A CIVIC ceremony to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar will be part of the second annual Salisbury food and drink festival this summer.

The commemorative event will include a re-enactment of the journey made to the city in October 1805 by a horse-drawn post-chaise carrying dispatches bearing news of the epic sea battle and of Admiral Lord Nelson's death.

The post-chaise will stop outside the Guildhall just after noon, as it did 200 years ago, and there will a celebration at which locally produced food and drink will be served.

Plans for the ceremony, to be held on Bank Holiday Monday, August 29, were announced when details of this year's food and drink festival were unveiled at a launch at the Medieval Hall, in the Cathedral Close, last Friday.

The festival will run from August 26 to August 29 and the main feature will be a two-day food and drink fair in the Market Square, on August 28 and 29.

Other highlights will include a waiters' and bartenders' race, farmers' markets, a beer festival, pub trails, special restaurant menus and a host of other food-related fun and activities.

The festival is held to showcase local produce, and producers and organisers say they want to build on the triumph of last year's event.

At Friday's launch, Salisbury district council deputy portfolio holder for planning and economic development Mar-garet Peach said food and drink were vital to the district's tourism industry.

"It is because food and drink is so important to the visitor experience that the council, Salisbury tourism partnership, the south-west regional development agency, local business and suppliers have invested in this festival," she said.

"By promoting the very best that Salisbury and the surrounding area have to offer, we are confident we can increase our visitor numbers."

Other speakers included Jamaica-born Wilfred Emman-uel-Jones, who told how his Devon-based business The Black Farmer had benefited from participation in last year's festival.

He said this had led to many orders from retail outlets, including top supermarkets.

Bill Browne, publisher of Salisbury Newspapers, which is again giving its support to the festival, said the event was now firmly on the map, was growing and would be a magnet in getting people to visit the city.