13 places to get a delicious taste of Christmas at markets and fairs

Feel the need for a taste of the festive season as you shop? Here is Gusto’s guide to some of the best Christmas markets and fairs in Wales.

ABERGAVENNY

Abergavenny Christmas Food and Drink Fair December 14 – see my separate blog on this event with all the details you need here.

ABERGLASNEY

Aberglasney Winter Fair, Camarthenshire, December 4 to 6, Friday 2.00pm – 6.00pm; Saturday & Sunday 10am – 4.30pm.

The site will be transformed into a ‘Winter Wonderland’ and Christmas shopper’s paradise, with almost 100 stalls selling gifts, crafts, decorations and fine food.There will also be entertainment ranging from traditional choirs to silver bands who will perform across the weekend. Aberglasney Gardens’ restored grade II* listed mansion will be filled with stalls as will a large marquee on the North Lawn in front of the mansion itself. A separate fine food marquee gives you the opportunity to stock up on all your festive favourites with some of the regions very best producers exhibiting again this year. As well as a range of food outlets for ‘on the go’ eating Aberglasney’s Tearooms ‘MaryEllen’s’ will have a special menu.

Admission prices:
£8.00 Adult/OAP
£4.00 Children (5 – 16, under 5’s Free)
£20.00 Family Ticket *2 Adults + 2 Children
….with a complimentary glass of mulled wine and a mince pie for all visitors.

ANGLESEY

Plas Newydd Christmas food and craft fair, December 6 and 7. Plas Newydd Country House and Gardens at Llanfairpwll will play host to 60 stalls from 11am to 4pm. Entry costs £1 per adult, and 50p per child.

BLACKWOOD

Blackwood Christmas Market December 17. Stalls, entertainment and funfair rides will take over the town centre.

BUILTH WELLS

Royal Welsh Winter Fair November 30 and December 1 at The Showground, Llanelwedd. Alongside the judging of livestock, poultry and horses in the main indoor arenas, and the judging of floral art, produce and handicrafts in the South Glamorgan Hall, will be the cream of the food crop from Wales.
The Food Hall will offer the best of Welsh produce, and there will be a Christmas Farmers’ Market offering stalls with food and drink to take home, and a warming mulled wine.

Admission Prices

Single day tickets	Advanced – Pre Show	Gate Price
Adult	£ 12.00	£ 14.00
Children (5-16 yrs)	£ 5.00	£ 5.00
Children 4 years and under	–	FREE

Two day tickets	Advanced – Pre Show	Gate Price
Adult	£ 22.00	£ 26.00

CARDIFF

Christmas Market November 12 to December 23 – see my separate blog on this, with a full list of stalls, here.

Winter Wonderland November 12 to January 3. Revellers looking for a taste of the festive season after their skating at the site outside City Hall and the National Museum of Wales can visit the new Bierkeller Bar to sample a gluhwein or beer. The catering area’s chalet units will serve treats including German sausages cooked on a traditional swing grill and freshly made crepes.

Opening times:

Until 21st December:

Monday to Friday: 11am – 10pm

Saturdays: 9:45 am – 10pm

Sundays: 9:45 am – 8:45pm

From 21st December

Monday to Sunday: 9:45 am – 10pm

Christmas Eve: 9:45am – 8:45pm

Christmas Day: Closed

Boxing Day: 11am – 6:15pm

New Year’s Eve: 9:45am – 12:30am

For ticket prices for the attractions including skating click here.

CAERPHILLY

Caerphilly Christmas Fair December 12 and 13 in the town centre and castle. More than 100 traders will descend on the town, along with activities and entertainment for the family. Enter the castle to discover a medieval castle dressed for the occasion, where you can enjoy entertainment as well as the chance to see Father Christmas and his sleigh. On the Saturday, there will be a real life reindeer.

Refreshments will be available, including a tea room, a hog roast, mulled wine and minced pies.

The castle is open between 9.30am and 5pm

Castle Entry Prices
Adult – £5.50
Family – £16.50*
Senior citizens, students and children under 16 – £4.10
Member – Free
Disabled and companion – Free

*Admits 2 adults and all children under 16

All children under 5 receive free entry.

HAY ON WYE

Hay Festive Market November 14. There will be stalls at the Butter Market selling Christmas gifts alongside the best local vegetables, game, preserves and chutneys, and breads.

LLANDUDNO

Llandudno Christmas Fayre November 19 to November 22 in Madoc Street and Trinity Square.

This market has 140 food and craft stalls including continental foods and cooking demonstrations using local produce every day. Last year, it attracted 30,000 visitors in four days. Great Orme Brewery of Llandudno will be hosting a bar serving 10 local beers on draft.

Exhibitors will include:

Edwards of Conwy

Blas Ar Fwyd

Pant Du Vineyard

Kat’s Candy Carts of Conwy

Wild Horse Brewing Company

Goetre Farm Preserves

Snowdonia Cheese Company

Foel Farm Anglesey farmhouse chocs

Marshside Teas

LLANERCHAERON, CEREDIGION

Llanerchaeron Christmas Fair December 6 and 7, 11am to 4pm. There will be more than 70 local food and craft stalls. The John Nash villa at Ciliau Aeron will be decorated for Christmas, there will be a visit from Father Christmas and a treasure hunt for the children.

SWANSEA

Christmas Markets November 25 to December 22. Oxford Street. Market Opening Times – Monday to Saturday – 9.30am to 5.30pm; Sunday – 10.00am to 5.00pm. Stalls offering arts, crafts, handmade gifts, fine foods, speciality products, unique Christmas decorations and festive essentials .Foodies can soak up the atmosphere while sipping a glass of mulled wine and keep warm and well fed with a hearty hog roast, crepes and hot turkey rolls. Entertainment will be scheduled throughout the duration of the market.

Waterfront Winterland – November 13 to January 3. Museum Park, in the grounds of the National Waterfront Museum, is transformed for the 10th year into Waterfront Winterland. Enjoy ice skating on the Admiral ice rink and children’s rink; visit Santa’s Grotto, experience the festive family funfair, taste delicious food from the Alpine dining cabins and returning for 2015, the Big Wheel.

Opening Times

Saturday and Sunday: 10.00am – 10.00pm
Monday to Friday: (until 18 Dec) 12 noon – 10.00pm
Monday to Friday: (from 21 Dec – 3 Jan) 10.00am – 10.00pm
Christmas Eve: 10.00am – 7.00pm
Christmas Day: CLOSED
Boxing Day: 12 noon – 7.00pm
New Year’s Eve: 10.00am – 10.00pm
New Year’s Day: 12 noon – 7.00pm

*On all days – the last skate is 1 hour prior to the advertised closing time

TENBY

Carew Castle Christmas Fayre December 7. There will be stalls including local produce, jewellery, textiles, confectionery, knitware, memorabilia, and local artwork. There will also be face painting and a chance to meet Santa in his grotto. Normal entry fee will include a mince pie.

WREXHAM

Wrexham Victorian Christmas Market, December 10, noon to 8pm. There will be 80 stalls selling a selection of festive treats and gifts, at St Giles’ Parish Church and Church Street. There will be crafts, clothing, accessories, jewellery, unique gifts and stocking fillers alongside delicious hot food and drinks, including tasty mulled wine and hot smoked sausages. The event is free.

All you need to know about Cardiff’s International Food Festival this weekend

60,000 people are expected at Cardiff's International Food Festival — 60,000 people are expected at Cardiff’s International Food Festival

AROUND 60,000 food fans are set to descend on Cardiff Bay this weekend.

The annual Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival will feature eating, drinking, live music and entertainment.

Visitors can watch cooking demonstrations by top chefs, browse stalls selling local produce, and there will be a farmers’ market. There will be taste from around the globe. The timings for the free event will be:

Producer’s Fayre: 12noon-9pm Friday, 11am-9pm Saturday, 11am-7pm Sunday

Farmers’ Market: 12noon-7pm Friday, 11am-7pm Saturday/Sunday

Food Piazza: 12noon-10pm Friday, 11am-10pm Saturday, 11am-7pm Sunday

Craft Stalls: 12noon-9pm Friday, 11am-9pm Saturday, 11am-7pm Sunday

*PRODUCERS’ FAIR*
Blaengawney Farm	Gwatkin Cider	Sarah Cooks
Bread of Devon	Gwynt y Ddraig Cider Ltd	Selwyns Seafood
Caerphilly Preserves	Homemade Country Preserves	Septimus Spyder Drinks
Caws Cenarth Cheese	Hot Roasted Nuts	Shepherd’s Ice Cream
Celtic Country Wines	Irvin Confectionary	Snowdonia Cheese Co Ltd
Celtic Spirit Co	Little Jack Horners	Sub Zero Ice Cream
Condessa Welsh Liqueurs	Llanfaes Dairy Ice Cream	The Blaenafon Cheddar Company
Cowpots	Love Patisserie	The Chocolate Brownie Company
Devon Fishcakes	Narna’s Chocolates	The Fudge Box
Dewi Roberts Butchers	Perfick Pork	The Garlic Farm
Elm Tree Foods	Produce of Stuttgart	The Gift of Oil
Farmhouse Deli	Radnor Hills	The Handmade Scotch Egg Co
Fire Foods	Ralph’s Cider and Perry	The Original Welsh Oggie Pie Co.
Fudge Factory	Riverford Organic Farms	Tudor Brewery
Gilly’s	Samosaco	Wessex Pantry

*FARMERS’ MARKET*
Asiaspicebox	Fresh As A Daisy	Sorai
Carn Edward Farm	Heather’s Harvest	Susan’s Farmhouse Fudge
Caws Teifi Cheese	Little Welsh Deli	The Celt Experience
Claire’s Kitchen	Mr Fitzpatrick’s Cordials	The Continental Bakery
Contempo Catering	Narna’s Chocolates	The Dangerous Food Company
Cottage Sweets	Oh Sugarplum!	The Pudding Shop
Cwm Deri Vineyard	Pastamore	The Wiltshire Chilli Farm
Delicia Cakes & Teas	Popty Cara	Toffoc Ltd
Dream Blue Trading Co.	Retro Shots	Tudor House Preserves & Welsh Craft Foods
Emily’s Jams and Pickles	Riverside Market Assoc	Ty Gwyn Cider
Enhance	Rowlestone Farmhouse Ice Cream	Untapped Brewing Company Ltd
Field Barwine Ltd	Samosaco	Yo Go Go Frozen Yogurt
Food Station Wales	Seasons Farm Foods	Crafty Devil Brewing

*FARMERS MARKET – CATERING*
Parsons Nose	The Strawberry Stop	The Welsh Creperie
The Wrap Shack	Dusty Knuckle Pizza Company

*STREET FOOD PIAZZA*
Cambrian Organics	Meat and Greek Ltd	Taste of Persia
Gaucho BBQ	Mela Street Food	The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Co. / Café Mor
Glamorgan Vale Hog Roast Ltd	Morgans Family Butchers	The Spanish Buffet
Greta’s Wholefoodies	Old Granary Pierogi	Welsh Venison Centre
Griffiths Bakery Ltd	Roly Poly Ltd	Yum Yum
Indian Delights	Shabbanakle

Bandstand & Entertainment Timings

Bandstand (all sets 45 minutes)
	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
12pm	Donnie Joe’s American Swing	Peel Your Own Spuds	Slap Your Mama Big Band
1pm	Baraka	Red Ray	Maelog
2pm	Fiesta Resistance	Miss Maud’s Folly	The Zen Hussies
3pm	Tantz	The Dandos	Slap Your Mama Big Band
4pm	Rob Heron and The Teapad Orchestra	Maddassa Soul Band	Maelog
5pm	Donnie Joe’s American Swing	Peel Your Own Spuds	The Zen Hussies
6pm	Baraka	Red Ray	Slap Your Mama Big Band
7pm	Fiesta Resistance	Miss Maud’s Folly
8pm	Tantz	The Dandos
9pm	Rob Heron and The Teapad Orchestra	Maddassa Soul Band

Entertainment, Farmer’s Market (all sets 30 minutes)
	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
12.30pm	The Railroad Skiffle Quartet	The Saxalettes	89-91 Band
2.30pm	The Railroad skiffle Quartet	The Saxalettes	89-91 Band
4.30pm	The Railroad Skiffle Quartet	The Saxalettes	89-91 Band

Tafwyl is baking up a treat of a fair for foodies in Cardiff

Last year, 16,534 people attended the Tafwyl fair in Cardiff.

The Great British Bake Off's Beca Lyne-Pirkis — The Great British Bake Off’s Beca Lyne-Pirkis

This year’s Tafwyl Fair 2015 will be held at Cardiff Castle, on July 4 and 5 – and it’s set to provide free fun for all the family.

There will be stalls in the fair promoting Welsh produce, and workshops, literary sessions, music, cookery, art and drama sessions. The fair runs between 11am and 9pm on both days.

On the main stage there will be live performances by folk, rock and pop artists in the Welsh pop scene, including Yws Gwynedd and Geraint Jarman, acoustic sessions, street entertainers, dance sessions, sports field, and activities for children of all ages.

In the food and drink marquee, there will be a talk with Poblado Coffee, pure chocolate workshop with Coco Caravan, an Indian cookery demonstration with Purple Poppadom, a baking demonstration with Great British Bake Off’s Beca Lyne-Pirkis, and a cheese tasting session with Caws Rhydydelyn.

You could learn how to brew Cwrw Melyn Bach with Tomos & Lilford Brewery, and join a Welsh ale and cider taster session. For children there’s a chance to bake some cakes and treats for homeless and disadvantaged young people with Llamau.

The fair’s popular Bake Off competition returns thanks to sponsorship from cyfreithwyr.com, with guest judges Beca Lyne-Pirkis and Nerys Howell. The competition for under 11’s is to bake and decorate 3 cake pops, and the competition for under 16’s is to bake and decorate 6 cupcakes. For adults, the brief is to bake and decorate a sponge cake so let your imagination run wild and create something special! For the winner of each category we have a special prize – afternoon tea for two at Waterloo Tea Gardens. You must register to compete at www.tafwyl.cymru.

The street food corner will include ten tempting reasons to visit:

Bangkok Cafe – http://www.bangkokcafe.co.uk/

Authentic Thai street food, using locally sourced ingredients and herbs and spices imported from Thailand

Parsnipship – http://theparsnipship.co.uk/

Hand-crafted fine vegetarian and vegan cuisine. Original and provocative dishes packed with big, punchy flavours

Grazing Shed – http://www.thegrazingshed.com/

Gourmet burgers from Cardiff

Onest – http://www.onestfood.com/

Healthy fast food on the go.

Welsh Creperie Co. – http://www.thewelshcreperie.co.uk/

Gourmet sweet and savoury crepes and Breton galettes, all made to order with the freshest of ingredients.

Ffwrnes Pizza – https://www.facebook.com/ffwrnespizza

Wood Fired Pizzas made using simple ingredients produced by real artisans

Meat and Greek – https://www.facebook.com/meatandgreek

Cardiff based Greek Cypriot family sharing their authentic Souvlaki with the rest of the community.

Fablas – http://www.fablasicecream.co.uk/

A rural company based in the Vale of Glamorgan producing high quality artisian ice creams. Fablas go from cow to cone within a 3 hour period, producing a high class proiduct that is unbelivelbly fresh and locally produces. Look out for a few special adult ice cream flavours including the pink champagne sorbet and mojito ice cream!

Brodies Coffee Camper- http://www.brodiescoffee.co.uk/

Quality coffee & home baked goodies

Milgi – http://www.milgilounge.com/

For the first time this year Milgi will be hosting a cocktail bar – the Hedgerow Bar. The concept really is simple – to serve super seasonal, foraged homemade drinks to anyone who needs a little thirst quencher.

Bar Syched

There will also be two bars with a large range of ales, lagers, wines, spirits, soft drinks tea & coffee. Our Syched Bar will be selling a range of Welsh ales.