The weather man was kind to London yet again as another glorious day awaited us for the inaugural Jamie Oliver presents The Big Feastival. The Big Feastival brings together an extravaganza of food and music with some of the UK’s top restaurants and artists playing over the weekend.
Taking place in Clapham Common, we arrived with empty bellies around 2pm to sample and indulge in some of the top quality food that was on offer and to sit down and listen to some great music. With food tokens in hand we immediately turned our attention to the numerous food stalls. Starting at top British food institution Canteen, we sampled the delightful Fish and Chips, the fish was crispy and tasty and the chips were fried to perfection.
Looking around, The Big Feastival was a family affair, many had turned out with their young children who were kept busy with attractions like the Little Dudes Den and the fairground rides. With the sun shining, most had taken advantage of the lovely Clapham Common grounds by sitting on the grass with food and drinks in hand whilst enjoying the music and comedy acts that played on the main stage and the bandstage.
With my stomach still hungry, I headed over to Peter Gordon and Michael McGrath’s The Providores, they were serving up a scrumptious NZ Lamb Sandwich. The lamb was melt in your mouth material and was accompanied with a minted yogurt sauce and tomato chutney all brought together on a sourdough ciabatta.
The Big Kitchen was the location of the live cooking element of The Big Feastival, we managed to catch Sophie Grigson cooking up a delightful indian treat. However the crowd were waiting for the man himself, Jamie Oliver, to take the to the live kitchen stage, with so many packing the tent, we managed to make it to the outskirts where we could just see and hear the show. Joined by one of the Two Greedy Italians and Jonny Vaughn, the three of them cooked up a storm!
Between our group we sampled the majority of food that was on show, the Pit Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder and Slaw from Jamie Oliver’s Barbecoa was my favourite dish of the day! Smoked for hours on end, the pork was amazingly tender, it was cooked to perfection and I could have had 2 more portions of it.
I also sampled the Pork Pibil Tacos from award winning restaurant group Wahaca, they were just the treat to finish my day off.
Musically, Saturday’s The Big Feastival was topped off by brilliant sets from the Mystery Jets and The Charlatans. Jamie Oliver even managed a good boogie whilst The Charlatans were playing, however for me, today was all about good friends, good music and even better food.
With proceeds of the event going to The Prince’s Trust and The Jamie Oliver Foundation, Jamie Oliver seems to have found a winning formula combining what is some of the best food from the top restaurants in London with some of the UK’s best entertainers. I look forward to sampling more delights on its return next year!