THE Abergavenny Food Festival was officially named as the greatest event in Wales at a glittering, Oscar-style ceremony in Cardiff last night.

The festival landed the title at the National Tourism Awards for Wales 2003 after convincing judges that it captured the best Wales had to offer and appealed both to UK and international tourists.

For the first time, members of the public were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite visitors' experience.

September's event was the fifth of its kind and the most successful yet - attracting £400,000-worth of trade and almost 20,000 visitors.

The total that visitors spent during the weekend of the festival, which included new features and more venues than before, was up by a third compared with last year's figures.

And traders in town felt the benefits of the festival, some said they had noticed an increase of 20 per cent on top of normal business. Alex Edwards, president of the Abergavenny Chamber of Trade and manager of Caboodles, told the Argus: "The increase in foot traffic while the festival is on is very noticeable."

Festival organiser Martin Orbach had called the nomination for the award a "welcome recognition", and he added: "The festival has grown tremendously in popularity over the years. It has an excellent reputation both locally and abroad.

"The festival serves as a welcome boost to the local economy and the recognition by the Wales Tourist Board and our visitors is a positive reflection on the hospitality industry in Wales."

Philip Evans, chairman of the Wales Tourist Board, congratulated the organisers of the food festival, adding: "This year's finalists and winners have more reason than ever to be proud of their achievements because they are here tonight purely on the nomination of the people that really count, their customers and visitors."

The Greatest Event in Wales award was one of 10 accolades handed out at a time when Wales is out-performing the rest of Britain when it comes to attracting UK visitors.

Figures released earlier this week showed that visitor spending in Wales during August this year was up 34 per cent on the same period last year, compared with only a five per cent increase elsewhere in the UK.