A feast of food for spring
SPRING is approaching – despite the recent snow! – and with that comes the prospect of a summer of food festivals, the highlight of every foodie’s calendar, and whole host of delicious street food vendors, new and seasoned, will drop in to showcase their delicious products.
And while summer doesn’t feel on the horizon quite just yet, we won’t have to wait that long for our first foodie festival of the year as the dates for Forest Feastival at Merthyr Mawr have been revealed – and it’s sooner than you think.
With new chef pop-ups, street food favourites, new restaurant concepts and zones and a Tiny Rebel bar takeover, the Street Food Circus’ biannual Forest Feastival is making a delicious return to Candleston Woods in Bridgend’s Merthyr Mawr across six weekends in April and May.
Street Food Circus founder and “ringleader” Matt the Hat said: “We keep building the experience at this unique site. We’re back with new themed zones for food, drinks and music, lots of our award-winning regular traders and some of the best chefs around choosing Forest Feastival to launch creative new pop-ups.
“I’m excited to welcome Tiny Rebel to the Street Food Circus too – it means we can offer an all-Welsh lineup of beers on the bar, alongside Welsh wines and spirits like Mydflower and Coaltown’s Coffee Liqueur.”
He added: “In spring, it’s a great day out. You can spend the day walking the Glamorgan heritage coastline or explore the Merthyr Mawr dunes, then join the circus in the woods for the best street food trucks and chefs from around Wales and beyond.
“Bring the kids to toast marshmallows over the fire and learn circus skills by day or join us for chilled-out DJ sessions and cocktails after dark.”
Pitched up among the trees in the woods, British Street Food awardwinners Fire & Flank and Keralan Karavan will be returning alongside Bao Selecta, Smokin’ Griddle, Nomad Kitchen, Rock & Scallop, Mr Noodle and Bare Bones Pizza.
The team behind Nook and Kindle – Phill and Debs Lewis – will be bringing street food lovers not one but two new street food concepts – Pot Heads, which will serve up baked, smoked and fried potatoes topped with all sorts of flavour combinations, as well as a new chicken wing pop-up, the Fried Chicken Chronicles, which is exclusive to the festival.
It’s only just opened in the city centre, but Lee Skeet’s brand-new seafood and dedicated oyster bar Jackson’s is also making an appearance.
And it’s not just new names customers can expect at this spring’s Forest Feastival. Two new zones will be introduced as the woodland cabins and forest clearings are turned into the Mexican Cabana and Terrace and the Dessert Island Disco.
At the Mexican Cabana and Terrace, hungry punters can find Sin Nombre Tacos, El Cabron Tacos and Rock & Scallop seafood, drinks from Loco Tequilas and sweet treats from Church of Churros.
In the Dessert Island Disco, Street Food Circus staples Pwdin will be cooking up a sweet storm as well as Ammanford’s Coaltown coffee roast
Adding to the deliciousness, Forest Feastival will be hosting Harlequin Cocktail Bar, which will offer premium mixed drinks and Welsh spirits – and will serve up special concoctions like the Coaltown Espresso Martini.
Speaking of tasty tipples, the festival’s main bar, which last year was hosted by the Freedom Brewery craft beer bar and the BoBo cocktail bus, will be manned by Tiny Rebel, famed for its locally-brewed beverages such as Clwb Tropicana, Cali Pale and Lager 313.
Fans of Tiny Rebel, which will also be hosting the Tiny Rebel Fire Pit, can also pre-book their canned bevs as part of their ticket, so there’s no chance of running low during your visit. If beer isn’t quite your thing, fear not as Brecon Beacons-made elderflower sparkling wine by Mydflower will also be served.
Forest Feastival will be running from the weekend starting Friday, April 7 to Sunday, May 14 (including bank holiday Mondays running in between) and will be open from 11am until 10.30pm most evenings. Tickets for the event, which must be bought in advance, cost £5 plus VAT and went on sale this week. Visit www.forestfeastival for further details