THE organisers of Abergavenny Food Festival have confirmed that more than 30,000 people again attended this year's event in the town.

Visitors enjoyed the company of world class chefs, culinary displays, tasting sessions, and private cookery classes, as well as sampling goods on offer form more than 250 stallholders.

Famous faces spotted in the crowd included professor Stephen Hawking, chef-turned-writer Pru Leith and Bake Off star Candice Brown.

Heather Myers, chief executive of Abergavenny Food Festival added: “It’s always amazing to see the festival come alive after so many months of hard work.

“As always, none of this would be possible without the hard work and talent of all the chefs and professionals involved and the enthusiasm of the thousands that came to join us."

Started in 1999 by two farmers, the Abergavenny Food Festival has grown to be one of the most popular events of its type in the UK.

This year’s guests included MasterChef: The Professionals presenter Monica Galetti — who opened the festival on Friday, September 16 — and Spanish culinary maestro Jose Pizarro.

Speaking with journalist Tony Gallagher at the festival, award-winning chef Mr Pizarro said: “I love to come to Abergavenny, it is like my second home. A paradise for food and great place to see old friends.”

Tessa Turner, a former Monmouthshire Council food initiative project officer, was among those to help get the festival off the ground at the very beginning.

“The first year we couldn’t use the Market Hall as it was tipping down with rain and we had about 2,000 people attend. From there it just grew and grew and spread out over the town,” she said.

“The festival ethos was always about having fun around food and although there was always a serious aspect to it was about trying to bring everybody in.”