In 1995 some members of Ludlow and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce came up with a number of ideas to help boost the business image of Ludlow and the surrounding area.

The main idea was to create a festival which would both promote the area's small food and drink producers and encourage visitors to explore Ludlow's fascinating shops, restaurants and pubs. In 1995 this was a novel idea which, it was freely admitted, was done "just to see what happened". The venue was not a problem - the castle square with its traditional open-air market and the town's historic castle (used from the second year onwards) provided the perfect backdrop. This setting was combined with events like the trails which were designed to encourage visitors to explore Ludlow and its specialist shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs, etc.

The rest, as they say, is history!

The festival was an immediate success thanks to the response from those same food and drink producers and suppliers - and the band of volunteer helpers who gathered to stage the event. They had no instruction book, nothing like it had ever been tried before. But they were enthusiastic, committed and imaginative - and willing to work hard.

Equally importantly, they decided from the start that the event had to be fun as well, both for them and for those taking part, despite the underlying serious objective of promoting the businesses of the Marches and the area itself.

At around the same time Ludlow attracted top chefs like Shaun Hill who established his Merchant House restaurant in the town, David Willson Lloyd (then at Roebuck, Brimfield) and Ken Adams (then of The Oaks in Ludlow now of the Waterdine, Llanfairwaterdine) and Frenchman Claude Bosi (initially at Overton Grange, then at his own restaurant Hibiscus). All were attracted by the abundance of top quality produce in the area.

Others followed like Olivier Bossut (Dinham Hall, and subsequently at the Roebuck, Brimfield), Peter Gartell (originally at The Clive, Bromfield), Christopher Bradley (Mr Underhill's), Wayne Vickerage (Overton Grange), Jane Malcolm (The Courtyard) and Jean Bourdeau (DeGreys, now at the Peacock near Tenbury Wells).

They, the town and its magnificent countryside also began to attract the attention of the national press and media until today it has become well known, and not just in Britain, as a centre of culinary excellence with a large collection of restaurants in and around Ludlow and the wider area of the Welsh borders. It's not just top quality restuarants, though. There's an abundance of good independent food shops, butchers, bakers, farm shops - and, in short, around here we take real food seriously!

The Festival's famed Sausage Trail became a magnet for lovers of the British banger. To that has been added competitions for the Pork Pie of the Marches, Cake Trail, and the Ludlow Sandwich.

The 1999 event saw visitor numbers practically double and that happened again in 2000 when more than 12,000 paying customers visited the tented village in the castle. An all-time record was reached in 2006, with 17,100 entering the castle during the three days, and the magic 20,000 figure was reached in 2007.

Many festival visitors feel compelled to come back throughout the year to enjoy other aspects of Ludlow and the Marches.