THOUSANDS of people turned out to enjoy one of Wales' leading food and drink festivals over weekend. 

Mold Food and Drink Festival returned on Friday night (September 15) and with proceedings coming to an end at 5pm on Sunday (September 17). 

The event drew thousands of visitors from across north Wales and beyond to its New Street site to celebrate and enjoy the best in local cuisine and hospitality. 

The weekend was kicked off on Friday evening with an ABBA tribute act, while various other music acts took to the stage over the three days. 

Dozens of vendors sampled and sold their finest products, with the event 'an outstanding success' according to chairman Gareth Williams. 

He said: "We kicked it off on Friday night, which was an outstanding success, that will definitely be happening again. 

"We had around 750 people here which was perfect for the space we had and it was a brilliant crowd.

"On Saturday we had about 5,000 people here throughout the day and although the weather wasn't brilliant we still had a great atmosphere and it was chocka up until 8pm when we left.

"We're here today (Sunday) until 5pm, so people are more than welcome to come down and see us.

"We're hopefully expecting another 3,000 or so today."

Plans for next year's event are already underway following the positive response organisers have had to this year. 

Gareth added: "The reaction has been great, totally positive, obviously we'd have liked the weather to be a bit better but that can't be helped. 

"We're already working on things for next year, we've got a review in a couple of weeks and we'll come together as a committee, look through the things that have worked, and what hasn't worked and we'll go from there."