Abergavenny Food Festival has beaten several major European cities on a guide for the best foodie events across the whole continent.

The annual event ranked 18th out of the 25 best summer food festivals in Europe in the Big 7 Travel Guide, beating equivalent calendar events in Amsterdam, Dublin and London.

In the guide, the festival is praised for its positive impact on the local community and the benefit it has for local people as well as being excellent for visitors.

“We love a good story, and Abergavenny Food Festival has a great one,” it reads.

“It all started with two local farmers in 1999, whose livelihoods were threatened by the BSE crisis (mad cow disease), and now it’s a roaring celebration of the UK farming industry.”

The festival encourages people to change the way they think about food and where it comes from, as well as challenging ideas and pushing boundaries of farming.”

The full exhibitor list is due to be released this week, with guests including Becky Excell and Andi Oliver, who will be returning for a talk in the Borough Theatre.

There will also be demonstrations from Cardiff chefs, Tom Waters and Tommy Heaney as well as Abergavenny’s own Matt Tebutt.

Upon finding out the food festival had been included in the Big 7 guide, Festival Director, Lucie Parkin, said their inclusion was recognition for the town as a whole.

"What a wonderful accolade for the Abergavenny Food Festival to receive,” she said.

It's a great time for us to shout about all the wonderful things happening over this year's Festival weekend (20 & 21 September). We've just launched our guest programme which celebrates the food and traditions of many cultures – starting with Wales of course!”

The 2025 Abergavenny Food Festival guest events programme has now officially been launched, with over 200 vendors and exhibitors confirmed to be descending on the ‘Gateway to Wales.’

Alongside some of the main lineup, there will be over 60 special events to choose from, whether it be grabbing a seat in the market hall for demonstrations or heading to the castle for fire stage alchemy.

“We're encouraging everyone to buy tickets now to ensure they don't miss out on one of Europe's best food festivals. Our town has a great reputation for hospitality and we all look forward to welcoming food world stars of every kind, and visitors too – be they local, or from further afield," the organisers told the Chronicle.

The Pizza Pilgrims brothers, Thom and James Elliot have also joined the lineup as well as Beefy Boys founders, Anthony Murphy and Christian Williams. One of the key messages behind the 2025 festival is that fast food doesn’t have to mean a drop in quality, with both businesses having bucked the post-covid trend to become success stories.

Stroller tickets are available on www.abergavennyfoodfestival.com to access the six market venues, with free entry for U13s accompanied by an adult.