MOTHER Nature will claim credit in the years ahead for what may become one of Swindon’s headline attractions after this weekend’s food and drink festival.

Clear skies and high temperatures drew the crowds in at Lydiard Park for the inaugural Swindon Food & Drink Festival, with more than 5,000 people through the gates.

Organiser John Rhodes was taken aback by the support the event received and thanked the sky for doing its bit to ensure this event will be back again next year.

“The weather’s been fantastic. It’s been incredible and I’m very happy with how it’s turned out,” he said.

“I woke up and saw the blue skies, so kept my fingers crossed.

“The weather does play a big part. We are bringing this show to Swindon and to the town and of course our biggest worry is whether anyone will turn up.”

By 2pm on Saturday more than 3,000 people had already entered the enclosure, which featured more than 100 exhibitors and several large marquees hosting various talks and demonstrations.

John already organises similar festivals in Cheltenham and Marlborough, but wanted to plug a gap in the market in Swindon and dispel any notion the town was not suited to such an event.

“There’s that aspect about Swindon and it’s unjustified,” he said.

“We have come here and people have responded exceptionally well.

“We will be here next year, but if you’d asked me first thing this morning it might have been different.”

The New Zealand native had a few nervous moments at 10am on Saturday when the festival opened because of how few people turned up first thing.

He thanked people for turning up in such large numbers and said he would make this festival something Swindon could shout about in the future.

Masterchef’s Gregg Wallace was warmly received by the gathered masses for his own talk and demonstration.

Jackie Buckingham, 45, of Basingstoke in Hampshire, said: “He was very entertaining. He’s just very funny and very approachable.”

She and Tom Johnson, 48, a removals consultant of North Swindon, had booked their tickets for the festival in advance.

Tom said: “We got here at 10am and nobody was here at that point. We were just thinking ‘oh my gosh, is this really going to keep my interest all-day,’ but here we are at 3pm.

“You can just bounce from one thing to another. You can just be hanging out and you have the music, or if you get bored you can go over and listen in on a talk.”

They also praised the setting of Lydiard Park, which provided a two-for-one deal for any who did attend by giving visitors some space to escape if they so wished.

Yippee Foods, a gluten-free food manufacturer from Gloucester, had never attended a festival as big as Swindon’s before, but one employee was impressed.

“For this to be their first event in the town they have done very well to get it this busy straight away,” said Steve Carter, 45, husband of business owner Jenny.

“Everything has been there. The organisation, planning and regulations are all there and working well.”