Last Updated on 23 March 2026 by Colette
This post features a gifted experience & affiliate links
Some years ago, Dave and I took ourselves down to The Big Feastival in the Cotswolds for a child-free festival weekend of food and music. Thanks to me not being very well, things didn’t go to plan and we ended up having to come home on the Saturday morning. Ever since, we’ve wanted to return to The Big Feastival and give it a proper go – so this year, on the August bank holiday weekend, that’s exactly what we did. Except this time, we took the kids!
Now I’m going to preface this review with the fact that this was our second consecutive festival weekend – I’m not quite sure how that happened, I think when I booked the two festivals I just hadn’t quite clocked that they were one after another. Safe to say lessons were learned and doing two festivals in a row is not big and it is not clever. We won’t be doing that again!
The Big Feastival is hosted by Alex James (of Blur fame) on his farm near Kingham in the Cotswolds. The first Big Feastival took place on Clapham Common in London in 2011 and was hosted by Jamie Oliver and Alex James, before moving to Alex’s farm the following year. Having celebrated its 10th birthday last year, The Big Feastival is an event which seems to go from strength to strength – selling out again this August bank holiday.
Fifteen things we did (or didn’t do!) at The Big Feastival with Kids
1. Made a really early start!
The Big Feastival runs from Friday to Sunday with the campsites opening at 8am on Friday morning. As we have a pretty big tent we wanted to get down to the site reasonably early to make sure we could get a big enough space – however driving down from Manchester meant there was no way we were going to be there for opening! We left home about 7am, stopped for breakfast on the way and arrived onsite at about 11am. As always, we chose to camp on the campsite closet to the car park – this is one of my biggest tips for camping at festivals with kids – we personally think it is far easier to have a longer walk into the festival itself than to have to lug all our stuff across fields! By 11am, the campsites already felt pretty full and I did have a brief moment of panic but, as is often the case, we found that once we’d dived in off the main paths, we were able to find somewhere big enough to be able to get ourselves set up.
2. Picked out our favourite food vendors
Of course, if you’re going to call a festival a “Feastival” then you’re going to expect food to be good and plentiful – and The Big Feastival didn’t disappoint. There were so many options for food that at times it was almost overwhelming! From vegan soft serve ice cream to steak and chips and boozy ice lollies, the Big Feastival had it all. (Well everything except burritos it would seem – Dave had a right hankering for one and there didn’t seem to be anyone selling them on site!) Some of the food stalls had long queues all day long (Killa Waffles being a case in point), others seemed to ebb and flow – and there were definitely times where a shorter queue helped me to make my choices!
As I’ve already mentioned, this was our second consecutive festival weekend and there were a number of food stalls from Camp Bestival Shropshire that we recognised again at The Big Feastival – hello the best waffles I’ve ever eaten, so lovely to see you again! What we were surprised by though was that a couple of those vendors were decidedly more expensive at The Big Feastival – now giving them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps their pitches were more expensive at the Feastival and they needed to balance that cost out? Or, they just thought they’d chance their arm as it was a “foodie” festival and people would be prepared to pay more? Either way, we swerved the vendors with price hikes and actually high fived the Paellaria dudes for maintaining their prices across the two weekends. (Also I have to mention that Paellaria did they most amazing homemade lemonade which we only discovered on Saturday afternoon but I think I could have drunk bucket loads over the course of the weekend given half a chance, Ben and I were gutted when they had sold out on Sunday afternoon!)
3. Ate the best Rueben of my life
Whilst we’re on the subject of food . . . food highlights for us included boozy ice lollies from Slosh, surf and turf from STAKEHAUS, ice cream and waffles from The Waffle Float and the Good Grief Truck Croque Monsieur. But, without a shadow of doubt, the best thing I ate across the whole weekend was a Good Grief Truck Rueben. This Rueben was a thing of beauty and I would actually go so far as to say it was the best Rueben I’ve ever eaten – it was so good in fact that I had it twice, and it was just as good the second time round! “Salt-beef pastrami, thick cut pickles, Swiss cheese, garlic-dijonnaise and toasted brioche bun” – still dreaming of it now!
4. Appreciated the earlier finishes and slower pace of The Big Feastival
One of the things we had found quite hard going at Camp Bestival Shropshire the weekend before was the late nights – midnight finishes with kids can be quite challenging. The Big Feastival is just a steadier pace – there is generally a lot less going on so we felt more able to mooch about, to sit and take it all in – and, most importantly, the headline acts weren’t on really late. I’m not sure if this is a licencing thing, or if it’s to ensure that people are able to catch the last trains out of Kingham out to London, or perhaps it’s just a nod to the family friendly nature of the festival but the fact that the headline acts on the main stage were finished by 10.45pm on Friday and Saturday, and 9.45pm on Sunday night – made life a whole lot easier.
5. Missed most of the headline acts
That said, we actually missed most of the headline acts! Having kept the kids up really late the weekend before, and spent all week not quite recovering from it, we had said we would absolutely take the kids’ lead at The Big Feastival. Whilst the Big Feastival line up was fun and varied, there were no real “OMG I have to see them moments” for Dave and I so we didn’t mind so much when the kids were tired and wanted to go to bed.
The Human League were actually quite late coming on stage on the Friday night, we were all quite tired after our early start, and one of us had had quite a bit to drink so by the time they came on and played their first track we were all but done. I think I was the only one of our team who actually wanted to watch The Human League but I was out voted and had to listen to them from my camp bed! I do think had the kids not been so tired, they’d have actually really enjoyed their set!
Saturday saw Anne-Marie headlining – now I know I’m showing my age but my main point of reference for Anne-Marie is seeing her on Celebrity Gogglebox, or occasionally if I’ve caught a bit of The Voice. I’m not sure I know any of her songs so I wasn’t at all bothered when Chloe tapped out and said she wanted to go to bed. Amy was keen to watch her as she’d really been looking forward to her set so Dave and Ben stayed out with her – but even so, they were back at the tent before she’d finished.
Sunday night’s Stereophonics set was probably the one Dave and I were most looking forward to all weekend – it was also the day we all struggled the most with being tired and a bit jaded. In the middle of the afternoon, Dave and I had suggested to the kids that we call it a day and go home but they were all keen to stay – of course what happened was that about three songs into the Stereophonics’ set, the girls deiced they’d had enough. I convinced Chloe to stay till 9pm so we could at least watch half of the set – and was gutted when she held me to that 9pm curfew as Kelly Jones was rocking out all the songs we know best and we were really enjoying a full on karaoke moment! I tried to point out to her that it was going to be a bit of a nightmare to get out of the crowd at that point and that it might be easier to stay but she was having none of it and we left.
Such is life at festivals with kids though – you can make all the plans you like but if they’ve had enough, they’ve had enough!
6. Struggled in the heat
The August bank holiday weekend was a hot one. You might think this makes for perfect festival weather but actually it can be quite hard work – aside from the constant need for sun cream top ups and the lack of showers to wash off said sun cream / freshen up after a sweaty night’s sleep in the tent – it can also just be hard to escape from. The Big Feastival site is very open and as such there is little shade on offer – of course there’s places like the BBC Introducing stage and The Big Top, however these were super warm so provided little relief. The newly opened Woodland Walk provided some respite from the blazing sun and I saw lots of people chilling out along the path on Saturday afternoon. The bonus of the heat though was that we were never too cold of an evening – and we didn’t see any rain, which always makes festival life a little easier!
7. Fully appreciated the joy of the M&S shop
The M&S Simply Food shop at The Big Feastival had to be seen to be believed – I’m talking full on fridges full of smoothies, juice and all your favourite sandwiches – and yes they were a little more expensive than your typical M&S – but this wasn’t your typical M&S, it was in a field, in a tent! The kids were super happy on Sunday morning when we told them they could choose a Marks and Spencer sandwich for lunch – and we were happy too as it saved us about half the price of buying them lunch from one of the stands in the main festival arena. The M&S rooftop bar looked very enticing too – but perhaps not so much with the kids in tow!
8. Browsed the various stalls
Almost as soon as you walk into the main festival site, you are met by a range of vendors selling hand crafted goods, vintage clothing and there was even a stall selling shoes and socks. Dave might have been desperate for beer, but the girls and I were drawn like magpies to all the bright colours and sparkles on offer. Chloe ended up buying a pair of very cool vintage sunglasses and I fully regretted not buying a sparkly pineapple brooch.
9. Bought a fancy head dress from Freckles & Freesias
Freckles and Freesias sell the most incredible handmade headdresses – I had discovered them on instagram just before heading down to The Big Feastival and knew I had to seek Atarah out! We spent ages admiring all the various styles before settling on a gorgeous bright orange, feathery piece for Amy. What I loved about Atarah’s headdresses was that they are on a really comfortable elastic rather than a hard head band (I can’t wear headbands, they give me a headache). I did worry that this might mean they slipped around over the course of wearing but I can honestly say that Amy wore her headband all Friday night and for the whole of Saturday and I didn’t have to adjust it for her at all. Chloe tried on quite a few Freckles and Freesias head dresses too but we didn’t find “the one” for her this time – in part because we realised she needed an adult sized one which was considerably more of an investment. I definitely feel that my own festival wardrobe could do with a fancy floral headdress for future adventures though!
10. Navigated camp chair shanty towns
I’m not quite sure what it is about The Big Feastival, as this isn’t something I’ve seen on anywhere near the same level anywhere else, but it seems to be a thing to bring your camp chairs, inflatable sofas, picnic blankets, trolleys and mark out territories around the outskirts of the main stage – and I’m not talking a couple of people carrying their chairs around so they’ve got somewhere to sit when they need a bit of a break but groups of up to twenty people setting up in huge circles making it difficult to actually get to the main stage. Fair play to The Big Feastival who have set up a clear barrier around the Main Stage and people are not allowed to “set up camp” with their camp chairs within this however, outside of that barrier it is a free for all. We left the main stage after one performance and essentially had to join a conga of festival goers through this “shanty town” to get back out to the bars and food vendors – picking our way in between camping chairs and trying not to stand on picnic blankets whilst people tutted at us. I think it’s probably my least favourite thing about The Big Feastival if I’m honest – that and the fact that half the time there isn’t even really anyone sat in these chairs, they are literally there taking up space and making life difficult.
11. Avoided the fair ground rides
There are various fair ground rides dotted around The Big Feastival site, most notably I think the Wave Swinger at the back of the Main Arena which Ben said definitely looked like the biggest and best Wave Swinger he’d ever seen. The fairground rides were, in my opinion, really expensive. At around £6 a pop (double what we’d paid elsewhere over the summer) we agreed that the kids could basically go on one ride each. Ben and Amy had decided they wanted to go on the Wave Swinger but we ended up putting it off over the course of the weekend – “wait till it’s dark”, “wait till there isn’t a queue”, “wait till tomorrow” – until tomorrow ended up being the day that we had been woken up by Amy having been sick and we decided that perhaps that wasn’t the best day to go on a ride at all. Despite me feeling that the fairground rides were really expensive for a family festival, they certainly looked to be pretty busy all weekend and I do love the way the lights and sounds of them add to the festival atmosphere!
12. Danced and sang
For me, the most important bit of any festival is the music. The line up at The Big Feastival is always varied and this year was no different. I can’t say there were any specific stand out “must see” performers on the main stage for me but there were plenty of acts that I was quite happy to go and watch – and actually, I think this is a really good way of discovering bands you didn’t even really know you liked.
Highlights were The Cuban Brothers who are just all out ridiculous (and very naughty), Stereophonics (or at least the 45 minutes that I saw), The Futureheads, Gabrielle and Basement Jaxx (who always rock out a good DJ set and get everyone moving). Less good moments were The Sugababes who just totally failed to command the crowd – I didn’t like them 20 years ago and unsurprisingly I don’t like them now!
13. Watched FitWaffle make brownies
Throughout the weekend, there were various talks and demonstrations going on in the Big NEFF Kitchen on the Village Green – of course being at the festival with kids meant that these weren’t really a priority of us, however Ben did spot that FitWaffle was doing a demonstration and as he follows her on TikTok (and has actually made some of her bakes in the past) he was keen to go and watch her demo. Watching talks and food demo fits nicely into that “slower pace” that I mentioned earlier – I thoroughly enjoyed having a sit down and watching someone else bake (though I’d have quite liked to have eaten them after too!).
14. Missed out on Alex James’ Cheese Hub
Something I’m absolutely gutted we missed out on at The Big Feastival this year was The Cheese Hub which was always rammed and always bouncing whenever we passed. Had we not been with the kids, we’d have been right in there enjoying Seb Fontaine, Jaguar Skills and Jeremey Healy but there was no way were going to be able to get them to “endure” any more of our dancing after making them watch Gok Wan and Fat Boy Slim the weekend before!
15. Made a break for it on Sunday night
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that we never stay the Sunday night at a festival. We always pack up first thing Sunday morning so that we can leave at whatever point we’ve had enough on Sunday (which in the case of Y Not Festival a few years ago was as soon as we’d packed the car thanks to the rubbish weather). So, much as Dave and I were gutted to miss out on watching Stereophonics finish off The Big Feastival in style, it did mean that we got out to the car park easily and were on the road in no time at all so that we were actually home in Manchester just after midnight ready for a quick shower and our own beds.
To my mind, The Big Feastival isn’t a family festival so much as a family friendly festival – and I think this is quite an important distinction. Family festivals are aimed entirely at families and you’d feel a bit of a wally rocking up without your kids, whereas a family friendly festival like The Big Feastival is a bit different – there were plenty of people there this August bank holiday weekend without young kids – couples, families with older kids, groups of friends and even groups of teens (now I’m not sure if they were there on their own, or if their parents were just elsewhere, but there were definitely some quite big groups of teens particularly on Saturday) and of course this does make for a slightly different vibe – however at no point over the course of the weekend did we see any trouble (bar a group of kids being removed from the festival site fairly early on on the Friday evening) or anyone who was really drunk.
There were security around the festival site and on the gates (though nobody seemed to be checking bags at all) but, as I think is often the case at a family friendly festival, everything just felt really chilled and safe – everyone just wants to have a nice time. Dave and I were both quite happy to let Ben go off and order his own food and bring it back to where we were sitting or for the girls to go off to the toilet together as long as we weren’t somewhere really crowded so we knew they’d be able to find us again easily.
I’m really glad we were able to finally make it to The Big Feastival and give it a proper go after our false start a few years back. We had a really lovely weekend and boxed off our summer nicely with glittery, sunshine fueled festival memories!
You check out our Big Feastival highlight on instagram here
Tickets for The Big Feastival 2024 aren’t yet on sale but you can sign up to The Big Feastival newsletter to be the first to hear about when they will be available! And, if you fancy going to The Big Feastival for free this year, why not consider volunteering?
For more festival content, check out these posts next:
UK food and drink festivals 2024
August bank holiday festivals 2024
The best family friendly festivals
Our tips for camping at festivals with kids
The best food to take to a festival
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