More than 20,000 people are expected to attend the free annual Alresford Watercress Festival on Sunday.

The procession through the town will see the newly-crowned king and queen of watercress dispense the freshly-harvested watercress crop to the crowd.

Television chefs Lesley Waters and Shelina Permaloo will show how to get creative with watercress, and there will be the judging of a Platinum Jubilee competition to create a watercress dish fit for a queen.

Lesley Waters, a star of Ready Steady Cook and This Morning, and a regular contributor to James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen, has run a cookery school in Dorset for 15 years.

She has published several cookery books and is frequently found penning articles for magazines while enjoying her role as ambassador for Teflon and its Inspiring Culinary Generations awards, now in their tenth year.

Shelina Permaloo won MasterChef in 2012 and since then has gone on to be a regular on television and radio, including appearances on This Morning, Sunday Brunch and Radio 4’s Kitchen Cabinet.

She opened her first restaurant in April 2016 – Lakaz Maman, a Mauritian street kitchen in Bedford Place, Southampton.

She has written several cookery books and currently chairs the Southampton 2025 City of Culture bid alongside Southampton’s Craig David.

Both these incredible chefs can be seen at the demonstration kitchen in Broad Street, as well as local chefs Andy McKenzie and Phil Yeomans from the Lainston House Hotel, Becca Hoddinott from the Natural Cooking Company, and Hampshire-born chef Thomas Hinsley who for several years worked in Michelin-starred London restaurants including Launceston Place.

They will wow and inspire the crowd, ably assisted by festival regular Davina Tibbetts.

Nutritionist Lucy Williamson and Dr Kyle Stewart will tell the crowd about the incredible health benefits of watercress to make watching the cookery demonstrations, and how to include more watercress in everyday meals, even more important.

There will be more than 140 stalls groaning with local food and crafts, musical performances, entertainment for children and the World Watercress Eating Championship, in which reigning champion Glenn Walsh aims to retain the crown for the 14th consecutive year.

Visitors can donate to local children’s cancer charity Abby’s Heroes in exchange for free watercress. For more information visit www.watercressfestival.org