What a fantastic festival

12:13pm Monday 22nd September 2008

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THIS year's Abergavenny Food Festival broke last year's box office record and attracted more than 32,000 visitors.

The sun shone down at the weekend as a sea of people took over the town centre for the tenth annual event.

Organisers said that although an overall visitor turnout had not been collected, more visitors from all over the UK and beyond descended on the town for what is believed to be one of the festival’s best ever turnouts.

Hundreds of stall-holders, spread across much of the town centre including landmark buildings such as Abergavenny Castle and Market Hall, offered food and drink tasters with locally grown products also available to buy.

And there was plenty to keep the children entertained with face painting and arts and crafts sessions where they enjoyed making art out of fruit and vegetables.

Musical performances in and around the castle grounds kept visitors' feet tapping throughout the day and many took the opportunity to stretch out on the grass of the castle grounds to enjoy the sunshine.

With a packed programme of demonstrations visitors had no time to get bored and many took advantage of the opportunity to learn new skills at the cooking master classes available with top chefs including Matt Tebbutt and Abergavenny’s own Walnut Tree Restaurant.

Children also got stuck in with butter and bread making sessions in the Sacla Food Academy.

A special party and fireworks display to mark the tenth anniversary of the festival also took place lighting up the night sky above the castle on Saturday evening.

Lesley Harrison, 41, from Blaenavon, said her family enjoyed trying the different food and drink available throughout the weekend.

She said: “This is the third year we have been to the festival and we keep coming because it just gets better and better.”

Natasha Wedlock, 25, is originally from Abergavenny but now lives in Cardiff and comes back for the festival every year with friends and family who still live in the town.

She said: “The festival is a bit of a tradition for us, we come every year. There’s a buzzing atmosphere and it’s great for the town.

“The sun was shining and we are had a brilliant time enjoying really good food and drink.”