Last night I was delighted to attend The Abergavenny Food Festival Community Feast in the old Market Hall and I have to say, I was extremely impressed. This year’s decorations were bird themed and the air was seemingly filled with owls, chickens and chicks; the vegetable bunting was genius. 

The Community Feast is the festival’s way of saying ‘thank-you’ for all the hard work put in behind the scenes by the community to make the festival what it is. It certainly was a ‘feast’ judging by the sheer quantity of food…..

The hall certainly looked fitting for a great harvest feast and the food, in association with Abergavenny’s own Angel Bakery was delicious. We were served organic pasture-fed Black Welsh Lamb roasted with herbs and garlic, huge platters of salad, colourful basil infused Panzanella, golden-roasted whole potatoes with rosemary, sauces and gremolata and generous slices of The Angel Bakery’s fabulous sourdough to mop up the juices;

All the cutlery, plates and serving dishes were biodegradable,  adding to Abergavenny’s eco-credentials and the atmosphere was rather akin to the great village feasts in France that I enjoy every summer; it was buzzy yet intimate and I met some very interesting people.

Pudding was an equally spectacular effort; cloud-like, Summer Fruit  Pavlovas arrived at each table and were set upon with relish. The evening’s entertainment was provided by Welsh folk band Allan Yn Y Fan and the feast was opened (after a speech from festival CEO, Aine Morris)  with two Georgian feasting songs performed by a local choir. There was also a rather interesting short talk from the ‘Abergavenny Just Food’ group who’s current manifesto focuses upon Food Justice and campaigning for a fair, affordable and sustainable food system for Wales.

The evening finished with a traditional Twmpath dance and I think we all went home extremely full and rather merry (although that was also thanks to the rather moorish red wine which, though extremely light, was deceptively strong!)

Although I attended as a guest of the festival all views and options are my own.