This year’s Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival is definitely on.

The announcement by DEFA means that there is finally a major summer event in the island that we can all go to. It will be held in the Villa Marina Gardens on September 19 and 20 and PokerStars will once again be the headline sponsor.

It will certainly provide a lift to the hard-pressed food and drink sector. And for all those people who turned to local food products during lockdown it will be a chance to show their support and meet some of the people who made sure they had supplies delivered to them when they needed it.

DEFA marketing executive, Lucy Verdon, said: ’We are so excited to be in a position to revive this popular event. Lockdown encouraged people to discover so many local food products that they might not have known about before and this event will give us all the opportunity to come together and celebrate them.’

All those who exhibited in previous years have already been invited to apply for stands and any other businesses in the food and drink sector who would like to apply can do so by contacting [email protected].

Geoffrey Boot MHK, Minister for DEFA said: ’We recognise that 2020 has presented our producers with many challenges to date; in our best efforts to support the industry and boost local spend over the festival weekend, we have reduced both exhibitors’ fees and the ticket price for visitors by 50%.’

The festival will be slightly different this year - it will run between 10am and 5pm both days with no evening event and it is planned to have more informal, busker-style musicians performing around the gardens providing a relaxed atmosphere.

Due to the cancellation of the two major agricultural shows, animals haven’t been prepared or halter trained to come to a large event so the organisers are working with the Wildlife Park to come up with a replacement for what is always a popular attraction at the festival, especially for children.

Other traditional favourites will include the Manx Produce Marquee, Catering Village and Drinks Pavilion, and a full schedule is planned for the Manx Cookery Theatre. And there will be all the usual craft stands under the Colonnade.

The Manx Independent’s Food and Farming page will be keeping you updated with further information on the event as it is released.