Bank Holiday Monday may not have been as sunny this year, but that didn’t put off the visitors pouring into Presteigne for the annual Food and Flower Festival.

They strolled through streets lined with stalls, browsing, tasting and buying goods from artisan bakers and cheese makers, gourmet cake and chocolate makers, coffee roasters, speciality tea factors and a host of other passionate food and drink producers from the area.

Local nurseries set out their stands in St Andrew’s churchyard, filling it with spring colour. The church flung open its doors to visitors who enjoyed the beautiful floral decorations and performances by two choirs. Outside, buskers filled the streets with music.

Seven private gardens opened their gates during the afternoon. Godwyn House in Broad Street was also the venue for About Face Theatre’s captivating performances of 'Theatre for One', inspired by local stories.

There were hot meals available all day in the food court, and families relaxed with tea and cakes in the lovely garden of the Old Rectory, where children enjoyed sack races, games and face painting. A chocolate-making demonstration, a willow weaving workshop and tempting recipes to make with locally brewed beer were all included in the programme for this happy and inspiring day.

Deborah Moggach, author and local resident, said: "What a triumph! The whole town came together to create a truly magical day - a wildly imaginative treasure hunt, races, theatrical performances in gardens, dazzling flowers, plants and pagan creations, music, blacksmithing, masses of laughter and goodwill and of course food - it was a total joy and we'll remember it for a long time."

Emma Lilley, co-organiser of the fun at The Old Rectory, said: "It went better than we could possibly have imagined: we fed tea and cake to at least 200 - we stopped counting after the plates ran out - 70 children ran wild on the specially-created treasure hunt and dozens of faces were painted.

"People were incredibly generous - we raised around £1,000 for community projects, our local food bank and Herefordshire Samaritans. All in all an utterly brilliant day!"