Hosted in the Cotswolds’ beautiful country site, on the farm of legendary Blur bassist Alex James, this festival comes with a great recipe of family fun, culinary delights and music combined with great activities for the whole family. The festival made the August bank holiday weekend truly memorable for us this year.
We were delighted (alongside an excitable toddler) to join the fun in the sun this year (and it was brilliant weather – always a mega bonus for festival goers).We danced alongside the children to many DJ sessions but the toddler’s favourite was Alex James’ band closely followed by Peppa Pig.
We chased dinosaurs, took part in interactive storytelling and of course sampled a lot of delicious street food on offer (for research purposes obviously). The adults enjoyed Truffle London’s burgers with truffle mayo and Thai food from the Budda Bowl. But our favourite was the family dining room which provided high chairs and gave us a little respite from the ever moving toddler (our meals nowadays are on the go, unless he is strapped in!). We enjoyed organic home made pasta (toddler’s choice) from the Cooking Cooks and gulped it all down quicker than you could say ‘feast’.
There were many a great foodie options available (as you would expect given the name of the festival) with the most notable one being the Neff Little Kitchen which encourages little people to get involved with cooking, baking and learning. The toddler enjoyed playing with dough although didn’t have the patience to actually sample anything (too much excitement in one place).
We loved the family friendly atmosphere where it seemed to us that all children and their parents were well behaved and super friendly. We danced, we played and got creative in the arts and crafts tent and made friends. It was wonderful to sit on the grass and enjoy al fresco music from great acts like Lewis Capaldi and Jack Savoretti or stand up to put up our own sing and dance performance alongside the ABBA tribute band Björn Again who put a pretty good show even if they joined the party at the last minute.
As far as festival organising goes, we noticed, and were thankful to all the efforts the organisers put into making sure the event was a success. From free water fountains and refillable water containers (thank you hydratewater.co.uk!) to mobile phone charging stations and mobile phone signal enhancing masts (thank you EE!) to help us communicate and find each other, we felt really looked after and in a world where one expects to pay inflated prices at events like these, we have to say, the food and drink prices were decent and of great variety.
If you can make a whole week of it for 2020 there are some great sights and places to enjoy in this beautiful part of the country. We recommend additional scenic drives through the beautiful Cotswolds if you have time around the festival days. The Blenheim Palace and the beautiful Woodstock town is not far, also nearby Bicester Village with its designer shopping outlets have a lot of great designer bargains on offer, or take some time to explore Oxford and its fascinating history. There are many outdoor photographic opportunities on the way too; from picture perfect old English villages with their cute pubs, to colourful country landscapes, walkways and picnic areas alongside the rivers and canals all these beauties are just few hours away and can make a great weekend escape to the country to many young Londoners and their families.
At time of writing, early bird tickets to The Big Feastival 2020 are already on offer to serious festival goers who like to plan in advance and are on the festival’s organiser’s list! Full details on their website thebigfeastival.com