I've said it before, but the Abergavenny Food Festival has got to be up there as one of my favourite weekends of the year. On par with Christmas (I know), it's a special weekend I have loved ever since my family moved to Abergavenny in 2004. Last year I wrote about how the festival is a watershed of sorts, marking the end of one season and the start of another, and I suppose this year has been the same in a way that is more symbolic than literal.
I mentioned in my recent post, The Second Time, that I recently quit my job as a copywriter in Bristol to move back in with my parents in my hometown, Abergavenny. This has been a huge change and one I have found relatively easy, all things considered. I used to think working office hours was a sure sign I'd made it in the real world (whatever that is), but having recently started working shifts again my mind is changing.
Working the weekend of the Abergavenny Food Festival, when a 10-hour day felt like 10 minutes and was spent from start to finish on a high, I realised that being out there and involved is what makes life so enjoyable. So, even though I missed a lot of the events and food stalls on offer on the Saturday, what I gained was an unforgettably rich experience serving great food and coffee, meeting hundreds of people and gaining a new perspective. I even got to create and showcase my own dish for the festival – a vegan pesto and tomatoes on toast (absolutely divine, by the way). Maybe it's just me, but isn't it the experiences we don't try and orchestrate that end up being the really good, memorable ones?
Saturday evening was spent celebrating a successful day with my boss and coworker at a Grace Dent event at the Borough Theatre, which was very interesting! I don't read many restaurant reviews (lol, this is namely a food blog) but hearing her speak inspired me to get clued up and make a reservation at a swanky restaurant next time I have a spare £300.
One of my best friends, Emily, came to stay and we spent Sunday eating eating eating – our favourite thing to do. We had coffee at Bean & Bread, almond croissants from the Angel Bakery, mini patisserie treats from Cocorico, including these delightful lemon meringue tarts, samosa chaat, a halloumi pitta and vanilla sprinkles cake for my nephew's 1st birthday, not to mention all the cheese we sampled in the markets 🌝
The end of the food festival weekend always brings with it a heavy dose of the back-to-school blues I used to get as a teenager on a Sunday afternoon. I never want it to end, I always feel like it's not enough time, I want just one more day! But this year was different because this year I don't have to leave. This year I get to stay and enjoy this town some more after the city dwellers leave, and that might just be the best part of this change of season.
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