THE heat is on at the eighth annual Great Dorset Chilli Festival this weekend.

Taking place at St Giles Park, Wimborne St Giles, the two-day specialist food festival, which is held today and tomorrow, celebrates the increasingly popular world of chilli peppers, from growing chilli plants and sampling chilli sauces, to enjoying spicy international street food and of course watching the chilli eating competition.

However it’s not just all chillies - visitors can also enjoy shopping, from hand-painted ceramics to jewellery, garden ironwork to beautifully crafted wooden chopping boards.

This year, the festival team has once again joined forces with the UK Chilli Cook-off Association to create Dorset’s regional heat of the national chilli cook-off competition, taking place on Sunday.

Teams will have four hours to cook a gallon of chilli-con-carne from scratch, using their own combination of ingredients and spices. The winner goes forward to the national finals, with the national winner competing in Alabama, USA in the Chilli class of the World Food Championships.

Festival-goers will get to taste the entries by paying a donation to charity in exchange for a sampling spoon.

Other events taking place throughout the weekend include the Chilli Plant and Chilli Eating Competitions, as well as the Chilli Sauce Tasting Tent, as well as family entertainment including falconry flying displays, horse and carriage rides and performances by Alfredo the Magician, plus face painting, bouncy castles and a selection of live bands.

To find out more, visit greatdorsetchillifestival.co.uk