MORE than 2,000 people attended the seventh Wales Fairtrade Fair in Abergavenny.

The event, held in the Market Hall on Sunday, is the brainchild of Abergavenny couple David and Martha Holman.

The Holmans set up the charity Love Zimbabwe, which carries out life-saving projects in the country, and are committed to promoting fair trade and education in developing countries.

The event was opened by Sheila Woodhouse, the mayor of Abergavenny, and Steve Jenkins, manager of Monmouth Football Club.

Visitors browsed arts and crafts stalls selling ethical goods from all over the world, as well as sampling African food on 45 stalls in the hall.

Chrys Blanchard, one of the event’s volunteers, entertained the crowds with live music by playing the African drums as they made their way around the fair.

This year’s event included a keepy-uppy football competition, workshops and and a fair-trade school song competition, which took place in the Borough Theatre during the afternoon.

Mrs Musonza Holman, of Llantilio Pertholey, said it was the most successful event held since it was first launched.

She said: “It was amazing. The Market Hall was filled to capacity with over 2,000 people coming along.”

“It is a community event run entirely by volunteers and is aimed at raising awareness of poverty in the developing world and encouraging people to set up small businesses to sell their products in the UK.”

A Fairtrade school song competition was held in the Borough Theatre with eight schools from across Wales taking part.

The schools performed self-penned songs about Fairtrade.

Mrs Musonza Holman said the standard of entries was high.

“The songs were fantastic. It was really difficult to choose a winner but we chose Llantilio Pertholey Primary who wrote a fantastic song,” she added.

“The event has gone from the strength to strength.”