Big Cheese Festival (Medieval re-enactments)

The Big Cheese Festival is a festival dedicated to Caerphilly cheese, and events are organised around this theme.

The festival is notable for being a major event in the town of Caerphilly, attracting up to 80,000 visitors over three days. The event is also notable for being Wales’s only dedicated cheese festival.
Caerphilly Castle aerial view.

The festival is held in and around Caerphilly Castle, which is the largest castle in Wales and one of the largest in Europe. The event is free, and the castle also allows free entry.

No festival was held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the festival was hoped to return, but due to development work being undertaken at Caerphilly Castle, the council announced they’d host an alternative event named Little Cheese Race.[4] The Little Cheese Race returned in 2023, spreading around Caerphilly’s town centre and expanding to the grass behind Caerphilly’s castle.

The festival focuses on food and drink with street food vendors, a lounge bar area, food halls and live cookery demonstrations by chefs. The food halls contain stalls from local and regional Welsh food and drink producers emphasising Welsh cuisine. There is also a cheese market with cheese makers from Wales and the rest of the UK.

The festival has previously included a Big Cheese Race, a funfair, fireworks displays, music, and other forms of entertainment, including talks, demonstrations, educational activities, and activities for children.

Medieval re-enactments are held on the castle grounds; these include battles and displays, and a programme of events is held in the castle’s Great Hall. The aim is to portray the history, heritage and culture of Caerphilly.

More information about the festival here: