Festival patron.

“The food lovers festival welcomed in excess of 40,000 visitors over two days last year to enjoy the unrivalled showcase of quality, artisan food and drink producers, entertainment, cooking demonstrations and masterclasses by talented chefs.

“With the number of visitors and traders growing year on year, we’re pleased to announce the Food Lovers Festival will extend to three days in 2020, allowing foodies to make full use of the bank holiday weekend.”

The festival is also now committed to supporting the Circular Malton vision to be the UK’s first circular economy market town.

In a mission to run environmentally-friendly events, Visit Malton is committed to the responsible disposal of waste, which led to zero waste from the festival going to landfill in 2019.

As part of this commitment, a new policy of reusable, biodegradable and recyclable serveware was introduced for the festival in 2018, which reduced more than 15 tonnes of wastage in one year.

A park and ride is available at each entrance to Malton, with a free shuttle bus service to the event.

Disabled parking is available at park and ride sites, as well as Wentworth Street and Water Lane Car Park.

Malton is also accessible via train, with frequent services.

Applications for stallholders are open now by going online to visitmalton.com/food-festival-stall-application