Abergavenny Food Festival

Wales' largest food festival gets underway this weekend with the Abergavenny Food Festival occuring in the market town. Full details are on their website and in their programme but here are my highlights

Beer & Cider


Blindgranny Farm
Craft ciders and Welsh champion perry from apples and pears grown in Wales.

The Celt Experience Ltd
Award winning organic ales from Caerphilly.

Gillow Cider
Cider from our own orchards in Herefordshire.

Gwatkin Cider Co Ltd
Real farmhouse cider and perry all made from pure fruit.

Gwynt Y Ddraig Cider
Award winning Welsh cider and perry made from freshly harvested fruit.

Kingstone Brewery
Award winning micro brewery producing 8 different bottle conditioned real ales.

Otley Brewing Company (Pontypridd)
Locally produced, award winning real ales; excellent quality and price.
Also running the 'Blorenge Bar' in the grounds of the Castle.

Ralph's Cider & Perry
Homegrown fruit, 100% juice fermented. One of Wales' oldest cidermakers....sorry Ralph, meant you have been making it for the longest time!

Ty Gwyn Cider
Ty Gwyn, award winning craft cider company from the Monnow Valley.

Wernddu Vineyard & Winery

Traditionally made Welsh wine, perry, cider and alpaca garments. Their 19-year old Chardonnay is stunning.

Wye Valley Brewery
Excellent quality cask and bottle conditioned beers from Herefordshire. HPA is one of my favourite beers in the world!

If the beer, cider and wine get too much for you then try
Septimus Spyder Drinks
Saxon and Druid soft drinks from our Medieval Brewhouse.

In addition to the festival stallholders, Raglan Cider Mill will once again be opening their bar in Market Street, in the yard of the former Market Tavern which closed in 1962!
A hog roast and seating will also be available in this old pub yard.

Can't get an exact view on Streetview but its near enough:
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Apart from the drink at the festival there are also a lot of other activities taking place, two of which are mentioned below:
Tastings:
Saturday 15th
Time: 2.00 – 2.45pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: £6.00
What to Look for in a Beer: Jeff Evans
An introduction to beer-tasting from the man who tastes beer for a living. Jeff Evans has edited the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, written seven editions of CAMRA’s Good Bottled Beer Guide, been named Beer Writer of the Year, and runs the online magazine insidebeer.com. Here he presents five of the best bottled beers

Sunday 16th
Time: 3.30 – 4.15pm / Venue: Lion’s Place / Tickets: £4.00
The Cider Odyssey: Pete Brown and Bill Bradshaw
From Pontypridd to Portland, Oregon author Pete Brown and photographer Bill Bradshaw are on a (com)mission to produce the first ever world guide to cider. It’s a tough job but they are the men to do it. Join them for a sneak preview of work in progress including anecdotes and pictures accompanied by a glass or two of the golden nectar.
If attending by train, I suggest getting an early one as they tend to get crowded from Cardiff onwards later in the day and have been known to not take on passengers at Newport.
Journey Planner: