THE annual Christchurch Food Festival is once again in full swing for day two of the weekend celebrations.

Stallholders were open ready to sell their produce at 10am this morning, offering fresh fruit, bratwurst, homemade bread and a variety of refreshments.

And visitors to the popular event are enjoying the warm weather, perusing the stalls, while children dance to Putting On The Ritz at Saxon Square.

Members of the Christchurch Music Centre were entertaining the crowds yesterday with traditional and modern bandstand music, before belly-dancers performed for the crowds.

There are a variety of stalls lining the High Street including cheese stalls, sparkling wine suppliers, and people selling chocolate strawberries, Caribbean rum cake, garlic, fresh herbs, cocktails, fudge and much more.

A number of shops, pubs and bars are all taking advantage of the passing trade, with some offering their own produce.

Manager Lauren Warwick, and Naomi Brooker, of Jenkins and Sons restaurants, have been selling cocktails and craft beers and said their baked goods had been flying off the stall.

"It's been really good," Lauren said. "We've done really well on cakes and cocktails.

"The sunny weather has brought everyone out. We've been doing this for about five or six years and it's one of the best [festivals] around for food."

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But it's not just the High Street that's been bustling with visitors. The Quay has got a number of pop-up pubs and food stalls and even an inflatable bar, The Final Furlong.

It's named after Simon Furlong, of Christchurch, who did photography for the company Appetite for Adventure.

Adie Callaghan, owner, said: "It's our first time at the Christchurch Food Festival. Personally it's been a great event. No one has seen the pub publically so we thought we'd use it as a launch pad. And we're working with the charity Macmillan Caring Locally to promote them."

Mr Furlong died from a rare form of cancer last December. "He was diagnosed in October and died in December at 41," Adie said. "It was really horrendous. We really wanted to do something. He loved [the idea of the pub] and the pub would live on. He was really delighted."

Christchurch council's communication officer, Allan Wood, introduced the programme of demonstrations on Saturday, which started with celebrity chef Lesley Waters and The Jetty's chef patron, Alex Aitken.