A TASTY new addition will help spice up the sixth World Curry Festival in Bradford next weekend.

The Penang Pavilion will introduce the district's tastebuds to the delights of a city hailed as Malaysia's curry capital.

Curry festival founder and organiser Zulfi Karim offered Penang's finest curry chefs the chance to come to Bradford after he visited Malaysia earlier this year. They will also take part in the festival's new Yorkshire-themed challenge.

"We want to showcase food from other parts of the world," said Mr Karim. "It has always been the aim of the festival to bring the best chefs, no matter where they are from, as well as those from the host city. We want to enlighten people to different varieties of curry.

"The event in Penang once again demonstrated different styles of making curry. I was really impressed with the level of passion for curry over there that we had to invite them to this year's festival.

"I feel this year could see a bit of East and West rivalry between our chefs and those from Penang but this will only benefit the experience of the visitors. I am sure you will see some flexing of muscles in the new challenge for our chefs this year, which will see them create a Yorkshire-inspired curry using local ingredients."

The Penang Pavilion will feature authentic street foods and cuisine, as well as exploring the tourism, culture and heritage of city.

This year the festival will take place in Lister Park, on September 12 and 13, and Mr Karim said: "The festival is growing every year and Lister Park has everything. Not only is it a beautiful park, but it is also home to the iconic Cartwright Hall.

"The whole park is much loved by the community, who played a key part in helping to bring it back to life. Growing up round here, it felt like a very personal and beneficial decision to bring the festival in order to take it to that next level.

"This year’s event will showcase so many different elements of the industry and we are especially pleased with being able to bring business opportunities from across the globe, with 30 business delegates coming from Penang. I feel their presence this year will allow for a great networking opportunity by allowing people to connect and potentially trade with businesses from the other side of the world."

There will be live cooking demonstrations, in a new 200-seater outdoor arena, including Pakistani curry master Amir Iqbal - known as the Singing Chef - and Yorkshire chef Stephanie Moon.

There will also be free cooking classes throughout the weekend, but visitors are advised to attend early as places are on a first-come first-served basis.

The festival is sponsored by Coca Cola Enterprises, Mercedes Benz of Bradford, Jinnah restaurant on Leeds Road, drink manufacture Crabbies UK and is supported by Bradford Council.

Coca Cola Enterprises will be bringing elements of its recycling campaign, Happiness Recycled, to the festival.

Kerren Rushton Ratcliffe, of Coca-Cola, said: "The World Curry Festival encompasses a number of core values shared by Coca-Cola Enterprises. Its dedication to bringing together communities and cultures through shared experiences is one we are proud to continue to support this year.

"We are determined to help improve recycling rates across Great Britain by engaging consumers in fun and unusual ways and our recycling-themed games have proven extremely popular in previous years. We look forward to bringing the activation to the World Curry Festival and to join in the celebrations."