Abergavenny Food Festival 2012

Last year was my first year at Abergavenny Food Festival and I loved it! I had a great time this year too!

Hundreds of food and drink producers spread out in several different areas around the town centre, a packed agenda of talks, tutored tastings and masterclasses to attend and a lot of eating and shopping opportunities!

Two things stand out about Abergavenny compared to other food festivals and, especially, the big food shows.

  • The quality of the food and drinks on offer is excellent. Some shows seem to accept any retailer as long as they’ll pay for a space. Abergavenny invites producers to submit an application, and then invite them to participate only if they feel the quality is excellent. The aim is to showcase local and regional Welsh products first and then products from rest of the UK. And another criteria is to achieve a good mix of categories so there’s a wide range of different items for visitors to discover.
  • This must surely be the friendliest food show in the UK? I’ve made many friends in the industry over the last few years, and all tell me the same thing – they go to Abergavenny first and foremost because it’s such a joyful weekend. Fellow exhibitors are friendly; customers are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and keen to learn more; they enjoy touring the festival too. That happiness on the part of the exhibitors is very evident to visitors too: it’s great to be able to visit stalls and be met by a smile, helpful explanations and courteous service. Even visitors, complete strangers, often get chatting.

This year, I attended a number of talks, tastings and masterclasses, which I’ll be writing about soon.

In the meantime, here are some photos of some of the exhibitors and products I enjoyed this year. (Click to view a larger sized image).

AbergavennyCollageStalls

Pictured: Black Mountains Smokery, Forage Fine Foods, Forest Pig Charcuterie, Halen Mon Anglesey Sea Salt, Homewood Cheeses, Hook & Son Raw Organic Milk, La Cave a Fromage, Lahloo Tea, Peppers by Post, Riverford Organic, Simply Welsh Cakes, Taste Of Persia, The Dorset Blueberry Company, The Garlic Farm, The Tracklements Company, Trealy Farm Charcuterie, Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars

 

With thanks to Abergavenny Food Festival for press pass and event tickets.

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