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I love a good food festival. Something about wandering aimlessly around a small town or village, the air filled with tempting cooking smells, colourful stalls and celebrity chefs all vying for attention.

Last weekend one of the last agricultural shows of the season at Llandyfaelog in Carmarthenshire took place, together with the Ironman festival in Tenby (which caused an elaborate detour as we tried to get to Amroth for a bracing walk on Sunday).

But as the summer shows and festivals pack up their tents and stalls, the food festivals are gearing up to tempt our tastebuds across Wales. Starting this weekend with the Abergavenny Food Festival. I was out interviewing Richard Arnold from the 'Proper Welsh' milk company at their brand new dairy in Whitland today for the radio programme.

He's taking part in a debate at Abergavenny this Saturday about the benefits of raw milk. He fondly remembers drinking milk warm from the cow as a child and how his father would regularly steal the 'top of the milk'. Remember the days when milk came in glass bottles and you could clearly see the cream sitting on the surface? I would race my brother to the doorstep of a morning to make sure I got first shout - funny how it seemed so important at the time.

Richard was explaining that commercial companies aren't allowed to sell raw (unpasteurised) milk any more but that individual farmers can sell it direct from the farm gate. You can actually order it on the internet, although as he pointed out, there's something not quite right about sending milk through the post.

He thinks it unlikely that raw milk could be sold commercially again, but he's a big fan of non-homogenised milk, which still allows the cream to rise to the top. I'm no scientist, but apparently homogenisation breaks up the fat content in the milk, to make it easier for us to digest, but according to some current research, the process also removes the so-called 'good bacteria' in the milk.

That's if I've understood the theory properly!

Richard believes it'll make for an interesting discussion - he also mentioned that a few years ago, there were only a handful of food festivals in Wales, whereas now there are around 40 or 50 of them. This month alone sees festivals in Narberth in Pembrokeshire, Brecon, Mold, Aberystwyth and at the beginning of next month the Anglesey Oyster Festival - one that I've never been to but intend to get to one day. Abergavenny kicks the season off in style - their website is crammed full of show highlights () and quotes the Observer newspaper which claims "Abergavenny is to food as Cannes is to film". See you on the red carpet.