The team behind music festival Lounge on the Farm are branching out with a new event for foodies.

Kentish grub and splosh will carry a hipster twist at the inaugural Chatham Maritime Food and Drink Festival, thanks to its organisers’ nine-years’ experience running the county’s top music weekend.

The team also runs the Canterbury Food and Drink Festival and will add a youthful flavour to the culinary carnival in Medway with a mix of bands, DJs and arts and crafts.

Running alongside the festival will be a special visit along the River Medway from the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships.

The commemorative cruise – marking the anniversary of the evacuation of Dunkirk during the Second World War – stops alongside the HMS Chatham Bridge and the marina over the Bank Holiday weekend, where the food festival will be pitched.

Each ship took part in the famous Dunkirk evacuation of 1940, when 338,000 Allied troops were saved from the beaches of France.

More than 9,000 visitors are expected to see the boats and wander round the festival’s 40 stalls. There will also be dragon boat racing hosted by the Medway Sunlight Rotary Club.

Organiser Victoria Hazell said: “We want people to come and stay the whole day. They can come in the morning and do their shopping, then have lunch, watch the bands, take a look at the boats and then take their food home to cook for dinner that night.

“People go to Canterbury Food and Drink and stay all day and we are bringing that side of things to Chatham.”

Chatham Maritime Food & Drink Festival runs from Saturday, May 24, to Bank Holiday Monday. Admission free.

Details on 01634 891888 or www.cmtrust.co.uk. The event takes place opposite the Ship and Trades pub and a stone’s throw from the Dockside Outlet.