Month: June 2011

Lucy in Disguise co-founder Sarah Owen said: “So excited about being invited to The Big Feastival, can’t wait to decorate some cupcakes in the WI tent and I hope our vintage fashion parade is a real treat for everyone who wants to come down on Sunday.”

The WI Tent will also play host daily to Nail Art pioneers, Wah Nails who will be incorporating food themes into their designs at The Big Feastival, ranging from yummy cupcakes to BBQ chicken drumsticks! 

Food and drink will be in plentiful supply, including chocolate truffle tasting on Saturday from world renowned chocolatier, Willie “Wonka” Harcourt-Cooze. 2010 Masterchef finalist Stacie Stewart’s Beehive Bakery will be on hand daily with a vintage pop up bakery serving popular treats. Award winning private members bar Milk & Honey will have London’s best barmen revealing the tricks every hostess needs for the perfect the cocktail hour, plus there will be the traditional WI Baking Competition with judges including Rachel Allen and Willie Harcourt-Cooze, who will be casting a critical eye over all the food themed cakes.

The WI Tent will also feature some truly inspirational life stories from record-breaking round the world yachtswoman Tracy Edwards, travel writer and cycle adventurer Matt Carroll, the creative art director of ethical fashion label Tara Starlet, Tara Scott, rock ‘n’ roll chef, Gizzi Erskine and founder of the Shoreditch Sisters, Jazz Domino Holly, will be giving an exclusive preview of her new book, ‘Mistress of Stitch’. Urban Cross Stitch, who has introduced cross stitch to a new generation of stitchers using updated designs influenced by street art, such as Banksy, and popular culture resulting in a finished artwork the modern urban dweller would be proud to display in their home will also be on site to inspire your crafty side. And there will be some very special performances from Belles of London City, an all-female trio of corseted Morris dancers who will be showcasing their unique take on traditional Morris dancing, songs and music, hula hooper extraordinaire, Marawa and Musical Bingo with resident DJs, Rapture and Jonny Unknown playing the tunes and when you hear them you simply mark ’em off your bingo card to win some seriously snazzy prizes. Players are guided through individual themed rounds by the ever-so sassy compères.

The Big Kitchen, hosted by Jay Rayner, Aaron Craze and Stefan Gates is expanding its line-up with new chefs includingJamie Oliver, Gizzi Erskine, Giorgio Locatelli and Levi Roots who will be on hand to give Feastival-goers entertaining demonstrations in his unique brand of Reggae Reggae cooking! Plus the Big Feastival are very excited to announce that Two Greedy Italians aka two of the most renowned and well respected Italian chefs and old pals Gennaro Contaldo and Antonio Carluccio will be joining The Big Kitchen – not to be missed! 

There will be plenty of action for the kids in their own dedicated area, Little Dudes Den, with arts and crafts, face painting, puppet making and storytelling. Attractions across the weekend will include Penguin’s Children’s Books who will not only be offering storytelling but also the chance to meet some of your favourite characters, book related hijinks and even just the chance to curl-up with a good book! Mr Cadabra’s Magic Emporium will feature thrilling magic from Mr Cadabra and his faithful rabbit Houdini who will be protecting a brand new trick from Baron Spellthief. The Children’s Society will have their very own Arts and Crafts area, so you can paint and glue and colour-in to your heart’s content and music and drama workshops will come courtesy of Stagecoach, the largest and most successful arts school network in the world. 

Saturday will see The Tale of Peter Rabbit brought to life with The Peter Rabbit Puppet Show and storytelling, dancing, fun and games with Spot, plus there will be a chance to meet the world’s most loveable puppy.

With the aim of getting kids involved in the wonders of gardening and growing their own food, The Kitchen Garden has signed up a whole host of new guests and is going to be buzzing with activity over the weekend. BBC Blue Peter’s very own gardenerChris Collins will be running his amazing edible hanging baskets workshop to a lucky group of kids on Saturday, Urban Allotments will be holding Potting Parties to show kids how to overcome small space growing dilemmas and James Wong will be introducing everyone to the weird and wonderful side of plants with his Willy Wonka style food tasting. To top it all off, fabulous fashion designer Zandra Rhodes has drawn up an exclusive scarecrow design for a competition that local school children have been taking part in, and the winning special scarecrow will be unveiled and on display all weekend.

Richard Herring , who rose to fame on cult radio and TV shows ‘Fist of Fun’ and ‘This Morning with Richard Not Judy’, heads up the comedy line-up. Other comedians performing side-splitting shows at The Big Feastival include Jimmy McGhie who is currently one of the hottest comedians on the circuit, BBC Radio 1’s Tom Deacon, and the co-hosts of the Chortle sponsored ‘Peacock and Gamble’ podcast, Ed Gamble and Ray Peacock who will be performing their solo shows.

Music acts joining Soul II Soul, The Charlatans, Mystery Jets, Athlete and many more on the bill include, double bass propelled trio, Red Snapper. Making dance music with real instruments and mixing up jazz, dub and funk whilst crossing tempos from trip-hop to drum ‘n’ bass, Red Snapper are one of the most influential bands of the past 15 years and are destined to rock The Big Feastival crowd. There will also be music from a raft of up and coming bands and DJs including, electro-poppers Special Ks, melodic rockers Suburban Star, south London Cajun fuelled quartet Scoundrels, graceful guitarist Doug Hayman, folk troubadour Jimmy Sharp, Sheffield disco don Shake Aletti, electro house minx DJ Miss Roxx, foot-stomping do-sa-do folksters Skinny Lister and rocking tunes from DJ Christian Stevenson. 

As well as all the new music acts, The Big Feastival is pleased to announce that disco doyens Hed Kandi will be curating the entertainment in the VIP area across the weekend.  The Hed Kandi crew are no strangers to adding a touch of glamour to proceedings with their dazzling take on dirty disco and soulful house. Plus, Rockaoke, the UKs original, best and only specialist live karaoke band will be on hand, inviting the audience to “live the dream” by taking to the stage and singing with a live rock band.

The West End School Disco will also be joining the Feastival fun. Presenting a Glee inspired medley of modern classics, a cast from across the West End are bringing an all singing, all dancing, toe-tapping tribute to the world’s most popular high school musicals to the Main Stage. Singing smash hits from shows including Grease, Hairspray, Fame and High School Musical, The West End School Disco will have everyone singing and dancing, whatever their age! 

All you wannabe chefs get excited, because the British BBQ Society will be hosting ‘Britain’s Fastest and Most Challenging BBQ Cookoff’ at The Big Feastival! Ingredients will be provided and contestants get 45 minutes to cook up a stellar dish. The whole family can compete, with both adult and children cook-offs. There will also be a Pit Masters Exhibition where experienced teams will be proving that delicious meals can be crafted on the BBQ. To take part sign up here:http://readysteadyq.co.uk  

With many of London’s finest restaurants, including Locanda Locatelli, The Providores, Wahaca, Fifteen, and Barbecoa already on-board to lavish the crowds with the finest food from their pop-up kitchens, The Big Feastival are delighted to announce that six new restaurants, Soto Abeno, Franklins, Mango Tree, Awana, Lily’s Restaurant and Four O Nine will all be making the journey to Clapham Common to add their culinary flare to One Big Menu.

Make sure you visit www.thebigfeastival.co.uk and follow www.facebook.com/thebigfeastival and @thebigfeastival for more information and don’t forget to tag your tweets #thebigfeastival.