Conspicuous consumption

When, in rounding off the Green Man review, I said it was "the end of the festival season on Silent Words Speak Loudest", I was lying.

It was difficult to believe that the ninth Abergavenny Food Festival could have bettered the eighth - but it did. Last year we experienced its many delights for the first time and immediately swore to go back again this time around - and so it was that, just as half of Wales and the entire population of Earls Court was flooding into Cardiff for some rugby match or other, we were heading out into the country to get our tastebuds tickled.

And tickled they certainly were by (amongst other things) a succulent Longhorn Beef burger from Huntsham Farm, stuffed with salad, cheese, mustard and gherkins and accompanied with triple-cooked hand-cut chips; local firm Vin Sullivan's king prawns with sweet chilli dip; an exquisite melt-in-the-mouth slab of chocolate brownie courtesy of The Chocolate Workshop; Caws Cenarth's deliciously creamy organic leek and white wine cheese; piquant chorizo from Trealy Farm Charcuterie...

There was plenty to wash it all down with, too - a bottle of Penlon Lambs Gold Light Ale; a pint of Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon cider and two more of the strangely green-tinged but lovely Gwatkin scrumpy; damson wine; Lysh damson gin liqueur; Merlyn Welsh Cream Liqueur...

It wasn't all about the food and drink, though - the weather was absolutely gorgeous, for a start. Wandering about the stalls in the Green Zone, we took the opportunity to chat to the local group of Friends of the Earth. One of their major current campaigns is in opposition to the redevelopment of the town's old livestock market into a new Asda superstore, as proposed by Monmouthshire County Council. The group are part of the SAUCE coalition (Save Abergavenny's Unique Character & Environment) and, just walking around the town when the festival's on, it's not hard to appreciate that "unique character" they're fighting to preserve. Information on how you can lend your support to the campaign is available on the SAUCE website.

Elsewhere, we came across kids sledging down the hills up at the castle on bits of cardboard, a band of Hawaiian-shirted idiots playing accordion-centric covers of 'Sex Machine' and 'Anarchy In The UK' and a St John's Ambulance bloke with a balloon tied to his neck brace. Most amusing of all was the elderly couple (at least I think they were elderly - there was so much make-up, it was hard to tell): her, dolled up to the nines in a ballgown, swigging from a bottle of champagne, striking conversation with anyone and everyone; him, cowed, dressed as a butler, following her round with a parasol and a silver tray for her to put the champagne on...

Once again, the Festival was sponsored by the Domino record label - hence the performances by Domino artists James Yorkston and Eugene McGuinness at the castle later in the evening, after we'd headed back to Cardiff - and therein was the one slight disappointment of the day: no proper Domino merchandise stall, and no freebies. According to the girl selling the T-shirts, there wasn't much interest last year. Ho hum - I could have just fancied talking to the international sales bloke about Clinic at Green Man...

That was the only small cloud on an otherwise gloriously sunny day. Next September it is, then.