A POPULAR Monmouthshire food festival is taking place in September.

Abergavenny Food Festival takes place on Saturday, September 18 and Sunday, September 19 in the Market Hall, the Dome and castle grounds.

Here is a peek at the line-up and all you need to know ahead of the festival:

Chef demonstrations will be taking place on the Robert Price Kitchen Stage in Market Hall. Visitors will be able to see the following working their magic:

  • Chris Harrod (Michelin Star chef for The Whitebrook, Monmouthshire) who will be cooking with wild and foraged produce.
  • Tim Hayward giving tips on what you can do with a slice or two of bread.
  • Great British Bakeoff’s Chetna Makan will be giving a ‘Thirty Minute Indian’ demonstration.
  • Poppy O’Toole, a star on TikTok, will be demonstrating ‘The Food You Need’.
  • Calum Franklin and Nokx Majozi (The Pie Room, Holborn founders) will be showing off some pastry skills.
  • BBC Saturday Kitchen stars Matt Tebbutt and Olly Smith will be providing a demonstration from their respective “Weekend: Eating at Home” and “Home Cocktail Bible” books.
  • Jane Baxter and Christine Smallwood will be presenting dishes from Ms Smallwood’s book ‘Italy’ – as part of the World Vegetarian Series.
  • Hywel Griffith (Michelin-star chef for The Beachhouse, Oxwich Bay) will be showing some highlights of harvests from the sea.
  • Vanessa Kimbell, aka Queen of Sourdough, will share tips from her latest book.
  • Jenny Chandler, author of Green Kids Cook, will give some easy recipes to get youngsters cooking.

Over in Abergavenny Castle grounds is Cooking with Fire. This sees a number of chefs across the weekend cook using fire. You will be able to see:

  • Tomos Parry (Michelin-starred Brat in Shoreditch) demonstrate his cooking on coals and wood-fired ovens and how it has become popular.
  • James Strawbridge will provide some tips for vegetarians from his book “The Complete Vegetable Cookbook: A Seasonal, Zero-waste Guide to Cooking’.
  • Cyrus Todiwala will showcase sea trout and Welsh Lamb.
  • Yun Hider will combine the fruits of his foraging.
  • Ollie Hunter (Wheatsheaf, Chilton Foliat – Sustainable Restaurant of the Year) will be using vegetables from local growers at Langtons Farm.
  • Kathy Slack will focus on helda beans.

MORE NEWS:

In the Dome at the Castle, there are a number of events being held including talks and entertainment. You’ll be able to see:

  • Route to 2030: taking action now to solve the health, nature and climate crises. It is a panel of speakers discussing the changes and actions that are being made and need to be made to tackle the crises. Speakers include Henry Dimbleby (Independent lead, England National Food Strategy), Sophie Howe (Future Generations Commissioner for Wales), Sue Pritchard (Chief executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission) and Simon Wright (food writer, restauranteur and broadcaster). It will be chaired by Jane Davidson (chair of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission’s Wales inquiry).
  • Breadheads will see the pros and cons of a divisive staple discussed by Tim Hayward (author of Loaf Story: A Love Letter to Bread), Vanessa Kimbell (founder of The Sourdough School) and Rob Penn (author of Slow Rise: A Breadmaking Adventure). It will be chaired by Pete Brown.
  • Food Future talks about how food systems can be adapted to meet the challenge of climate change. It is chaired by Sarah Mukherjeree (CEO of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment). Panellists are Dr Angelina Sanderson Bellamy (associate professor of food systems at UWE Bristol), Dan Saladino (presenter and producer of BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme and author of Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them), Chris Smaje (author of Small Farm Future) and Phil Haughton (founder of Better Food Co and author of Food for Thought: Celebrating the joy of eating well and living better).
  • The Crisis in Hospitality – a victim of the pandemic or an accident waiting to happen? will talk about the hospitality sector’s recovery from the pandemic and what can be done and whether it was foreseeable. Panellists include Calum Franklin (executive head chef, Holborn Dining Room), Nokx Majozi (head of The Pie Room, Holborn) and Ollie Hunter (former Masterchef semi-finalist and author of Join the Greener Revolution)
  • Food writer Claudia Roden’s live-streamed in discussion of her book ‘Med’ with Telegraph columnist Xanthe Clay will take place.
  • Gilly Smith talks to Tim Hayward about his book Loaf Story: A Love Letter to Bread.
  • Shaun Hill – chef-patron at Abergavenny’s Michelin-starred Walnut Tree will be in conversation with Rowley Leigh and food writer and restaurant critic Matthew Fort.

 

What else is on offer?

Cook School founders Amanda Grant and Kristian Dean will be holding workshops for children to cook healthy, delicious meals from scratch.

Abergavenny Food Festival will take place between 9.30am and 6pm on Saturday, September 18 and 9.30am and 5pm on Sunday, September 19.

Day stroller tickets are available for £10 which allows access to all of the events on the day of purchase.

Tickets must be bought in advance due to a limited capacity. They can be bought online at https://www.abergavenyfoodfestival.com Under 16s are admitted free, but still need a ticket.

Tickets can also be bought in person from E H Accountancy, 1 Horsington’s Yard on Lion Street in Abergavenny between 9.30am and 2pm Monday to Friday.

There will be a car park at Castle Meadows costing £4 for the day. It is a fundraiser for Friends of Castle Meadows and local sports clubs.

Car parks in the town offering disabled parking will also be open.

Kim Waters, chief executive of the festival, said, “We are so thrilled to be up and running again after a very difficult time. We know how valuable it is to connect socially. And, of course, we also realise how badly the whole hospitality sector has been hit. Come join us and show your appreciation. Support our growers, producers, chefs, writers and caterers.

“Shop from over a hundred stalls, take time out to eat great food with friends, learn something new and get inspired. It may be a slightly different event this year, but our reason to be remains the same. On behalf of the Festival, I would like to personally thank our headline sponsors: Schroders sponsors: Personal Wealth, Naked Wines, and Griffiths Civil Engineering and Construction whose support has been crucial.”