In pictures: Taste of success at Cosford Food Festival

The Cosford Food Show took over a field next to Hangar 1 at the RAF base and offered visitors a huge array of foods, drinks and entertainment across the weekend.

Organisers said they were delighted with the response, no doubt encouraged by Saturday's eventual good weather.

Even Sunday's downpours failed to put too much of a dent in proceedings

"We had a lot of interest on our Facebook page from all over the country," said Michelle Morgans, 30, one of those behind the event.

"We have a great range of food stalls and entertainment, but as ever in England the weather is a factor - fortunately it has turned out well despite Saturday's early morning rain."

Visitors entered through RAF Cosford's Hangar 1, where the nose of a De Havilland Comet pointed the way to over 70 food stalls .

Julie Wycherley, of The Apley Farm Shop, near Bridgnorth, said her company had run a stall at all three Cosford Food Festivals.

She said: "I think it is clear that people are interested in eating food produced locally; our beef, for example, travels less than two miles through its production cycle.

"This is a fantastic festival because it promotes local businesses and as we are local its an ideal fit."

Most of the stalls handed out free samples of their products as well as having them ready to buy. There were also live cookery displays showing visitors how to improve their skills in the kitchen.

But there was a lot more to the show than just food, with a dealer display of the latest Mercedes cars and face painting for children by Brushes on Mushes, with a queue at their stall throughout the day.

There was also live music in a marquee in the centre of the show, with a variety of acts performing.

Random Brass, a six-piece brass band from Shropshire and the West Midlands, played an eclectic mixture of music, all the way from from James Bond themes to Lady Ga-Ga.

Apart from the face painting, children loved the brightly coloured metal gorillas and giraffes supplied by the British Ironwork Foundation, from Oswestry.

Ben Naylor, 34, from Lawley, was visiting the show with his wife Nicky and son Isaac, aged two.

A farm advisor by trade, Ben said that he hadn't been to the food festival before, but had been to the RAF Cosford museum.

He said: "It's been a great day, with a good range of music, and the fact that the arena is fenced means you can relax if you have young children.

"It is great to see local companies showing what they can do and providing so many free samples for us to try.

"My son particularly liked the ironwork gorillas, but his dad definitely preferred the beer and ciders."

For some stall holders this was there first experience of the festival and for one particular company it comes only a month after they set-up in business.

The Friendly Dog Company make dog biscuits and the company was only formed in June this year.

Claire Strachan, 43, from Rushbury near Wenlock Edge, runs the company and makes the biscuits using as many organic and natural products as possible.

She said: "I am only here because I was out with my daughter and saw a flier advertising the show, but I am so glad I did because it has been a great day for us.

"People really like the fact we know where all our ingredients come from, such as the meat coming from Ryan's in Much Wenlock and the eggs from The Donkey Farm in Much Wedlock too."

For more established companies, the show is a regular success story.

Heather Williams, 43, owns and runs Heather's Harvest, producer of award-winning preserves and chutneys.

She has brought her company to every edition of the festival and said: "The atmosphere here is fabulous, so many lovely people attend, everyone seems happy.

"It's a brilliant venue and show for us, as we can combine selling our products with getting our name out there."

One feature of the show was the amount of different vehicles people used as stalls. A red London bus had been converted into a bar, a horse box into a food stall and a caravan into an ice-cream wagon.

And Twilight Entertainment converted a London taxi into a photo booth, offering fancy dress clothing for the photos too.

Sam Bromley, 23, a drainage engineer from Wellington, was visiting the show with friends Adam Haywood and Tom Fletcher.

Sam said: "I loved sampling the different food on offer, especially the chills and will definitely be coming back next year.'

Lisa Miller, a nurse from Albrighton, said: "I came to the show a couple of years ago, but it has grown since then and it has a fantastic atmosphere.

Sara Meredith-Jones, a housewife also from Albrighton, said: "I loved the red bus and it has just been a fabulous day out - and the free samples were terrific."

It wasn't just the food stalls and entertainment that drew positive comments from visitors, the facilities and infrastructure also helped ensure people enjoyed the event.

Joan Edwards, 83, from Albrighton, said that it had been great to see so many local companies showing their products, but the show facilities had also been superb.

And Jon Saxon, serving on the Ludlow Brewery stand, said that the excellent transport links paid dividends for companies like his.

He said: "The accessibility and frequency of the public transport to this festival mean people don't have to drive, so they can sample our products without any risk."

As soon as this year's festival ends, planning for the 2016 event begins and Michelle Morgans said that the food festival had been started as a way of broadening RAF Cosford's appeal.

She said: "The event is part of our strategy of trying to attract people here, people who probably wouldn't have considered coming to the museum.

"Food is popular and the last two festivals have attracted over 15,000 people between them, so we are hoping to get more than 8,000 this weekend."