A feast for the whole family!

So this weekend saw us pack up our tents, load up the VW and make our way to the beautiful fields of Alex James’ farm in Kingham for The Big Feastival - writes Nataley Fryer

With a car full of excited children and parents alike, we approached the carpark ready for the 8am opening time and started unloading the van.

We made our way through the fields with our trolleys stacked high with everything needed for the ever changing weather we were due to face.

The set-up was seamless, marshalls everywhere directing the hordes of excited family campers. Getting there early to find a decent place to pitch up is a must and be prepared for the long walk to the fields (so pack light if you can!), we stayed in Strawberry field which was a nice short walk into the festival and near enough to the toilet and showers.

The Big Feastival genuinely has something for everyone, live music all through the day, little dudes den for the kids, old school style fairground rides, cooking demonstrations and more food and glitter than you could possibly wish for!

As we walked in on the first day through the bunting-lined trees with the skies covered in bubbles there was the sweet smell of fresh lavender lacing the floor of a beautiful tented area by Warner Edwards…..of course a quick pit-stop was needed there to try their rhubarb gin and ginger ale cocktail delight before venturing around to the main stage to see who was on.

It wasn’t long before we were all feeling a bit peckish from smelling the various foods from all across the world, a few favourites of ours over the weekend were Annie Mae’s Mac & Cheese (Mac with crispy bacon, basil and basil oil from £7), Farang Thai (‘Gai Prik’ chilli & fish sauce glazed crispy chicken bites), Paellaria (chicken & chorizo £8), Smokestack (charred pork belly and beef brisket with skin on fries and pickled cucumber £15), Breddos Taco Truck (smoked chicken ‘all pastor’ burnt spring onions and roasted pineapple £7) and the delicious My Pie’s chicken, smoked ham hock and tarragon (from £7).

Some of the best snacks included  Oli Baba’s Halloumi fries laced with yoghurt, mint and pomegranate (£6), Churros with warm chocolate (£5), Gyoza’s from Rainbo (£5.50 for 5)

It was good to see a vast selection of these outlets cater for the smaller eaters at lesser price.

Over the three days there were more than 25 artists on the main stage alone ranging from Justin Fletcher (AKA Mr Tumble, who was a huge hit for the under 5’s), Duke (an awesome beat-boxer), The UnderTones, and other acts including Mel C, Paloma Faith, Professor Green, Rak Su, Tom Odell, James Arthur, Craig David with more upbeat vibes from Clean Bandit, Jaguar Skills, Basement Jax and the legendry Sugarhill Gang. All within easy viewing no matter where you were stood near the main stage as they had big screens so little ones don’t have to be too close to the noise, so whatever your music tastes there is something for everyone to dance along to.

A big hit for the children was the Neff Little Kitchen (for kids aged 5-12) where the kids got to pick their own veg and create their own pizzas, they were given fab goody bags and eat what they made, my only critique for this was it was simply so busy and we queued for over an hour in the pouring rain to register them for a later time, which wasn’t ideal given Sunday’s torrential downpour!

Another favoured area for the children was The Cotswold Farm Parks petting zone and Hasbros for more face painting and photo opportunities with My Little Pony and time to relax in the play dough set up.

The kids also took great advantage of all of the vintage style funfair rides, from the iconic swing that’s situated in the middle of the field to the bumper cars and Helter Skelter (you may need to dig deep as these rides take up a fair few pounds!)

Many people packed up and left on Sunday, however, the rain stopped late afternoon and stayed dry for the remainder of our time so we could enjoy Paloma Faith closing the weekend.

We rocked our wellies, and ponchos, added extra glitter and spent a little extra in Joules (they had a 3for2 offer on) to add a few layers onto the children to keep them warm so we could make the most of the time we had left and just took shelter undercover in many of the outlets until it passed favouring Sipsmiths, Fevertree, Westons Cider and Birra Moretti.

Rain aside, it has been a fantastic weekend, we were all sad to leave…..if you are looking for good food, live music and a family-friendly festival then I would highly recommend the Big Feastival, it is an expensive weekend but the smiles all round are definitely worth it and we will certainly be booking 2019 when the early bird tickets are released. Visit www.thebigfeastival.com for more information of next year!