If none of the aforementioned cut it - even with a liberal application of mustard - surviving an entire weekend on Calippo or Ribena lollies from the on-site ice cream van would keep you hydrated and your Vitamin C levels up.
Thankfully, food is far less of an afterthought at the festivals of today and while there are plenty of food specific festivals out there catering to foodie types who enjoy nothing better than spending a weekend gorging on food glorious food, other festivals are now starting to prioritise providing a good food offering.
This year, the selection of food available for purchase at what is widely acknowledged as the UK’s biggest festival, Glastonbury, gives a little insight into just how far the festival food market has come and the opportunities it offers for caterers. This article from The Guardian shows snaps of the festival’s food porn with influences from around the world, covering everything from Cornish pasties and lobster through to tastes of Tibet.
Some of the UK’s smaller, boutique festivals are starting to up their game in order to offer a more specialist experience and the results bode well for festival caterers and revellers alike. Alongside the traditional catering vans, some unusual food experiences have started to spring up.
As festival season finishes up for the year, here are a few buzzwords and tasty bites which we saw at 2014’s festival food scene:
Street food
A massive trend in the casual dining sector with lots of events springing up around the country, street food is the natural culinary partner to the music festival, where experimenting is part of the experience. Beacons festival had a particularly impressive line-up this year, with organisers placing the food offering at the very core of their festival. Out are noodles and floppy chips and in is finger food with an international influence, gourmet junk food, beautiful baked goods and luxury coffee, ice cream and tea.
An extended alcohol offering
Festival goers enjoying drinks at Festival No.6: Image Credit
Festivals tend to have rather strict rules about what can and can’t be brought onto the campsite and the main arena area. While there will always be those festival goers who smuggle a box of wine into the fields by removing the outer box and hiding the bag inner somewhere on their person, there’s plenty of posher stuff to tempt people into splurging. Kendall Calling featured ten different themed drinks tents this year and Beacons festival also went all out on the real ale. At the extremely posh end of the spectrum, both Festival Number 6 and Wilderness played host to onsite champagne tents.
Pop ups, feasts and food experiences
Banquet at Wilderness Festival
Image Credit: Justine Trickett c/o Wilderness Festival Facebook
Sitting on the wet grass with a tray of curry and chips might be a traditional festival experience but it hardly has a boutique feel and festival organisers have recognised this. Now they are tapping into the pop up and supperclub trends and asking festival goers to book their own feast experience. In exchange for coughing up a little or lot of extra cash, these hungry and unkempt revellers can actually take a seat in a covered area and eat a meal with several courses, possibly with real cutlery. Wilderness has been leading the way on this trend and this year went all out, with everything from tented restaurants to bookable banquets (featuring Simon Rogan) and even chef’s table experiences.
Shambala harnessed the power of popups for good by hosting a surplus supperclub for the second year in a row, which served everything from breakfasts and three course dinners through to Sunday roasts. Festival goers must book in advance and organisers are expecting a good uptake after selling out last year, as they say on site:
“Is there anything more decadent than eating at a table with china, silverware and a nice glass of bubbly in a field with your wellies on?!”
Focussing on the family market is the good life experience, which offers lots of wholesome activities like climbing alongside foodie experiences such as sausage making and master coffee brewing and a bit of music too, of course.
Could you be part of next year’s festival food scene?
Image Credit: By Eva Rinaldi from Sydney, Australia (Future Music Festival 2013 Uploaded by tm) via Wikimedia Commons
If you’re interested in taking your food to a festival you’ll need to apply well in advance and be prepared to put in a lot of effort. Because festivals are now actively curating a particular feel with their food offering, they can be rather fussy about who they book. Bear in mind you will also need to pay big bucks for the privilege of having a captive and hungry audience. Fees do vary but can typically run into several thousands, so be sure to plan your menu well. This might mean tweaking your existing offering to bring in new food trends or offering more variety to appeal to people who don’t want to queue separately from their festival friends.
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