From a long table banquet to Michelin-starred chefs: Wilderness Festival knows food, and it knows how to do food well!
Over the past decade, festival organisers have realised that guests now expect way more than your average (always dependable) greasy burger from a van. Which is why at certain festivals, you’ll find that they’ve gone above and beyond to ensure that their event caters for everyone.
At Wilderness, there’s a wealth of delicious dishes on offer, including the returning Soul Food Cafe, which in its second year will bring its tasty selection of smoothies, salads and fresh poke bowls, as well as fresh-brewed coffee, New York-style bagels and homemade ice cream. Located in the middle of The Sanctuary, the Soul Food Cafe is the perfect place to start your day or recharge for the afternoon.
Win a luxury ticket package for two to this year’s Wilderness – courtesy of Audi.
Organisers take festival food to a whole new level by inviting some of the UK and Europe’s most respected chefs to serve up delicious feasts, keeping you satiated enough to keep dancing all weekend.
This year, that includes Irish chef and presenter Anna Haugh, chef patron of Myrtle Restaurant and Little Sister Wine Bar in Chelsea, London.
Haugh began her career in Dublin with Derry Clarke of L’Ecrivain before moving to London where she worked with Philip Howard and Gordon Ramsay. She founded the Myrtle Restaurant in 2019, determined to introduce Londoners to a heightened taste of Ireland – with Irish produce at the heart of the menu.
Joining Haugh is Andy Beynon, chef proprietor of the renowned Behind restaurant in London Fields, which recently celebrated its fifth year with a Michelin star. Beynon’s 10-course blind tasting menu at the intimate 18-covery eatery has sustainability at its core, focusing entirely on day-boat fish and shellfish sourced predominantly from British shores.
Johnnie Crowe has a long-standing relationship with small-scale farmers, growers and conservation-led producers around the UK, which lends itself to his work as chef at Restaurant St Barts, where he and his team work exclusively with British produce. Often, dishes are composed around just two key ingredients; his menu at Wilderness will reinterpret British cuisine using ingredients that, to some, might seem exotic but are in fact British staples. Think Cornish limes and lemons with squids, English Cantaloupe melons and a “British Soy Sauce” alternative made in-house with heritage grains.
Wilderness’s 2025 quarter of chefs is completed by Joshua Overington, chef owner of the Michelin-starred Mýse in north Yorkshire. Overington’s early career saw him working in some of the best kitchens in the country, from the three Michelin-starred Waterside Inn in Bray and The Pipe and Glass in Yorkshire. He then trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, inspiring him to open Le Cochon Aveugle in York in 2014, offering his modern take on bistro dining. He closed the restaurant in 2022 to start a fresh adventure with Mýse.
This fantastic group will convene at The Chef’s Table, located on a hillside overlooking the beautiful Lake Wilderness, where they will prepare a seven-course tasting menu for small groups of diners sitting around the counter, where you’ll be able to sample delicious wines and speak to the brilliant minds behind each dish.
The banquets are presented by figures including Angela Hartnett, Prue Leith, Tom Sellers and Stephen Manderson (AKA Professor Green) and Imad Alamab (Imad’s Syrian Kitchen).
Elsewhere, Ben Quinn is the co-founder of Woodfired Canteen, known for hosting dinners in special locations. He’ll be bringing his lovely team to Wilderness for some live-fire cooking in an equally lively atmosphere, as he brings his unique combinations of flavours and skilled cooking to the table. For his long table banquet there will be five courses of respectfully sourced, local and season ingredients all cooked right in front of you.
Tickets to Wilderness are on sale now: enter a prize draw to win a luxury ticket package for two, courtesy of Audi.
