FOLLOWING the busiest Food Festival event so far the town hosted the busiest Wales World Trade Fair on Sunday.

David and Martha Holman organised the two day event which took place at St. David's Hall, Cardiff on Saturday, October 3 and at the Market Hall in Abergavenny on October 4.

The event promotes Fairtrade and ethical principles and there were 40 trade stalls selling an amazing display of goods including - Love Zimbabwe, Goodies from the Gambia, Mamacha, Hempish, Fair Connections, Zalingai, Zimele, The Word is.., Beacon Creative, Tearcraft, Fairgrounds, Temple Craft and Yirgacheffe.

Fairtrade Abergavenny and Fairtrade Wales ran workshops for children and were supported by other Fairtrade groups from Crickhowell and Usk.

As well as trade stalls there were information tables from VSO, SEW Energy, Shared Interest, and Aura Magazine.

David said, "There was amazing live music from Djabot, a drum group led by a Senegalese drum master. Then Dave Roberts commenced his drum workshop which has become a fixture of the event. The entertainment  continued with a truly inventive street dance exhibition by teenagers from 7 corners.  Finally the music finished with 'Monsterhand' who have supported David & Martha's events throughout the year. Also present was the hugely entertaining Peet the Fool who had the entire crowd in hysterics with his unique act."

The day was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Abergavenny, James George, Harriet Lamb - Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, and David Davies MP for Monmouthshire who helped David and Martha greatly earlier in the year.

Food came from Taste Zimbabwe serving traditional Zimbabwean food which again sold out! The other food option came from Cambrian Organics who sold their tasty organic burgers.

David added, "The whole weekend was a fantastic experience. Martha and I promoted the event on BBC radio, ITV Wales and many other media outlets. Roy Noble made a special effort to open our Cardiff event, but definitely our busiest day was in Abergavenny which has truly become an established local festival. We are so happy that the people of Abergavenny have supported us and in turn we are glad to promote the town wherever we travel in the world. I heard many positive comments on the day, including a remark that this was how the Food Festival started!  The public attendance this year was almost 50 percent up on the previous year." Martha was full of praise for those who helped make the day such a success. She said, ' Dave and I still continue to do the majority of the work for this event throughout the year, but this time we had a huge amount of assistance from other areas. We would personally like to thank - Johan from the Borough Theatre for the stage, John & Mike from the council, Angie, Sharon and Tyler from 7 Corners, Jane Webb, Marion Harvey, Clare, Pauline and Persh, Anya & Charlie Way, David Davies, Harriet Lamb, Dave Roberts, Peter and Pat Millward and the helpers from the Methodist Church, The VSO, Roy Noble, Jenny Allen, Katrina and Jeremy Gass, Monsterhand, Peet the Fool, Lawson, Kate and Danielle from Fairtrade Wales, Peter and Chris Church from Fairtrade Hull, and everyone who made the effort to come and support our event. We managed to make a small profit which will go towards a bus for Parirewa high school in Zimbabwe. This is our top fund raising priority at the moment and we will continue to collect for the bus."