Crickhowell is a small, bustling Georgian town with bucket loads of character and atmosphere and lots of original shops and eating places. There are two great butchers, both of which double as delis, a bakery with a café which bakes lots of good bread and cakes daily, a family-owned supermarket, clothes shops, galleries, a hiking store, etc. 

Probably the two most surprising businesses located in the town are Nicholls (http://www.nichollscrickhowell.com/), a large department store which sells upmarket branded clothes, footwear and jewellery and Webbs (http://www.webbscrickhowell.com/), which sells everything from beds to garden furniture to cooking pots and things for the house. Webbs was founded in 1936 and has recently been voted 'Best independent business in Wales' and 'Best local shop in Britain' by readers of Which? magazine. 

If you stay in Merryfields Barn or just visit the area, why not put some time aside to discover Crickhowell, this jewel in Wales' crown?  

This year’s event had six venues, 200 stalls and around 80 individually ticketed events which featured some of the most knowledgeable and engaging stars of the food world.

The fringe events in the run-up to the festival included Wine, Walking and Wildlife and Food Festival Fanfare Feast in the market hall. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke gave readings and discussed their work at the Angel Hotel, and this year’s Big Food debate was on Fair Trade, Sustainable Food and Climate Change.

This year, the festival organisers are also putting on their first Christmas Food and Drink Fair on Sunday 5th December. At the time of writing, Merryfields Barn is still available – why not spend the weekend with us and enjoy what’s on offer in Abergavenny?

The festival is now in its seventh year. The first event in 2003 only attracted about 300 people and there were just two food stalls, but it has grown tenfold in the last four years and recent headliners have included Donovan, Pentangle and Led Zeppelin guitarist Robert Plant, at the start of his more folky period.

This year’s festival attracted about 10,000 people, and those lucky enough to have a ticket were treated to a wide range of acts including psychedelic band The Flaming Lips, Doves , up-and-coming acoustic and folk bands such as Mercury Music Prize nominees Laura Marling, Wild Beasts and Mumford & Sons and some more established figures including Billy Bragg and harpist and Later with Jools favourite Joanna Newsom, who closed the festival on Sunday.

The atmosphere in the site is very relaxed and a bit alternative. Alongside the music are many other attractions, including some great food stalls, a literature tent, a ‘far out’ stage and a Green Man pub. The cinema this year showed some recently discovered early footage of Leonard Cohen for the first time.

All in all, the festival was another great success and locals and regulars are already looking forward to the 2011 event.