Big Feastival is a second chance for Alex James's farm, says organiser

Big Feastival, a food and music festival fronted by chef Jamie Oliver, is taking place at former Blur bassist Alex James's farm in Oxfordshire. It is run by Taste Festivals which is part of Brand Events.

In September 2011, the farm was the site for Harvest, another food and music festival organisd by Big Wheel Promotions, a company unrelated to Brand Events. which then went into voluntary administration, leaving unpaid debts to creditors.

James said at the time that he regretted allowing Big Wheel to use his name and land to stage the event.

Taste Festivals has worked with some local suppliers who were involved in Harvest to put on this weekend's Big Feastival. Justin Clarke, chief executive of Taste Festivals, told Event: "Some of our smaller local contractors were involved with Harvest. We've had a lot of kindness from the people who were involved last year."

Clarke continued: "Harvest was great from a consumer point of view, but from a business point of view it was awful. A second chance has definitely been given to us from local companies: they understand that Brand Events and Taste Festivals are nothing to do with Big Wheel Promotions, and that we're not going to make the same mistakes.

"They'd like Feastival to work because ultimately a successful event in this area at this time of year is good for everyone."

Clarke told Event he was pleased with ticket sales for Big Feastival, which are approaching the maximum 20,000 capacity with all camping tickets sold out. Chefs on the bill include Valentine Warner and Gennaro Contaldo.

This is the second Big Feastival, after Rouge Events organised the first event on Clapham Common last summer.

Comment below and let us know what you think.

For more in-depth and print-only features, showcases and interviews with world-leading brands, don't miss the next issue of Event magazine by subscribing here

Follow @louiseridley