Wales

Wales is one of the four nations of the United Kingdom, west of England, with Cardiff as its capital. Welsh and English are both official languages, and road signs are bilingual. Welsh food is built on its hills and its coast: lamb from the uplands, Caerphilly cheese, laverbread made from seaweed, and baked goods such as Welsh cakes and bara brith, a fruit loaf.

The Welsh festival in this guide is in Monmouthshire, the south-eastern county along the English border. The Abergavenny Food Festival fills the market town for a weekend in September: in 2026, on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September. The 2027 dates had not been published on 6 October 2026.

Getting around

• Cardiff Airport and Cardiff Central station are the main gateways to South Wales.
• Abergavenny is on the Welsh Marches railway line, which runs north from Newport towards Hereford and Shrewsbury. Ludlow, in England, home of another food festival in September, is on the same line.

Protected names from Wales

Welsh Lamb holds Protected Geographical Indication status, registered with the European Union on 16 July 2003 and carried over into the UK scheme at the end of 2020, according to the GOV.UK register. The Welsh Government's food and drink service describes it as one of the first Welsh products to gain PGI status, reared on Welsh farmland from hardy local breeds such as the Welsh Mountain, Welsh Mule, Beulah and Lleyn, and names Hybu Cig Cymru, the Welsh red meat body, as its guardian. The same service lists other protected names: Single Malt Welsh Whisky, the first Welsh spirit with GI status, Traditional Welsh Caerphilly and Traditionally Reared Pedigree Welsh Pork.

Producers you can visit

• Halen Môn, the sea salt from the Isle of Anglesey, opens its headquarters to guided tours, says Visit Wales.
• The Penderyn distillery, in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park, tells the story of the Welsh whisky revival.
• Welsh cakes are baked in bakeries, coffee shops and markets across the country.

Reaching Abergavenny by train

Abergavenny station, on Station Approach, has two platforms: platform 1 for trains to Hereford and platform 2 for trains towards Newport, linked by a footbridge with lifts. Transport for Wales lists a ticket office, a café in the main building, a 74-space car park and cycle stands, which makes the train a workable way to reach the Monmouthshire festival town without a car.