A TALENTED young chef could be showcasing their culinary skills alongside celebrity chefs at next year’s Bolton Food and Drink Festival.

Michael Caines launched the first Bolton Young Chef competition at this year’s festival launch.

The competition is open to under-25s.

He said: “I am hugely excited about Young Chef competition, and I hope to get involved with some mentoring as well and some judging. It is a great way of attacking new talent into the industry.

“We are looking for the next shinning light ­— the next James Martin. What we are planning to do is create a fantastic opportunity for them to demonstrate here at the festival next year. This is an amazing opportunity to promote and support the young next talent in to the industry and highlight the excellent work that the young chefs are doing within this community.

“Next year we will be able to celebrate the success of that young chef here at the festival, demonstrating alongside this wonderful line up of talent that we are able to attract every year.”