Pinstripes will mingle with chef whites as Birmingham’s business community stages its second food festival this summer.

The Colmore Business District Food Festival has been extended to a two-day event – with a larger number of participants – following the success of last year’s inaugural celebration of the community’s restaurants, bars, cafes and shops.

The festival, on Friday 13 and Saturday July 14, will be staged in Victoria Square and will launch the citywide Birmingham Food Festival, which runs until July 19.

The CBD Food Festival will showcase the variety and quality of the international cuisines available in an area measuring a couple of square miles, from French-influenced modern British cooking to Indian and Nepalese and English pub grub.

There will be drinks, too, for every budget, including fine Champagnes, cocktails and the best of British real ales and ciders.

One of the big draws will be the opportunity to try taster portions of the restaurants’ most popular dishes, with options priced from £1.50 to £5.

The line up includes Opus, Purnell’s, Asha’s, Metro, Hotel du Vin, The Chameleon Restaurant, Colmore Bar and Grill, the Thistle and new kid on the block Saffron.

Sudha Saha, head chef of Saffron, will be one of the experts taking part in a series of cookery demonstrations, showcasing his skills alongside Glynn Purnell (Purnell’s), David Colcombe (Opus), Guneet Singh Bindra (Asha’s) and Ganesh Shrestha (Jojolapa).

Ann Tonks, managing director of Opus, one of the driving forces behind the festival, said the overwhelming success of last year’s event had encouraged fellow CBD members to add an extra day.

Mrs Tonks said the district was traditionally known as the city’s business hub but the festival had helped to raise its profile for good cooking and service, whether that is an a high-end restaurant, a cafe, a bar or a pub.

She said: “The great thing about the festival is that it is a win-win for the customers and the venues. The Colmore Business District is putting all the investment into the infrastructure.”

The financial structure of the CBD festival means visitors do not have to pay an entry fee and restaurants can offer their dishes at competitive prices due to the low overheads.

Mrs Tonks added: “Last year we had all these different stalls and everyone was busy. There was a real spread of different cuisines. What was surprising was that even people who worked a few streets away had not visited places before.”

The festival, she said, had helped to strengthen relationships in the local food community. “As venues, we all started to talk and share ideas. When the riots hit us the following month there was much more camaraderie and continuity.”

The majority of this year’s participants are independently owned businesses, including fine food retailer Anderson and Hill, of the Great Western Arcade.

Manager Gary Anderson will be displaying some of the West Midlands best cheeses, including Worcestershire-based Lightwood Cheese, goats cheese from Brock Hall Farm, Shropshire, Staffordshire Organic Cheddar and Berkswell.

Among the venues mixing the drinks will be The Jekyll & Hyde, a city gin parlour.

Pubs such as The Wellington and the Old Contemptibles will have plenty of traditional ales on tap and Six Eight Kafé will have an extensive selection of coffees, teas and delicious homemade cakes, including red velvet and chocolate and Guinness.

The festival coincides with the Birmingham International Jazz & Blues Festival, which will see live music performances hosted by CBD. Outdoor theatre will be provided by Birmingham Hippodrome as part of its Six Summer Saturdays programme.

* For more information see www.colmorebusinessdistrict.com