NEWPORT was turned into a foodie’s paradise on Saturday when thousands visited the fourth food festival in the city centre.

Events at The Riverfront and the city’s Indoor Market were packed while shoppers browsed over 70 stalls based along Commercial Street and Bridge Street.

Experts, including this year’s Masterchef winner Ping Coombes and James Sommerin, gave tips to fans at the theatre while breweries, including Newport’s own Tiny Rebel, held events in the market in the afternoon.

Celtic Manor chef Stuart Spicer gave a demonstration and a masterclass at The Riverfront and told the Argus he had again enjoyed being part of the festival for another year.

He said: “It’s been amazing. This event just gets better every year. The more people support it the better it will be. It is a real pleasure to be on board. Hopefully they will invite me again.”

The Riverfront’s operations manager Jason Small said about 800 people had attended events there, but that they “had a lot more drifting through” to see what was going on.

Meanwhile Waterstones, on Commercial Street, held cakes and coffee talks from 10am, and Sadie Young, who works there, said: “There has been a really nice vibe and it has felt like there has been more people in here.”

Denise Sunderland, who was selling pies and pasties for Llantrisant-based Seasons Farm Foods, said she had taken several full big boxes of food and only had three products left at about 4.30pm.

She said: “It’s been fantastic since (the weather) cleared up at about 11am – and they were coming even then.”

George Freeman, who ran the Dinky Donuts stall which was based at the bottom of Commercial Street, said he attends the festival every year.

The Port Talbot trader said he had sold “plenty” of doughnuts from his stall and would be back in 2015 if the organisers were willing to have him back again.

Avril Lord, who runs Avril’s Country Kitchen making preserves in Llanwern with her partner Jamie Purnell, said: “It’s been absolutely fantastic to do something in town. I have been cooking like a lunatic.”

She added that the festival went a way of showing that there was a demand for a regular market for producers like herself in Newport. Currently they have to trade in Cardiff and Cwmbran because there is no place for them in Newport.

She said: “There is a lot of really good producers in this and we haven’t got a local outlet.”

Newport's is one of a number of food festivals in Gwent. The Abergavenny Food Festival was held on September 19, September 20 and September 21 and the inaugural Monmouthshire Food Festival will be held at Caldicot Castle next weekend.