Gastronomy experts will be in food heaven when a mouth-watering festival returns for the second time this year.

The Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival is back for the Autumn Harvest from September 5 to 15.

The event features the Big Sussex Market in New Road, with a minimum 85 per cent of local businesses taking part.

It will also include an interactive Regency Food Tour featuring period food, actors and musicians from the Brighton Early Musical Festival, Brighton and Hove Restaurant Week with more than 25 local eateries taking part, and the Brighton Mix Off cocktail competition finals at the SEALIFE centre.

The weekend starts on September 13 with the new Brighton Beer and Cider Festival, hosted in conjunction with Pub du Vin, featuring more than 20 breweries and cider producers ranging from Hepworth and Harveys to new independent micro breweries such as Brighton Bier Co and Franklins.

The finale of this year’s festival will be the Sussex and The World Market on seafront Hove Lawns.

Nick Mosley, festival director, said: “This year’s Autumn Harvest is the biggest and most comprehensive festival we’ve ever created and is the culmination of over a year’s work by the festival team and the businesses, charities and volunteers we work with across the year.”

Sunday evening will see the grand final of the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival Awards 2013 which began in March with three months of public nominations.

Advance tickets for evening events are available from www.brightonfoodfestival.com.