Organisers of the fourth Bradford on Avon Food & Drink Festival say the 6,000 attendance over the weekend was up on last year.

Visitors to this year’s event enjoyed bright sunshine on Saturday, but those on Sunday braved a thunderstorm and a rain shower.

Jon Hackett, a co-director of organiser Scrumptious Food Festivals in Steeple Ashton,  said: “Our numbers were up on last year by around 1,500 people.

“Over the course of the two days, we had around 6,000 visitors.

“On Saturday, people were sat down enjoying the sunshine, while on Sunday morning it rained and people didn’t start coming out until after 1pm.

“The talks in our Star Marquee were all well attended. Every seat was taken.”

Wiltshire Times: The Bradford on Avon Food & Drink Festival was once again held on Victory Field and is now in its fifth year. Photo: Trevor Porter 69923-6The Bradford on Avon Food & Drink Festival was once again held on Victory Field and is now in its fifth year. Photo: Trevor Porter 69923-6 (Image: Trevor Porter)

The fun-filled foodie festival was held on the Victory Field in Pound Lane, Bradford on Avon and is now in its fifth year. It was cancelled in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

Lotte Duncan, a co-director of Scrumptious Food Festivals, says the event is a “dynamic and fun celebration of all that is wonderful and delicious in the South West”.

The festival featured Great British Bake Off 2022 winner Syabira Yussoff, 2021 winner Guiseppe Dell’Anno, and 2019 winner David Atherton.

Six other Great British Bake Off contestants - Janusz Domagala, Steven Carter Bailey, Holly Bower, Jurgen Krauss, Val Stones and Carole Edwards - also took part in masterclass demonstrations.

Visitors were able to browse the artisan food and drink stalls, taste dishes from a street food market, FestivAles’ Pop up Pub, a Pimms bar, gin bar, and take part in face painting and circus skills workshops.

To keep families entertained, there were also cooking classes for youngsters, live music from 13 different artistes, plus a dog show run by Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

One of the exhibitors was Xenia Goyal, 55, of Westbury-based Me & You Trading UK, which imports women’s wear from a small rural village in India.

She runs the company, founded in 2010, with her husband Pankaj Goyal, who comes from India. The couple import their goods from a village in Rajasthan.

Xenia said: “It was okay. The attendance was low on Saturday. It was probably not as busy as last year but for us it was successful.

“The weather could have been better but traders are always subject to the weather. Nobody likes to shop in the rain so sales are going to be down. It just can’t be helped.”