Press Releases

Now in its 14^th year it is expected that up to 15,000 visitors and over 80 food vendors will be nestled among the historic buildings at this year’s Festival. With such a growth in food vendors wanting to attend, Amgueddfa Cymru has introduced  sustainability criteria for vendors to meet alongside offering training and workshops to ensure that all interested vendors meet the criteria.

As well as offering training for food vendors, the museum has been working with partners from different sectors to ensure the Festival is sustainable in its offering. Following discussions with Cardiff Bus a service will be offered to visitors on the Sunday as well as the usual running on the Saturday. For the first time battery powered generators will also be trialled to power the Food Festival.

Traders were offered training in how to create their own sustainability policy for their businesses, and helped to explore and promote the Welsh origin of their produce. This training upskilled vendors, enabling them to meet the festival's application criteria which measured them against a series of commitments including a commitment to sustainability, the promotion of Welsh produce, and commitment to bilingualism. 

Ffion Rhisiart, Events Officer at St Fagans National Museum of History said:

“St Fagans Food Festival is a highlight on our events calendar and one that we know our visitors look forward to. One of the main aims of the Food Festival is to celebrate food & drink from Wales, and we know that all of our traders are also proud and passionate about this.

“We are also extremely happy to have partnered up with Cardiff Bus this year, offering visitors the opportunity to travel to the food festival on Saturday and Sunday using public transport.”

For the third year running, The Sustainable Sidekicks a sustainability consultancy will be working alongside the festival to ensure its commitments to waste reduction and carbon footprint data gathering are met. These commitments include no single-use serve ware on site, so visitors are recommended to bring a water bottle and use the numerous taps available on site. 

Livvy Drake, Sustainable Sidekicks founder said:

“It is always a pleasure to work with the St. Fagans team and year on year see their commitments to reducing their impacts as an event.

"I am looking forward to talking to the food traders again to hear about how they approach sustainability in their businesses. So many donated money or products to charity, and chose to buy their ingredients from local sustainable sources, many ran their businesses on renewable energy tariffs and  some even grew their ingredients.”

Furthermore Livvy and her team will be assessing all the food stalls for the Food Trader Awards which acknowledge those that are committed to social and environmental sustainability through their business practices. There are two categories of award – Food Stall and Food Producer.

Last year the food stall winners were Conscious Coffee. The coffee stall has been set up to raise funds for the work of the Safe Foundation, a charity that is ‘committed to improving the lives of marginalised people and communities around the world.

The Welsh Saucery were the winner of the Food Producer Trader Award due to their passion and commitment in considering every aspect of sustainability and biodiversity in their food products and their operations.

The St Fagans Food Festival takes place on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September and more information can be found on our website.

ENDS

Contact Information

Carwyn Evans 
carwyn.evans@museumwales.ac.uk

Notes to editors

Other notable mentions in the Food Producer Trader award were: Pettigrew Bakery, Bao Selecta, Tetrim Teas, The Drop Bear Beer Co, The South Caernarfon Creameries

Amgueddfa Cymru belongs to everyone and is here for everyone to use.   We’re a charity and a family of seven national museums and a collections centre, located across the country. Our aim is to inspire everyone through Wales’ story, at our museums, in communities and digitally.   Our welcome is free thanks to funding from the Welsh Government and extends to people from all communities.  Follow Amgueddfa Cymru’s seven museums on Instagram and Facebook. Play your part in Wales’ story: by visiting, volunteering, by joining, by donating.   

www.museum.wales