Best music festivals for food in 2015: From Wilderness to Field Day - the Michelin starred line-up
Whether you like to be wined and dined or would rather enjoy some of the freshest street food on offer, we round up the best festivals for foodies
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Your support makes all the difference.The food line-up at festivals has become as important as the music line-up in recent years.
If you care more about what you eat rather than who you hear, take a look at the music festivals you're most likely to enjoy:
Wilderness
Food headliners: Raymond Blanc, Angela Hartnett, Nuno Mendes, Niklas Ekstedt, Mark Hix, Moro
Music headliners: Bjork and Ben Howard
On the menu: Wilderness has a food line-up to beat the rest, with the likes of Raymond Blanc, Angela Hartnett and Nuno Mendes all on board to cook up feasts for festival-goers.
If that doesn’t sound tempting enough, North African restaurant Moro and chef and restauranteur Mark Hix will be decamping to Oxfordshire to serve meals in huge tents with hay bales for seats.
When: 6-9 August; Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire - www.wildernessfestival.com
Port Eliot
Food headliners: Thomasina Miers, Rick Stein, Tom Parker Bowles
Music headliners: Ezra Furman, John Otway, Marika Hackman, Eaves
On the menu: Chefs, growers, gardeners and food writers including Rick Stein and Wahaca founder Thomasina Miers will be taking to Port Eliot’s Flower and Fodder Stage to demonstrate their favourite recipes and impart their foodie wisdom.
Their talks will whet the appetite for the Cornish Picnic & BBQ Smokehouse, housed in Port Eliot’s Orangey, serving up posh pasties, classic cream teams and local charcuteries.
Hix’s Fish Dogs will also return to serve breaded coley fish fingers with minted mushy peas and tartar sauce, hot cinnamon doughnuts with salted caramel sauce and Pimm’s jelly and ice cream.
When: 30 July – 2 August; St Germains, Cornwall - www.porteliotfestival.com
Field Day
Food headliners: Crabbie Shack, Liberty Cheesesteak, Happy Maki, Churros Bros, Hackney Brewery, East London Brewing Co
Music headliners: Ride, Caribou, Patti Smith
On the menu: For a day festival Field Day packs a punch when it comes to food. This year it will be welcoming Young British Foodie winners Crabbie Shack, specialising in soft shell crab burgers with mouth-watering fillings such as pickled cucumber, coriander and wasabi lime mayonnaise, and bacon jam and radicchio.
Sushi will be making its debut at the London Fields festival, with Happy Maki offering large fresh sushi wraps to go. London’s own Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches will also be on offer for the first time courtesy of Liberty Cheesesteak.
On the drinks side, six local craft beer vendors including the Hackney Brewery and the East London Brewing Co will be offering up their brews at the London Brewers’ Market for beer lovers to try.
When: 6-7 June; London Fields, Hackney - fielddayfestivals.com
Somersault Festival
Food headliners: Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall, River Cottage, Valentine Warner and The Ethicurean
Music headliners: Laura Marling, Bombay Bicycle Club, Passenger and Crystal Fighters
On the menu: Festival-goers can enjoy a four-course feast by the fire hosted by some of the best known TV chefs and their restaurants.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Sunday feast includes Cornish crab on toasted sourdough with barbecued lettuce, spring onions, mint, chervil and parsley, while Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant in Cornwall will be preparing Cornish fish stew with monkfish, squid, gurnard, mussels and crab claws in a rich tomato sauce topped off with an Aperol Spritz.
When: Castle Hill, North Devon; 23-27 July - somersaultfestival.com
Festival No 6
Food headliners: Three Michelin-starred chefs (tbc), Café Mor, Voodoo Ray’s, Piggy Smalls
Music headliners: Belle & Sebastian and Grace Jones
On the menu: Portmeirion’s music festival goes all out with its food offering, catering for those who want to enjoy three-course meals cooked by Michelin-starred chefs on the banks of the River Dwyryd estuary, as well as those who would prefer to graze on top quality produce on the go.
Its street food by the main stage will include Pembrokeshire lobster rolls from Café Mor, giant 22 inch New York-style pizza from Voodoo Ray’s and gourmet hot dogs from Piggy Smalls. Local Welsh produce with plenty of Great Taste Award winners will also be for sale between the two festival sites.
When: 3-6 September; Portmeirion, Wales - www.festivalnumber6.com
The Big Feastival
Food headliners: Raymond Blanc, Monica Galetti, Richard Burr
Music headliners: Groove Armada, Dizzee Rascal, Example, Paloma Faith
On the menu
: Alex James and Jamie Oliver welcome a host of chefs and food experts to the Blur musician's Oxfordshire farm, including Great British Bake Off 2014 finalist Richard Burr who will be making his first UK festival appearance.New to this year, the festival will have its own Healthy Living Zone dedicated to healthy eating and wellbeing, hosted by bloggers Deliciously Ella, Livia’s Crumble and Melissa and Jasmine Hemsley.
Alex James will be selling his cheeses in 'The Cheese Hub', as well as giving talks and doing workshops about cheesemaking.
When: 28-30 August; Kingham, The Cotswolds – www.thebigfeastival.com
Camp Bestival
Food headliners: The Cake Shop Bakery, Korrito, Caravan Coffee, Le Rac Shack
Music headliners: Clean Bandit, Kaiser Chiefs, Professor Green, Wretch 32
On the menu: Bestival’s family-friendly version has a lot of treats on offer at its food lovers’ haven The Feast Collective, including Exmouth Market’s Caravan Coffee (for tired parents), authentic Korean BBQ specialists Korrito and Le Rac Shack, offering gooey Raclette all day long from a ski chalet-inspired stall.
The Cake Shop Bakery will be in tow from Suffolk, serving beautiful cakes and bakes as well as putting on cooking demos for all the family.
When: 30 July – 2 August; Lulworth Castle, Devon - www.campbestival.net
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