The ABERGAVENNY FOOD FESTIVAL celebrated its 25th birthday in real style last year, with culinary stars like ANDI OLIVER, ANGELA HARTNETT, JEREMY PANG and JÜRGEN KRAUSS in town, along with 180 exhibitors and 30,000 visitors.
This year, the festival promises even more over the weekend of 21st & 22nd September. Stroller Tickets (access all market venues), Night Market, and Party at The Castle Tickets are now on sale.
First of all, here’s a look back at our opening day feature from 2023…….
The Festival Director, Lucie Parkin and the core team looked back on the event. Lucie told us…..
“It was a joy to see the streets and spaces full of visitors from near and far. The two days were packed with demos, talks, eating and drinking and there was a fun atmosphere, despite the rain.
My main takeaway from the weekend was a powerful sense of ‘connection’ — stallholders, caterers, speakers, chefs, writers and campaigners all coming together and sharing food and ideas. New connections were made and existing ones reinforced.
Many local groups and organisations were involved, which really added to the festivities. These included the Rotary Club and King Henry School with the ‘Young Chef Competition’ Finals, and Love Zimbabwe’s ‘March for Africa’. In partnership with The Melville Centre for the Arts we launched a creative call-out to the community culminating in an exhibition and discussion presented by Katherine McDermid-Smith with special guest and local author and poet, Owen Sheers.”
This year this is more of the same, and as we said, even more on the menu.
To even begin to tell you what is on the menu at this spectacular event would be impossible, so we’ll direct you to their site HERE.
A Stroller Ticket gives access to six venues in the centre of town with 190 exhibitors and caterers, plus guest chef demonstrations in the Market Hall, and cooking over fire sessions, talks and debates and children’s activities in the Castle grounds.
There is also a programme of individually ticketed event: Drinks Theatre, Talks and Meet The Author.
You can download and save the festival map to your device for an overview. All venues are close together in the centre of town.
The BBC will be broadcasting ‘The Food Programme’ and ‘This Natural Life’ from the Festival. You could be in the audience – more HERE
Abergavenny’s own MATT TEBBUTT (presenter Saturday Kitchen, BBC1) will be on stage once more with TOM PARKER BOWLES (the son of Queen Camilla). It’s been a while since they last teamed up at Abergavenny Food Festival (photo below from 2008). Of course they’ve collaborated across the years – right back to their early days co-hosting UKTV’s Market Kitchen – and that kind of relationship with plenty of banter in the mix will really pay dividends for their lively and informal chat at Abergavenny’s Borough Theatre (Sun 22nd Sept).
Abergavenny Food Festival enjoys an exceptional reputation as a place for chefs, food businesses, journalists, farmers and food producers to come together. They are known for being an inclusive and welcoming event, delivering a delicious opportunity for people from all walks of life to explore and learn about food.
What is so great about the festival however, there is so much for everyone, no matter what age or interest. Trust me, the kids will have an absolute ball.
One of the highlights is always the Saturday night PARTY AT THE CASTLE. Four terrific bands/acts. Great eats. Enchanting backdrop. Go wild on the dance floor or chill in the grounds. Either way it’s just magic. Plus fabulous fireworks.
Band line-up: The Twisted Time Machine – a rocket-fuelled kaleidoscopic dance party; Cut Capers – funk, dance and hip-hop; The Schmoozenburgs – high energy folk fused with flavours of 30s Paris and Eastern Europe; Ushti Baba – pan-European folk melodies with modern dance rhythms.
The ABERGAVENNY FOOD FESTIVAL is back over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd September. To keep in touch with what they’re up to, you can head to their site HERE.
If you’d like to see the Saturday Night Fireworks from this year, just click on our link – HERE.
