AROUND 2,500 people enjoyed the seventh annual Croissant Neuf festival near Usk at the weekend.

The family-run festival was the brainchild of Andy Hope and Sally Howell and continues to go from strength to strength.

Once again the line-up of bands playing the festival was deliberately eclectic, and the festival kept up its rather novel and noble reputation as the UK’s greenest festival.

Everything from the power on the main stages, to that running the confectionery stalls, was generated through solar power, and three trees were planted on the site for every car that arrived at the Trostrey Common venue.

The three-day festival once again saw an array of circus acts and craft displays, as well as the music.

Fresh from a massive water fight, marketing manager Ali Campbell said the secret of the event’s success was the family atmosphere at the site.

“It’s very much family run, with families in mind,” she said.

“It’s gone really well. This year’s theme was medieval merriment, so we’ve had a lot of people dressed up as knights and things like that, and we’ve had battle re-enactments on the site as something a bit different this year.

“I think people like it because it’s perhaps more relaxing than other festivals. It’s not just people stumbling around off their face, and we’ve deliberately created the site to have a village-green feel, making it inclusive, but also safe as you can always see what is going on.”

The festival runs solely off ticket sales.