The UK's National Farm Attractions Network (NFAN) held its annual conference and trade show at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire on February 5-6, with the event once again enjoying strong support from operator and trade members from throughout the country.

Following the successful extension of the conference in 2012 to two days, day one of this year's event saw visits to two farm parks, the first to National Forest Adventure Farm in Burton upon Trent and the second to Hatton Farm Village in Warwick.

The former is one of the newest farms in the UK, featuring large indoor and outdoor play areas, a large tea room and a lively seasonal events programme, while the latter is a fine example of an all-weather countryside experience, blending a traditional farmyard and huge indoor play barn with lively daily shows and activities.

The main conference took place the following day with a programme that covered a wide range of subjects of key importance to the rural and countryside attractions sector.

NFAN chairman Matt Heast commenced proceedings with a welcome to attendees before introducing the first speaker, Deirdre Wells, head of tourism for the Department of Culture and Media Studies.

Wells spoke of a number of priorities that had been put in place by the Secretary of State for the DCMS that would benefit the rural attractions sector, including countrywide broadband and mobile infrastructure, the GREAT campaign for promoting the UK as a tourist destination and the Olympic Legacy.

The keynote was followed by the presentation of some of the annual NFAN awards, after which representatives from the winner of the Best in Education award, Barleylands Farm in Essex, presented on educational days and various ideas for these.

This was followed by a session entitled 'how good food can enhance your reputation and your bottom line', by the winner of the best food and beverage award, Sally Jackson from the Pink Pig Farm in Lincolnshire. Stephen Holland from Just-Inspire then gave a presentation entitled top ten tips for staff recruitment to close the morning session.

The afternoon began with a presentation entitled 'how to maximise your return from a Halloween event' with Stuart Beare from Tulley's Farm, followed by a presentation on countryside tourism from the chief executive of tourist board VisitEngland, James Beresford.

The NFAN Farm Attraction of the Year Awards 2012 were then presented, the overall winner being Odds Farm in Buckinghamshire. The runner up was Bocketts Farm in Surrey, while highly commended was Cannon Hall Farm, South Yorkshire.