Cardiff breaks mould for festival

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Cardiff Castle has broken the mould by becoming the long-term home of the UK's leading cheese festival.

The city's historic monument will play host to the Great British Cheese Festival for the foreseeable future.

Festival founder Juliet Harbutt decided to bring it to the Welsh capital full time after it had been previously held at various locations in England.

The event is set to attract more than 10,000 foodies who will have the chance to taste more than 500 British cheeses.

The UK's 100 top cheese makers will be at the event where they do their best to pass on their cheese expertise to visitors.

The two-day festival starts on Saturday and is a celebration of the dairy foodstuff marking the start of British Cheese Week which ends on 5 October.

"I know that everyone involved from exhibitors to our cheese lovers will love the new setting and the warm Welsh hospitality Festival founder Juliet Harbutt

In its 9th year, the festival was created by Ms Harbutt in a bid to boost the profile of of British cheese.

The New Zealander, who is a cheese expert and is now acting as a consultant to the event, decided to bring it to the capital permanently after Cardiff Council asked to host the event on a long-term basis.

"I wanted to step back from the running of the show and was delighted that Cardiff Council identified the event's charm and potential enough to bring it to their beautiful city where the event has the potential to expand," she said.

"I know that everyone involved from exhibitors to our cheese lovers will love the new setting and the warm Welsh hospitality, and feel very much at home here."

The festival also plays host to the British Cheese Awards where among this year's entrants is former Blur bass player Alex James.Little Wallop has been created by Alex James and Juliet Harbutt

Mr James has now set himself up as a specialist cheesemaker in the Cotswolds and has produced his first cheese, Little Wallop, with Ms Harbutt.

The awards will be held at the Millennium Stadium and decided by an eminent panel of 50 judges, including the former Britpop musician and food critic Sophie Grigson.

After sampling more than 900 cheeses from 180 UK cheesemakers they have managed to whittle them down to a 120-strong shortlist of producers from which the winners will be announced.

Amongst them are 26 from Wales including producers from Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Clwyd, Pembrokeshire, Gwent, Gwynedd, Monmouthshire and Powys.

As well as cheese, visitors can also enjoy an extraordinary diversity of food and drink in the various markets which have been set up on the festival site in the heart of the city centre.