Once a week the heart of Bristol is transformed into the kind of food shopping experience you thought had gone for good.

Stalls are erected and out-of-towners from around the West Country set out their wares at the city's Farmers' Market.

Slowly but surely this Wednesday occurrence has grown from humble beginnings to a thriving, bustling, hugely popular attraction.

Proof of its appeal can be easily seen in the lengthy queues that form for those eager to snap up locally-sourced foods, from breads to wild boar, from pork to pickles, cheese to chickens.

It's struck a real chord with city workers and makes a great place to watch and wander during a lunch-hour.

Now the market's success has been given official recognition, picking up an award for the Best Speciality Market of 2009.

It is thoroughly deserved.

Later this year the Bristol Wine and Food Fair arrives to add further kudos to Bristol's reputation as a place to eat, drink and buy great food.

The three-day July event, which first put the city on the food map in the 1970s, is only in its second year since its successful revival.

It's early days, of course, but let's hope it's another resounding success.

Because Bristol needs something like this, just as it needs the wonderful farmers' market.