Food...tips

[A89]

Hey everyone,

Got tix for kendal...first time going...(new to camping really)

Does anyone have any tips on cooking food/buying food...what to bring...

Is there any shops outside of the festival within walking distance?

Thanks!

[bottonrob]

there is a shop on site but it is extortionate! the food stalls are very good though, lots of variety (Japanese, Italian, Tibetan etc). we (family of 4) take a camping stove and packet rices/ noodles and pad them out with slices salamis and smoked sausages for our lunches and tend to eat out in the evening. if you're a tea drinker bring a kettle and bags etc but the coffee at the outlets is pretty good if you're happy to q.

something to carry water in is a good idea too, (drinking water is free but the waterpoints are dotted around so depends how close you tent) a 2litre bottle of cider works but you have to think of someway to empty out the cider on the first night (afternoon!)

[Comfy Bean]

Yip camping stove is a good investment. Think I paid £15 at Halfords a good few years back and it`s still going strong. For eating out try Ghandis flip flop. A curry from there washed down with a mojito from Sailor Jerry`s and your sorted.

Bacon rolls are always a good start to the day. You would spend a fortune feeding weans at the stalls 3 times a day so worth carrying what you can.

Not sure if BBQ`s are allowed anymore ? Someone on here can maybe advise......

[johnboy1981]

Pot noodle,sausage rolls, curlywurly chocolate bar and a little tin of G n T, repeat every day and live like a king/queen.

[Emandjay]

other than the onsite (expensive and limited) shop, there isn't anywhere in walking distance that I know of. Shap or Penrith are probably the closest shops. Lochland5 is local so should be able to confirm this.

There are supposed to be dedicated BBQ areas to reduce the risk of fires. I've never spotted them and lots of people manage to smuggle in disposable BBQs.

I think the food stalls are above average and reasonably priced compared to other festivals and similar events and there is a good choice.

As others have said, invest in a camping stove, take tea, coffee pot noodles, mug shots for emergencies. I also take wraps/flat breads (ordinary bread gets squashed) eggs, bacon, ham cheese tomatoes etc. plus some snacks for breakfast/lunch. This can keep the cost down. I freeze water bottles (tip a bit out first to prevent spiting the bottle as the water freezes and expands), and put them in the freezer box with the food to keep it cool saving space. You can use the water as it defrosts. More importantly, I also, almost, freeze my beer & cider and use this to keep the food cool. Don't try and do a Sunday roast. You will miss best part of the day.

[LOCHLAND5]

There's a shop in askham which is the closest it's a village store , 20 min walk from site , then it's shap it's got a chippy and a co op , then Penrith .

Any how I've been thinking I am considering putting on an alternative headliner in the village hall for the Saturday night to take on frank turner there's a couple of old guys that live in the village that play the spoons and the banjo ! I'm thinking a bit of line dancing and a rip roaring ceilidh as well , bring your own booze but make a donation to the village children's play area fund ! Ohh yeah if I can get Gregg's involved might do a pie an pea supper . Or do you guys prefer beans ?

Feed back would be much appreciated .

Thanks in advance

Lochland5

[Flaminglippy]

For eating out try Ghandis flip flop. A curry from there washed down with a mojito from Sailor Jerry`s and your sorted.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Flaminglippy

[Rumblestripe]

I tend to take lots of cereal bars and cartons of orange/fruit juice which I freeze beforehand which keeps beers cool also if you are taking vodka or gin pop it in the freezer (it won't freeze, unless some bugger has watered it down) and works like a great freezer block. Remember to decant your vodka into plastic bottles (no glass on site). I don't take much beer (just a few for the first night as I hate warm beer, I am "northern"!)

For three/four days you can live on cereal bars and fruit juice topped off with hot stuff from the stalls.

Also don't forget to take paracetamol and/or ibuprofen, indigestion remedies and any other simple meds you regularly use.

[pc3036]

last year on Thursday they were really thouroughly checking for glass and excess alcohol!

also from memory they do allow passouts to the outside world but they dont encourage it - you can get everything you need on site

wood fired pizza was good, as were kebabs, there was a huge amount of choice for food, and drink

Edited March 14, 2014 by pc3036

[viberunner]

Good advice already in here. There's lots of good food on-site, as well as fillers like chips; but the shop itself limited. Buy before you arrive if you can.

As already said, self-sealed stuff is great, so cereal bars etc. I also treat myself to a big box of luxury biscuits. Digestives are for the rest of the year, get yourself a luxury box of Fox's or something.

I recommend a flat-bed camping stove (the flat-bed ones are the the most stable) and two cans of gas, though they WILL be for sale or scrounging (campers tend to be helpful), along with a camping kettle. Amazon has a flatbed stove for a tenner, and a stove for a fiver.

Foodwise, I've said it before, I'll say it again: find a Chinese supermarket and get out-of-actual-Asia pots of noodles (rather than disgusting Pot Noodles). I buy mostly brand A-One, which is Vietnamese if I recall correctly, but there are loads of similar ones. They're fantastic... delicious, hot, filling, and don't require cooking/washing up. Just that hot water. This is the stuff I'm talking about. (Don't forget your fork!).

For drink, bring coffee or tea, sugar too if you like. If you're cold - temperature dips at night, during rain, early mornings etc. - a nice hot cuppa in your tent is a beaut. Fresh milk can go sour after several warm days so I take coffeemate type stuff along too.

You can get water on-site, and if you're making tea, coffee, noodles, etc. you can do with a carrier. Rather than carry a weight of water, just bring an empty big water bottle (the five litre ones are cheap in supermarkets) or buy a collapsible water carrier. Again, Amazon do one for a fiver.

I'd recommend staying away from cans of food, proper cooking, etc., due to the weight, let alone the weight and hassle of saucepans, washing-up, and the rest of it. As said, if you want a nice dinner there are lots of great places to eat.

PS, if there's a least chance of sun don't forget your sunblock!

[viberunner]

Oh, alcohol, best recommendation is bring boxes of wine.

It's a better on the alcohol-to-weight ratio compared to beer, they very strictly prohibit glass, a box is several bottles at that and packs much easier, and once you're done you can get the skin out of the box and inflate it as a camping pillow.

[Pooly JP]

We took a load of food between us last year and ended up wasting most of it, as most of you already said i found the food outlets reasonabley priced and every bit of food we bought was excellent.

[sinc72]

Who goes to a music festival and thinks about food? Its a luxury you might happen across from time to time

[A89]

Wow, thanks for the replies! Very helpful, especially the links!

Obvs with having a young child that is hungry every five minutes, have to plan these things in advance to keep sanity later on

[Flachwichser]

From your recommendations the food you have on site looks like a paupers dinner.

Chips, chips and more chips. I make no wonder you peoples from Manchester have spotty complexion and grease hair.

Bratwurst is what you need, not what you call "hot dogs" (which sound like they are made out of dogs).

[Lowther Calling]

The flat stove and kettle is top advice +1 for that...

if you're new to camping, i'd strongly recommend you have a few trial runs at it first, especially with kids!

A trial run could be just putting a tent up in the garden (this well get you used to putting it up, and the best way to put it up).

Camping at a festival can be a bit daunting if you've not done it before!

As mentioned, the food in the Arena is good, and well priced, I'd only really recommend bringing stuff for breakfast and snacks.

[andy85]

As mentioned, the food in the Arena is good, and well priced, I'd only really recommend bringing stuff for breakfast and snacks.

Edited March 20, 2014 by andy85

[Lowther Calling]

Would you generally cook something for lunch, or just take a sandwich with you?

[andy85]

Would you generally cook something for lunch, or just take a sandwich with you?

[Stefanie_Rogers]

Pot noodles, cereal bars, tinned foods such as beans, soup etc, crisps. Of course you'd need a stove & kettle to cook some of these things. I sometimes take a cool bag with some BBQ stuff and have one on the first night with a disposable BBQ

[Flaminglippy]

I was at Moseley Folk Festival a couple of years ago and there was a couple there who had not only taken a cheese board, they also had a cloche for it. Possibly the most middle class thing I've ever seen at a festival.

(I'll be honest...I didn't even know what a cloche was until me ex told me off for laughing at their 'glass lid'...).

[ramragon]

Did they have a nice bottle of port to wash it down ? That would have been impressive (unless they were making cheeky vimtos with it !)

[Lowther Calling]

I was at Moseley Folk Festival a couple of years ago and there was a couple there who had not only taken a cheese board, they also had a cloche for it. Possibly the most middle class thing I've ever seen at a festival.

(I'll be honest...I didn't even know what a cloche was until me ex told me off for laughing at their 'glass lid'...).

[andy85]

This is a music festival, not a month in the Andes!

Edited March 20, 2014 by andy85

[ramragon]

We're taking the caravan this yr so isn't really an issue but in previous years we've always taken food with us. Even at glastonbury where we hiked for ages to the tent we'd still take food with us and just do an extra trip to the car to get it.

Eating in the arena if money isn't an issue but you could quite easily go through £20 each a day on food, we never had that much spare cash. Initially we used to take tins of big breakfast for the morning and add a smoked sausage to pad it out a bit. Tend to take bacon, sausage an bbq stuff now and keep it in and few cool boxes with a few 2ltr milk containers filled with water and frozen down to keep stuff fresh. Even at a 4 day festival the milk containers still had ice in them on the festival Monday as we were heading home. Chilled boxes also came in handy for cooling cans as well. Taking something like that won't be a problem if your in the emperors field but I appreciate if you're in general camping it might be an issue.