Food & Drink
September 2014Ludlow Marches Food Festival
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20140407175729im_/http://www.debretts.com/sites/default/files/Ludlow-Marches-Food-and-Dri.jpg)
Held over a long weekend in mid-September, the Ludlow festival celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2013. It showcases more than 130 small independent Food & Drink producers from the Welsh Marches (border regions), offering everything from rare breeds of meat and gourmet sausages to real ale, cider and perry.
Some 20,000 visitors come to the tented village within Ludlow's ruined medieval castle. Fun events include the famous Sausage Trail, the Cake Trail and the Pork Pie of the Marches competition.
A Slow Food marquee in the castle grounds will feature endangered foods and drinks, apples from the Heritage Orchards, slow food from elsewhere in Europe, talks, events and workshops.
In the mid-1990s, Ludlow began to be recognised as a centre of culinary excellence, with more Michelin-starred restaurants than anywhere outside London (two have since closed or relocated). It is a picturesque town, with many surviving ancient properties - it boasts over 500 listed buildings, as well as the magnificent ruined castle. It is located in the centre of the Welsh marches, the unspoilt hilly countryside that straddles the border between England and Wales.