THE Really Wild Food and Countryside Festival has triumphed at Wales’ rural Oscars.

The popular event held annually in St Davids was announced as Champions for Wales at the Countryside Alliance Awards in Cardiff Bay on February 9.

The awards are celebration of rural produce, skills, enterprise and heritage.

Attending the awards was Really Wild Festival co-founder Julia Horton-Powdrill and event director Ian Griffiths from Celtic Camping Accommodation.

They beat off stiff competition from more than 1,000 entries and pitched against another five finalists in the Tourism Enterprise category.

The Countryside Alliance director for Wales, Rachel Evans, introduced the winners and praised the Really Wild Festival for its achievements.

She said: “The winner of this category has opened up a corner of Wales, welcoming thousands of visitors every year to explore and get in touch with our countryside through adventure and food. The ethos of this enterprise has been very much about having a close connection with the countryside and to include producers offering ingredients or materials from the wild in their products.

“The festival focusses on sustainable food resources and countryside activities, offering an extensive program of events from foraging to willow weaving, gun dog displays and many wild food cooking demonstrations. Coupled with the festival is Celtic Camping and together they welcome more than 15,000 visitors a year to Pembrokeshire.”

Having been crowned Champions for Wales, the Really Wild Festival will go forward to represent the country at the National Championships, which will be held at Westminster in April.