FANS of music and food lapped up the delights of rock star Alex James’s Big Feastival – joined by a host of celebrity revellers.
The three-day celebration of rock, pop and cookery held on the Blur bassist’s farm in Kingham, near Chipping Norton, was alternately blessed and cursed with gorgeous sunshine and torrential rain, though revellers gave the event a resounding ‘thumbs up’.
The festival was headlined by dance act Basement Jaxx and singers Craig David and Paloma Faith. It also featured sets by Peter Hook of the band New Order, indie-pop act The Bluetones, DJ Jaguar Skills and chart-toppers Clean Bandit.
Host Alex, who is a celebrated cheese maker, also treated revellers to DJ sets in a double-story club called the Cheese Hub, joined by his son Geronimo.
Among those enjoying the festival were comedian Simon Pegg, presenters Davina McCall and Dermot O’ Leary and Made In Chelsea stars Hugo Taylor and Millie Mackintosh – whose ex-boyfriend rapper Professor Green took to the stage on Friday.
Chipping Norton motoring presenter Jeremy Clarkson, meanwhile, joined clubbers in the Cheese Hub.
Cheese hub: Alex James on the decks. Picture: Ed Nix
Also enjoying the sun, and dodging the rain, were celebrity chefs Raymond Blanc of Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons in Great Milton, self-styled culinary bad boy Marco Pierre White, Mark Hix and Gennaro Contaldo. Former co-host Jamie Oliver was conspicuously absent from this year’s line-up.
After the early summer heatwave, Friday and Sunday’s rain left many festival-goers frustrated. The downpours sent music-lovers running for cover, though many plucky fans did stick it out in rain coats, ponchos and under umbrellas.
Alex James took to the stage to share his love of cheese and passion for toasties. He told the Oxford Mail: “This is one big old party. The secret is to just do what you love, and for me that is music, food and having fun with the family. We have had a very strong line-up with everyone we wanted. The Cotswolds has always been a centre of agricultural excellence and there are some amazing producers here. We had a wealth of local talent and it was good to be able to mix that with a bit of international talent.”
Enjoying her first Big Feastival was Greta Henderson from East Oxford, who praised the event but packed up and left the site as the weather deteriorated on Sunday.
Fan: Jeremy Clarkson. Picture: Ed Nix
She said: “It has been amazing fun and we had a great time. Saturday’s weather was brilliant. We heard good music, ate lovely food, had fun at the fairground and even learned how to dance the Lindy hop at a workshop.
“It’s a shame about the weather, but we will be back.”
While organisers were praised for their slick handling of the safe event, there were the usual festival complaints about queues for loos, the time it took to leave the car park at night, and the price of food and drink – with a pint of Moretti lager costing £6.50.
However, festival-goers insisted they would be back. Lucy Silver from Oxford said: “I love The Big Feastival. Alex is such a star and a genuinely lovely bloke. It really feels like an overgrown house party where everyone is invited – and he seemed to be having the best time out of all of us!
"Of course the weather could have been kinder, but Saturday was a day to remember. I can't wait for next year's now
Rave: Jaguar Skills on the main stage. Picture: Ed Nix
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