Hosted by the Abergavenny community, a number of mouth-watering, toe-tapping and story-telling events have been announced in and around the town to showcase the skills and the passions of the local community, as part of this year’s Abergavenny Food Festival.

With the main festival taking place across Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September, Fringe events will be happening throughout the month of September and highlight the breadth of skills and work done by local groups, long after the festival has closed its doors for the year. Many of the events will be free to attend.

Two ticketed Fringe events for which early booking is advised are firstly, the tour and tasting around the picturesque White Castle Estate Vineyard. The tour, run by Robb and Nicola Merchant on Friday, September 15. Robb and Nicola bought the land in 2008 with the aim of turning their vineyard wishes into wine, will take guests through their own journey and processes at the vineyard, and includes a full tasting session accompanied by some of the finest Welsh cheeses on the market.

And secondly, the Cooking in a Wood-Fired Oven classes which run across Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 with the Abergavenny Baker, Rachel Watson. She will be demonstrating how to mix, knead and bake pizzas in the heat of her hand-built oven, and of course you’ll be sampling your efforts in the great outdoors. There’s also a class with Rachel on Sunday, September 17 learning more about baking Turkish Lahmacun, a flatbread topped with spiced meat and rolled with fresh herbs and chilli. Mouth-watering!

Tickets for both of these events can be purchased via the abergavennyfoodfestival.com website. Book early to avoid disappointment.

With a host of other events taking place as part of the festival fringe, community is at the heart of this year’s Food Fest and Abergavenny’s new Chief Executive, Aine Morris says of the Fringe at this year’s festival,?“It is incredibly important to us and the longevity of the food festival here in the town that the community are supported and showcased in way that conveys the abundance of talent, passion and togetherness around food and farming in the local area. The festival is predominantly about real food, real farmers, and real chefs, and being able to share the knowledge and talent in the local community with visitors to the festival is of huge importance and these events will add a vital layer to the festival in bringing all of this together.

”??Access to the festival is with a weekend or day wristband (excluding ticketed events) which can be purchased online via the new-look website www.abergavennyfoodfestival.com now. NP7 postcode residents are entitled to a 10% discount on wristbands purchased in advance online. Children’s wristbands (under 16s) are available for free but will also need to be booked via the website.?

Wristbands and tickets for all festival events to be held at the Borough Theatre (with the exception of In conversation with Tom Kerridge) are now available to buy in person from the box office.?

For full details of the Food Festival fringe pick up a copy of next week’s Abergavenny Chronicle