Food and music festivals in one

You no longer need to choose between a food or music festival. This summer both mainstream and specialist events are putting chefs and pop-up restaurants on the line-up with the bandsLong gone are the days when nosh at music festivals meant soggy chips and floppy frankfurters in plastic baps. Mainstream festivals have been offering a wide choice of good grub for some time now, with specialist stalls selling everything from proper paella to posh, wood-fired pizzas. This year, there's a discernible trend towards niche, even gourmet, edible offers at live events, making them so much more than your bog standard music fests.As Johnny Davis rightly remarked in last weekend's Observer New Review, the sheer number of music festivals in the UK (from small and local to monsters like Glastonbury) has reached saturation point, with the "season" now running from March to December. During the peak period, between June and September, there isn't a single festival-free weekend. Set in this context, how can event organisers work to make their festivals stand apart? A strong line-up is obviously one way, but as festivals become more homogeneous (to borrow Davis's example, Hot Chip performed at 46 festivals across Europe in 2010) that can no longer be relied upon. Even the biggest acts may not cut it to create really unique selling points. And that's where food can come in.The movement towards fusing live music with great food has already spoilt Londoners this summer. Jamie Oliver's The Big Feastival on Clapham Common offered punters an array of fare from Britain's omnipresent foodie brand as well as acts such as Soul II Soul, the Mystery Jets and Athlete. Yes, this was a music festival, but with food elevated to equal status as the bands. In addition to the presence of Oliver's own Fifteen and Barbecoa, there was Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone High Street's The Providores and East Dulwich's bastion of seasonal and organic grub, Franklins. Given the interchangeable line-ups of many festivals, Feastival was a refreshing change, and calls into question the need for those that cater solely for either foodies (such as Taste of London) or musos (take your pick).Last weekend's Field Day, which took place in north London, included a more dazzling selection of food than ever before, with Clapham's monthly Venn Street market rustling up artisan snacks such as risotto balls and Holy Cow free-range burgers. Leather Lane's favourite food truck, Daddy Donkey's Kick-Ass Mexican Grill also showed up, and the following day at Field Day's sister festival, Apple Cart, the current talk of the town, the Meateasy burger truck, joined the party too.The family-friendly Camp Bestival in Dorset offers a wide choice of yummy food for the army of yummy mummies in attendance. For the last three years, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has pitched a marquee almost as big as his nearby River Cottage HQ, to offer foodie workshops as well as food. Next door, a local farmers' market occupied a smaller marquee offering a wide range of delicious snacks at surprisingly uninflated prices. There was also a bespoke cocktail bar in the shape of the Monkey Shoulder treehouse. Outside, the Scotch whisky makers mix cocktails for �5 a go (only a pound or so more than the mediocre festival lager on offer) while a DJ played old-school soul; inside the intimate treehouse bar, two mixologists created cocktails to order from hundreds of weird and wonderful ingredients in the jars around the walls ? such as Cointreau dust, lemon salt, candied ginger and liquorice sugar. Sipping cocktails in the cool, dimly lit bar made a great half-hour escape from the festival crowds/kids/sun/rain.With supper clubs, pop-up restaurants and street food all in vogue, music festivals are well-placed to jump on the bandwagon, as their temporary nature mirrors the trendy pop-up model.This coming weekend initially posed a dilemma for me ? a choice between Hertfordshire's Standon Calling and Wilderness festival in Oxfordshire (both 12-14 August). It was a close call. Standon has Lamb, John Cooper Clarke and Feast of the Gods, a pop-up from The Rebel Dining Society on the cards, but Wilderness promises even more. Laura Marling and Antony and the Johnsons are just two of the big names who'll be providing the soundtrack to meals by Moro and the newly Michelin-starred Petersham Nurseries. It was the food that, quite literally, took the biscuit. I'll be Oxford-bound on Friday.Less smart than the likes of Wilderness, but no less lovely, is Crayke near York, host to the Galtres festival (26-28 August), which will be garnishing headliners British Sea Power and The Charlatans with hearty grub sourced mainly in Yorkshire. Galtres caters especially well for the sweet-toothed, with gorgeous displays from Wham Bam Meringue, spreads from Glorious Tea Parties (Yorkshire brew and scone anyone?) and Swirlz Yorvale ice-cream.The food at Pulse festival (3 September) promises to be as unusual as the acts on stage (Kissmet and Subgiant to name just two). The festival is held at Sunnyfields Farm near Southampton, which will be promoting its "from field to plate" ethos. Sunnyfields pioneered the Food and More Project, which aims to provide local, organic food to people "as directly as possible", and at reasonable prices (the website will put up details of the fare available nearer the time).Once a boutique autumnal fling, Bestival (8-11 September) has grown into a festival Goliath over the last five years. This year the Isle of Wight festival expects close to 55,000 guests, and, like its little brother Camp Bestival, will have ample food with which to welcome them. The edibles will rival the luminary line-up of The Cure, Bjork and PJ Harvey, with an appearance from HFW's River Cottage, snazzy Moorish food at The Shisha Lounge (think luxury Moroccan yurts), and a whole catalogue of hog roasts ? including Gordon Ramsay's favourite, The Whole Hog.FestivalsFood festivalsFood & drinkFestivalsUnited KingdomMina Hollandguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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