MASTERCHEF’S Gregg Wallace will be among celebrities whipping up a few treats and sharing a bit of behind-the-scenes gossip at the first Swindon Food And Drink Festival, set to take place this summer.

The TV personality, best known for MasterChef and its celebrity counterpart, will join dozens of local chefs and demonstrators at the event at Lydiard Park, which will be held between Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28.

He will find himself in good company with BBC alumna and Great British Bake Off contestant Cathryn Dresser.

He began his career working in a Covent Garden fruit and veg market.

In 1989, he started George Allan’s Greengrocers, a company that built up to an impressive £7.5 million turnover. On the back of his business success, he was invited to co-present Veg Talk on BBC Radio 4 with Charlie Hicks. Soon, he was chosen to host Saturday Kitchen.

Gregg will cook up a storm on festival Saturday at 1pm before taking questions from the public.

Cathryn became known to millions when she took part in the 2012 series of BBC2’s Great British Bake Off.

She will encourage festival goers to get baking and show them how it is done on Saturday at 2.30pm.

Meanwhile, TV presenter and writer Stefan Gates, renowned for his love of quirky culinary quests and extraordinary food adventures in CBBC’s Gastronaut Live, will also mix cooking with science at a demonstratation.

And Los Gatos and Bistro Les Chats will share tips on mastering Spanish and French gastronomy

Fratello’s Italian restaurant will also concoct a few choice dishes for the audience.

Admission to the festival is £7. For more details and to book visit www.swindon-festival.com, go to Facebook Swindon Food & Drink Festival and Twitter @SwindonFestival.

“The festival is about bringing some of the better known celebrities like Gregg Wallace and Cathryn Dresser from the Great British Bake Off and also include the local stars that we have in the area,” said festival director, John Rhodes. “We call upon local chefs to come along and show what their food and restaurants are about.”

John, who runs the Cheltenham and Marlborough food festivals was surprised to find so many visitors to the events travelled from Swindon each year. This prompted him to explore launching a festival in the town.

“I thought ‘Why isn’t anyone doing something like this in Swindon? We need to look into this’,” he said.

“We found the stunning Lydiard Park. So far it seems to be getting a very good response. People are already buying tickets and there is a lot of talk about it on social media. It’s a smaller show to start off but if it goes well we hope to make it annual.”

As part of the festivities, Andrew Scott from Restaurant 56 at Sudbury House in Faringdon will also share his food philosophy with the crowds.

French baker extraordinaire Richard Bertinet will drop by Swindon to share his passion for cooking, and of course baking.

Yealands Estate from Marlborough New Zealand will hold free international wine talks and tastings over the two days.