We’re getting ready for the Big Tent. The menu is prepared, the tents are booked, the wellies are in the bag. Mark has designed and ordered some very smart new aprons for the occasion – and with any luck Ian has booked a sudden spell of sunshine.
As it happens the sun was shining beautifully the evening we went to meet Ian Harrower, director of the Big Tent, to have a look backstage at the kitchen in the converted stable block on the Falkland Estate in Fife.
The setting is idyllic as you can see from the picture showing Mark admiring the scenery. But he was sold on the idea before he even saw the site. “We’ve got to do this,” was his immediate reaction when Ian Harrower, director of the Big Tent, contacted World Kitchen in Leith after our fundraising event in Out of the Blue for Jock Tamson’s Bairns.
We all agreed. Whatever the weather (and we would be mad not to pack the wellies!), the World Kitchen in Leith team are looking forward to our first experience of rock festival catering. Not just any rock festival though. The Big Tent (if you don’t already know about it) is Scotland’s answer to Glastonbury…with better toilets.
World Kitchen in Leith is not cooking for the crowd of 15,000 who are expected to arrive on the edge of the conservation village of Falkland on the weekend of 21 and 22 July. We’re catering for the performers (Proclaimers, Salsa Celtica, Karine Polwart and many, many more) plus the great army of volunteers who help to keep the programme of events running smoothly from the opening Ceilidh on Friday night to the closing session on Sunday. In between there’s a wonderfully quirky mix of music, talks, food and crafts – all, or mostly, with an environmental focus, celebrating the message of stewardship and sustainability.
Altogether we expect to be feeding around 250 people each day with a characteristically multicultural mix of hot, cold, veggie and meat dishes – and most of the essential ingredients will be supplied by local, organic producers.
As you can imagine, we’re pretty excited about our first big step into outdoor catering since Leith Open Space joined forces with World Kitchen in Leith – we survived the torrential rains on our debut at Leith Gala Day 2009. But a little sunshine at Falkland would be very welcome.
