Youngsters wow the crowds at Llangollen Food Festival

Jack Hatley, from Oswestry, and sommelier Dan Davies, whose family is from Chirk, wowed the audiences at the two-day event with their television style demonstrations.

Thousands of people flocked to the Royal International Pavilion to enjoy the best of local food and drink and a host of special demonstrations and workshops.

Jack Hatley, the head chef at Gale's of Llangollen, demonstrated his butchery skills at the festival and prepared a lamb shawarma, a popular Middle Eastern dish.

The chef, who has previously worked in the kitchens of the Chester Grosvenor, also teaches regularly at Upstairs Downstairs, a cook shop in Oswestry which runs cookery lessons in everything from bread-making to Greek or Italian cooking.

He said: "It's my first visit to Hamper Llangollen and I'm really, really impressed. The variation and quality of the products on display is amazing."

Joining him on the demonstration stage to add spicy flavour to the meat was his friend and culinary colleague Yossi Gliksman who owns Upstairs Downstairs.

Jack's demonstration was one of the highlights of Hamper Llangollen – now recognised as one of the top food festivals in the UK.

Also there was one of Britain's youngest sommeliers, Dan Davies, 21, who has advised stars like Sir Tom Jones, actress Jennifer Lawrence and Coldplay's Chris Martin on which wine to choose with their meals.

Dan, the son of celebrity chef, Dai Chef who was raised in Chirk, has attended the festival every year since he was just five years of age. He travelled to Llangollen from Surrey where he is head sommelier at the four-rosette Stovells hotel at Chobham,.

At Hamper Llangollen, he helped his father present cookery demonstrations by talking about wines as well as sampling the delights of the food festival.

He said: "Stovells is a classic restaurant with a Mexican flare and my job is to run the department and buy the wines we sell. Wine is my passion and I trained over three years.

"I have advised singer Tom Jones on wines when he came into the restaurant for a meal and when I worked at the Clifton, a three rosette restaurant in Taplow, Berkshire. "I also advised Jennifer Lawrence and Coldplay's Chris Martin on their wine choice and took care of Heston Blumenthal when I was at the Clifton too."

He added: "The Hamper Llangollen food festival is a wonderful event. I have been coming with dad and the family since I was a little boy and it's always an event I look forward to.

"The quality of the products on display is first class and the range of exhibitors is amazing. It's a really special event."

Hamper Llangollen chairman Colin Loughlin says the festival has become established on the UK's food and drink calendar.

Speaking during the two-day event he said: "It's been brilliant and we are really pleased.

"This is our 19th year and the festival is clearly now extremely popular event on the calendar across North Wales and beyond.

"I'm delighted we continue to attract the very best exhibitors and suppliers to the festival and which helps brings so many visitors to the town." Brian Horwich, who runs Pant Glas Bach Preserves, at Llanasa, says he has been attending and exhibiting at Llangollen since launching his business eight years ago.

He said: "I'm really happy with Llangollen the festival is always a highlight for me. I find regular customers come back year after year to buy from me and being in exactly the same place inside the exhibition hall each year helps too."

Festival visitors were treated to music from flautist Maria Hayes as she played on the stall of Denbigh gin maker the North Star Distillery. The artisan gin is the brainchild of hospital worker Mathew Rowland who launched the first new distillery in the Conwy hills for more than 100 years to produce his folk music inspired new gin.

Margaret Rowland, Matthew's mum, says the classic gin distilled by her son is infused with music.

She said: "Matt is a keen folk musician and Morris dancer.

"He plays musical instruments as the gin is fermenting, hence it is infused with the music of the region."