THOUSANDS of food enthusiasts flocked to a food and drink festival at the weekend.

The Hitchin Food and Drink Festival 2013 was packed with people as independent food and drink producers held stalls on the high street and Market Place.

The two-day event, which was in its third year, saw local chefs joined by children’s favourite, Cbeebies personality, Katy Ashworth, who entertained children with food-related fun and song and dance.

On Sunday, Matt Bean, from Cantina Carnitas - a Hitchin Mexican street food company - led a giant burrito-rolling competition.

Organiser of the festival Sally Williams, owner of Retail Revival, said: “We had record number of people visiting the festival. We had about four to 5000 people over the two days. The exhibitors said that Hitchin has a great lively community and has a feel about it like nowhere else, and a lot of them are keen to come back, which I think is a great sign and shows that the town is doing something right.”

Hitchin town centre manager, Keith Hoskins, said: “It was a great weekend all round. There were people queuing to get into the car parks on Saturday. There were about 500 to 600 people to see Katy, who sat there for an hour signing autographs. Many people said they had a great weekend. Thanks go to everyone who helped make the event successful.”