The countdown to August is well underway and, in about three weeks, Edinburgh’s population will double as the world comes to visit the city’s numerous festivals.

But before the thesps, clowns and artists set up camp, food lovers can look forward to their own event: Assembly’s Edinburgh Food Festival.

Last year’s inaugural event attracted over 20,000 visitors and Assembly, the organisers, hope to beat that figure this summer.

George Square Gardens

Taking place in George Square Gardens again, the festival runs from Wednesday 27th to Saturday 31st July.

As well as numerous street food stalls, there will be a Section 33 pop-up in the Spiegeltent and a cookery demo from Shirley Spear, founder of Three Chimneys.

Visitors can look forward to talks, debates, a Saturday afternoon tea dance and, on the Friday evening, the Speakeasy Spiegeltent Swing Dance, an evening of 1920s music, costume and dance.

Taking place on the Sunday, one of the headline shows is Ready Steady Chef, a fun take on Ready Steady Cook.

Hosted by award-winning chef Tom Lewis of the Mhor empire and Guy Grieve, founder of The Ethical Shellfish Company, the show will see two pairs of competitors picked at random from the audience.

£20 & 20 minutes to source ingredients

The wannabe chefs will be given £20 and twenty minutes to source the ingredients for a dish from the festival gardens.

Under the watchful eyes of Tom and Guy, each pair will then cook the dish in the Spiegeltent kitchens.

There are two heats in the afternoon. The winners will go on to compete in the grand finale on Sunday evening.

All selected contestants will receive a day pass for all show’s at Assembly Festival during the Fringe. The winner of the final will receive VIP access to all of Assembly’s shows throughout the whole Fringe Festival.

Tickets are £10 per adult.

All entertainment events are ticketed and talks are operated on a first come first serve basis. For times, dates and costs, visit the food festival.