ROBERT Hardy of All Creatures Great and Small fame returns to the Dales at the beginning of May to visit "marquee city".

For Leyburn's first ever Festival of Food and Drink, to be held from May 4-6, most of the centre of the town will be covered in marquees. The grand marquee will stretch from the town shelter to the eastern end of the square and is already fully booked by 50 exhibitors.

The theatre marquee, with raised demonstration platform and TVs so that no-one misses any action, will be by the war memorial. A full programme of six or seven demonstrations a day is planned, covering cookery, chocolate making, cheese making, cake decorating and fish preparation, mostly by local people.

Fun events there will include a blind ale tasting competition on the Saturday.

The farming marquee will be in Commercial Square. Inside visitors will go on a trip through the Dales from remote hill farming through the structured sheep and cattle farming of the Upper Dales to the arable and dairy farms of the Lower Dales.

The display will be arranged as a series of fields through which visitors will pass and will be complemented by an extensive graphic display and a commentary.

There will also be plenty going on outside, including a set of four vintage children's fairground attractions comprising a hand-operated roundabout, a shooting gallery, swing boats and a penny roll. A 1907 110-key Gavioli fairground organ, which has been recently restored, will be seen for the first time in the North.

A free park-and-ride bus service means that Middleham can join in the fun, including the tea trail and real ale trail. There should be a real pavement cafe atmosphere there with hotels, pubs and cafes putting chairs and tables outside.

Alongside the Good Enough to Eat exhibition at the Old School Arts Workshop and displays of medieval cookery at Middleham Castle, children's art will be on display, and at the Key Centre there will be food-related crafts.

The festival will be open from 10am-5pm on Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Monday, with free admission to everything except the grand marquee (£1) and Middleham Castle.

The marquees will be erected on Wednesday, May 1, and dismantled on Tuesday, May 7. For safety reasons, some sections of road will be closed during the festival: from the High Street to the Golden Lion from 7am on Friday, May 3, to 7pm on Tuesday, May 7; and from the Bolton Arms to the entrance of Leyburn Hall from 7am on Wednesday, May 1, to 7am on Wednesday, May 8.

The Friday market on May 3 will go ahead as usual. All stalls will trade in their usual locations, with the exception of Cartman's plants and the Tool Van, who will be nearby. Most stalls will trade inside the marquees with their vehicles immediately outside. Access to their vehicles will be provided by opening side curtains.

The Rotary Club is providing 24-hour security with mobile phone contact to police officers, and police presence in the area will be increased during the festival. There will be a St John Ambulance first aid post in the Methodist hall and Leyburn Volunteer Fire Service will have at least one person in the grand marquee at all times