Having had such a great weekend at The Big Feastival 2011 we were concerned that this years event just might not live up to expectations. We could not have been more wrong. Everything from the location, the line-up and most importantly; the feasting, had just got bigger and better. 

To give you an idea why the event is called The Big Feastival, we have listed our food highlights below (between 2 people);

- Beer-battered fish and chips from Union Jack
- Smoky British beef brisket with gherkins and kicking horseradish coleslaw from Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts
- Sicilian fisherman's stew with a garlic focaccia and saffron aioli from Jamie’s Italian
- Slow-roasted porchetta with crunchy polenta chips, salsa verde & balsamic-dressed rocket from Jamie’s Italian
- A giant homemade pork and sweet chilli sausage roll from Little Jack Horner’s Ltd (what a breakfast!)
- Soft steamed folded buns filled with slowly roasted free-range pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers and spring onions from Yum Bun
- Gourmet Ostrich burger with slow-cooked caramelised onions, homemade stilton mayonnaise and topped with fresh rocket from Outback Burger
- One bag of salted butterscotch fudge from Yum Yum Tree Fudge
- Double espresso tiramisu pot with amaretti mascarpone from Jamies’ Italian

And the above doesn’t even begin to take into consideration the amount of food samples we stumbled upon in the food market. Some slightly bizarre dreams in the tent on the Saturday night suggest that maybe we had one too many bites of cheese.

While we had all the best intention of taking food back with us from the extensive market, we unsurprisingly found we had spent all but £8 of our cash by the Sunday evening. Just enough to take home our favourite discovery of the weekend, Alex James’ No. 2 ‘Farleigh Wallop’; a soft creamy goat's cheese that melts in the mouth with a light thyme finish. One recommendation to stall holders next year would be to use card machines if possible. While they may be temperamental in a field, we would have been happy to wait. 

Photo: sourced from the Big feastival website.

Not only were we spoilt for choice with the food, the drinks selection was unlike any other festival this summer. While the drink of choice from the masses over the weekend appeared to be the Grand Marnier cocktails (presented in what seemed to be a giant bauble) and the pints of Doombar we personally enjoyed;

• Birra Moretti
• Cocktails from Alex James’ cheese hub (the dry ice stick or ‘chilli stick’ as we learnt, was definitely a highlight)
• Prosecco from the Wandering Wine Company
• Chardonnay from Argentinian wines

One of the weekends music and food highlights must have been the slightly unique experience of watching Rizzle Kicks whilst sipping on Prosecco and picking muscle shells out of my fish stew to mop up the rest of the broth with the foccacia stick.

The food however, was just the beginning! The entertainment line-up was just as compelling as the food offering.

While we spent most of Saturday sampling the highlights of the Artisan Food Market, we started our evening with the cocktail masterclass in Alex James’ Cheese Hub co-hosted by Nick Moran. (The children in the audience were very excited to have a Harry Potter star in their presence even if they weren’t allowed to try the final cocktail). The drink of choice was called ‘The Hub’ including; vodka, ginger beer, spiced apple syrup, lime juice, ice and a chilli stick. Our biggest lesson learnt was that “ice makes ice nice” and that bar tenders aren’t trying to rip you off by filling up your glass with ice!

We finally sat down to listen to some music around 6.30 with Lianne La Havas, opening with the well-known ‘Forget’ she had the audience singing along on their feet, before mellow-ing down with more tracks from her album ‘Is your love big enough’.

After a soulful set from La Havas, Rizzle Kicks jumped on stage with their usual energy pumping out hit after hit to an excitable crowd with the kids singing and dancing along with their parents. This was the first time that the audiences camping chairs and picnic rugs were tossed aside for a wiggle, making way for the arrival of Basement Jaxx.

As huge fans of the Basement Jaxx, I had been concerned earlier in the day, that the family-filled crowd might not create the usual carnival atmosphere that their music so naturally generates. Fortunately I was wrong. The set was as ever a spectacular, sparkling, sumptuous, striking, and star-spangled musical adventure which had the whole crowd on their feet.

The set was a combination of old hits, new hits and even referenced their performance with the Metropole Orkest with singer Sharlene Hector emerging onto the stage in an impressive star-cladded costume and mask-combo. The costumes throughout the set were as outrageous as ever, and the addition of new vocalists from South Korea; Miss Emma Lee and Baby Chay in ‘Back to the Wild’ added yet another dimension of entertainment.

The 75 minute set flew by in a whirlwind of costume changes, dance energy, colour and ever impressive vocals from Sharlene and Vula Malinga.

While we certainly felt the impact of a days heavy feasting on Sunday morning (partially due to the late night falafel wrap), we were still able to make an early dash for the Electrolux Big Kitchen to see Nova Scotia guest chef Craig Flinn. Craig’s demonstration involved heavy education on the beauty of home town ‘Nova Scotia’ making for the audience; a lobster risotto and lobster roll.

The audience in the kitchen was already brimming-to-full by the end of his demonstration as the audience awaited the arrival of Jamie himself. Jamie cooked alongside Adam Henson who spoke to the audience about the importance of farming and home-grown meat and crops. The pair were also joined by the entertaining, lycra-clad, “offal smuggling” (Jamie’s words), DJ BBQ and a flash visit from Neal’s Yard Dairy. The trio prepared a lamb burger with blue cheese and apple, followed by a beer batter waffle, with pulled pork and slaw. Sadly we were one of the few audience members not to sample the delights, but the positive noises from the audience suggested it was pretty tasty.

While we did not attend the festival with children, the Little Dudes Den was host to a variety of action-packed workshops and educational treats for kids including crafting, planting, painting, reading and cooking as well as the more familiar funfair and clothes stalls.

Photo: sourced from the Big feastival website.

One of the highlights of the Sunday afternoon had to be the toe-curling innuendo-ridden set by The Cuban Brothers. Not to be distracted by thousands of children innocently watching, the act performed their set outrageously as ever getting the children to chant at the top of their voices along to;

“I say Kenny, you say the Bastard” –

“Kenny”

“The Bastard”

“Kenny….” 

As if that wasn’t enough, new member ‘One Erection’ was presented to the audience as lead singer paraded on stage in his typically skimpy lycra y-fronts. Their set was as entertaining as ever with their great music, regularly bringing the crowd into hysterics. Just when we thought we had seen everything Jamie Oliver and Alex James took to the stage to take place in a medley of songs playing along on drums and bass.

Sadly we had to leave the event slightly early so ended our weekend with Take That’s own Mark Owen. Opening with ‘Rule the World’ Mark had already won over the crowd and went on to perform a number of tracks from his latest album. The relaxed set was a great way to end what had been a fantastic weekend.

Article: Claire Game  

Early bird tickets available now at 2013 prices for a ltd period Here