The world’s hottest chilli will be on sale at the annual Farmcote Chilli Festival which gets underway later this month.

Now in its tenth year, the two-day festival gets underway on Saturday 18th August. Held at Farmcote – just a short drive from Winchcombe – the nursery is run by husband and wife pair Tim and Jane Eayrs who grow over 30 different types of chilli, including the Carolina Reaper, the hottest chilli in the world.

The festival attracts chilli enthusiasts from all over the country who come to purchase Tim and Jane’s homegrown plants, and the man in charge of organising the festival has high hopes for this year’s festival. He said: “It’s always a busy weekend for us, a lot of hard work goes into organising the festival. As well as selling all our herbs and chilli plants we’ll be having a BBQ running throughout the two days with chilli burgers and Gloucestershire old spot sausages on the go. We’ll also have a beer tent with local brewers selling their best beers and ciders.

“Entry for the festival is free for anyone under the age of 16 and just £2 for everyone else. This will be our tenth year. It’s great to welcome all the visitors who return every year. We have people travel from all over the country to pay us a visit which is really pleasing.”

The nursery, with views across the Malvern Hills and Black Mountains of Wales, used to be their vegetable garden but the popularity of their herbs and chilli plants – which they used to sell at farmers’ markets – gave them confidence to turn a hobby into a business. Tim continued: “We grow just over 30 different types of chilli plants, from the mild ones right through to the Carolina Reaper which is the hottest chilli on earth. I’ve never tried a Carolina Reaper, I’m not brave enough!

“The chillies can’t deal with low temperatures, so we keep them indoors throughout the winter. A soon as spring comes we put them in pots and allow them outside. They do take a bit of looking after but as soon as summer comes it’s just a case of making sure they’re properly looked after. We’ve got a large collection of herbs as well that grow really well here. We love what we do, Jane works really hard throughout the year looking after everything as well as organising the chilli festival.”