THOUSANDS poured into a festival today, refusing to let the rain dampen their spirits.

The Big Cheese, at Caerphilly Castle, is back for its 21st year and as popular as ever, with guests queuing for entry even before it opened for the day at 11am.

It’s the biggest event of the year for Caerphilly, attracting more than 50,000 visitors each year to enjoy their enormous range of activities and stalls selling food, goods, and services.

Last year, Llanfaes Dairy sold over 1,700 ice-creams at the festival, despite a rainy start, and they have returned this year hoping for similar success.

“Last year was absolutely brilliant,” said Jenna Cole, who was manning their stall this morning.

“Hopefully lots of people will still come today, they usually do, but it is weather dependant and the forecast looks bad.”

The poor weather in the morning also had Shania Morris, an employee of Slush Factory, wary.

Ms Morris said: “This is my first year working at Big Cheese, but the company has been coming here for years.

“We set up yesterday and we are hoping for lots of people to turn out, but it will depend on the weather.”

The festival features hundreds of different stalls offering food and drinks, ranging from pizza and burgers, to veg boxes, chutneys and more.

70 of these were based in two food halls - sheltered from the rain in gigantic gazebos - including Ultimate Fudge Outlet (UFO) who returned for another year.

UFO sells a range of quirky fudge bars, and was being manned by Rich Latham, who said: “It’s been good so far. People are still coming out, even with the weather.

“I have worked a Big Cheese before where they’ve shut down at 2pm on the Sunday because of the weather, but it has to be really bad to stop it.

“We’ll just have to turn up tomorrow and see what happens, hope for the best. We’re not too bad in these tents, but I feel bad for the poor souls out there.”

The festival is due to go on until 9pm tomorrow, but there is a yellow weather warning for rain across Gwent.

Ellie Watts was working at Bath Soft Cheese, part of the festivals cheese market - introduced last year - and isn’t concerned about the rain.

Ms Watts said: “We are British, so when the weather changes we cope, especially with all this entertainment on offer. Last year was a good turnout and today has been quite busy. So far so good.”

The Big Cheese also features an animal zone – including birds brought in by Falconry UK – along with historical re-enactments and a funfair with 45 rides for guests to enjoy.

Stalls offered goods – ranging from crafts, candles, artwork, clothes and more – and even services, such as nutritionists and chiropractors.

A free prize draw was also being promoted by Utility Warehouse, offering guests the chance to win a Mini Cooper or £10,000.

Employee, Tony Banfield, explained: “Each year we give away one Mini Cooper to some lucky winner.

“The only catch is that I will pop out and give you a quotation for your utilities bills and – if we can save you money on your bills we can take over for you.

“We will pay up to £200 to get you out of your contract. It’s easy to switch, because I do it all.”

The festival will also feature live music and should continue until 9pm on Sunday, with 80,000 people expected to attend over the weekend.