SPREADING the word about what Hereford has to offer as a food destination will kick-off with an independent festival this summer.

With A Rule of Tum at the helm, independent food businesses in the city are in the process of setting up a non-profitable group to promote Hereford and the county as a place to come for good food.

To show what is on offer, the Hereford Indie Food festival will take place in Aubrey Street during the August Bank Holiday weekend.

A Rule of Tum, owned by Jon Stead and brothers Edwin and Dorian Kirk, opened its Burger Shop in Aubrey Street in November 2014 followed by The Bookshop next door a year later.

Jon said: "There is an amazing undercurrent of food going on in Herefordshire- people know it is there and talk about the produce and know how great our county is at producing food."

But he said Herefordshire is not very good at shouting about what it has to offer, which is where the Hereford Indie Food will step in.

It will start as a festival but go on to promote Herefordshire's food throughout the year.

Jon said it was at the Herefordshire Flavours of Food Festival in 2014 that they sold enough of their burgers on a stall to be able to fund the opening of The Burger Shop.

He said: "It was in a city where there wasn't that much going on at the time and anyone we spoke to about opening a place said 'Don't do it here.'

"But the food festival showed there was enough people here to make it work. It gave us the blind confidence to jump in and make it work."

At the festival there will be street food and bars from the likes of Chase Distillery, The Beefy Boys, Shack Revolution, Hereford Beer House and Noble and Wild.

There will also be chef’s suppers (ticketed separately) by Stephen Terry, The Coeliac Chef, Callum McDonald and Jake’s Cured Meats.

Jon said: "What we really want to do next- we have got this amazing thing where we are all shouting about it within Herefordshire- really that is still our little secret.

"People from other towns and cities don't necessarily know what is going on here.

"Ludlow and Abergavenny built their reputations up but Hereford has really exciting, young, vibrant businesses and that is great from such a small city.

"The next step is let's promote Hereford as a destination."

There will also be live music at the festival, including a DJ set from Gus from Alt-J.

It takes place on August 27 and 28 in the courtyard behind The Bookshop. Day entry purchase on gate and evening entry tickets available soon.