St Albans' array of bustling food and drink venues is being celebrated with this year's Enjoy St Albans Food and Drink Festival Awards - and you can have your say on the nominees. 

An online nomination form has opened today (July 17), with the deadline for submissions on Sunday, August 6.

More than 150 businesses from across the district were nominated last year, so the competition is expected to be intense.

The categories are restaurant of the year, best pub or bar, best café, best food and drink shop or market stall, best takeaway or street food, best local producer and best newcomer.

People can also nominate for the Kate D’Arcy Award for an individual who has provided outstanding customer service.

After nominations have been closed, the list will be checked against the eligibility criteria for each category. The public will then be able to vote for their favourites from August 7 to August 27, with the top three in each category being shortlisted.

A judging panel from the Festival’s steering committee will decide the overall winners after making surprise visits to the venues.

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They will mark them according to criteria such as product quality, customer service and atmosphere.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Monday, October 2.

The Food and Drink Festival, now in its 16th year, is organised by St Albans City and District Council with the help of a steering group. It is sponsored by SA Law and St Albans BID.

Chris Traill, the council’s strategic director for community and place delivery, said: “The awards are a celebration of the amazing range of pubs, restaurants, cafés and other venues around the district.

“I urge people to show their support to these wonderful businesses by nominating those that they think are worthy of an award.

“Our hospitality industry not only gives us a great choice of food and drink products, but it is also very important to the local economy and quality tourism offer, providing hundreds of jobs for local people.”

The Enjoy St Albans Food and Drink Festival launches later this year with one of the highlights being the annual street party on Sunday, September 24, when the City Centre is closed to traffic from noon to 6pm.

More than 12,000 people are expected and attractions will include more than 70 food and drink stalls, pop-up restaurants and bars, cookery demonstrations and live music.

You can nominate your favourites at https://forms.office.com/e/yAiq63RsNC.