When it comes to food and drink festivals, Essex is certainly well catered for. Now another cuisine themed celebration is set to get foodies flocking- this time to experience Southend’s eclectic mix of bars, restaurants, cafes and pubs.

If everything from a ‘Nutella Fluffwich’ to posh sausage rolls to a spellbindingly-delicious crepe whet your appetite then the Southend Food Festival is just the ticket. The event –the first of its kind in the town – will run from Thursday June 29 to Sunday July 2 and has been cooked up by the Southend BID (Business Improvement District), with the aim of giving visitors a taste of the gastronomical delights the town has to offer.

At the heart of the new festival will be a Food Trail that will take visitors on a journey around 17 venues, each whisking up three dishes especially for the festival.

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East Coast Social, London Road, Southend-on-Sea

Expect a choice of everything and battered halloumi. If you’re more of the sweet-toothed type, why not try one of the desserts on offer – a Harry Potter crepe, a from traditional pastas and pizzas to more adventurous bites such as roasted butternut squash tagliatelle, exotic coconut curry slice of cookie dough cheesecake or vegan carrot cake?

Dishes are no more than £5 each and are scaled-down versions of regular, house favourites or bespoke dishes created especially for the festival.

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Maya's World Buffet, London Road, Southend-on-Sea

“This is the first event of its kind in Southend,” says BID Manager, Alison Dewey. “A lot of people don’t realise that Essex has a coastline of some 350-miles and that over 70 per cent of the land is still rural. That means we have some of the freshest and best produce in Britain. From fish and shellfish to vegetables, meat and wine, Essex is a terrific place to eat quality food with minimal food miles.”

To take part in the Food Trail, visitors simply need to pick up a Southend Food Fest guide and collect a stamp after sampling the food on offer at each venue.

Gastronauts with three or more stamps will be automatically entered into a stellar prize draw to win a £100 restaurant voucher, redeemable with any one of the restaurants involved in the event.

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Food Trail guides can be collected from each of the venues taking part, the Visitor Information Centre, numerous offices in and around the town centre plus shops and stores, Southend Central and Victoria railway stations, the university and colleges, all of Southend’s libraries and the Civic Centre. For a full list of the participating venues and their addresses go to visitsouthend.co.uk The Food Trail guide can be downloaded from visitsouthend.co.uk. Bon appetit!