Get on my land!

Main image: Ania Shripmton

This article first appeared in our Earth Day special issue of My Green Pod Magazine, distributed with The Guardian on 22 April 2021. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox

Valley Fest, the best-tasting music festival in the South West, is shaping up to be a lot of fun. Government permitting, the event will take place 30 July – 01 August 2021.

Headliners of the family-friendly food and music festival, near Bristol, include Travis, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Deacon Blue – but consistently, the biggest crowd-pleaser of all is the view. Edged by the rolling Mendip Hills, Chew Valley Lake provides the sparkling backdrop.

The weekend also showcases the region’s finest produce: from charcuterie to cheddars and ciders to sausages, you can expect plenty of Somerset style and sizzle.

Much of the carefully selected produce has been locally grown using regenerative methods, meaning it’s full of flavour and our soils have been protected in the process.

The festival is held on an organic farm so looking after the land is part of its DNA. Much of the food is sourced from the organic Community Farm, Valley Fest’s neighbour, and the festival has a great programme of talks on food and farming.

‘We want people to understand the connection between their food choices and the land. We only have around 60 harvests left if we continue with commonly used conventional farming practices because global soils have been degraded so badly.’

LUKE HASELLL
Valley Fest founder

Food for thought

You can drop in to sessions on soil health, wildlife-friendly gardening, farm tours and panel discussions on regenerative farming, and join in with BBQs, feasts, street food, chef demonstrations and panel discussions.

The region’s culinary heroes and heroines will be cooking up a storm day and night. Some of the feasts will be created by Josh Eggleton, owner of Michelin-starred Pony and Trap, and Rob Howell, head chef of Root, a Bib Gourmand award winner.

Recipe cards, tasters and tips will be provided at cooking demonstrations from Olia Hercules, named Observer Food Monthly’s Rising Star of 2015; Tom Hunt, author of Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet and Great British Bake Off star Briony May Williams.

Family fun

Now in its sixth year, Valley Fest’s lineup has always included big names and rising stars. For 2021, My BABY, The Allergies, The Blockheads, The Snuts, Toploader, The Cuban Brothers, Beans on Toast and Oh My God! It’s the Church are on the bill.