Harvest at Jimmy’s- 11th September 2011

When I was offered the opportunity to go to the Harvest festival I confess I had never heard of it and I also hadn’t heard of Jimmy… After some research, however, I realised that this sort of festival was ideal for me as it involved lots of eating! Jimmy is also a friend of Jamie Oliver, so I knew we would be in good hands.

After trundling up to Ipswich in a little KA, we arrived, parked the car( in hope that we would find it again) and followed our noses to find the delicious food.

Once we had checked in my stomach started to growl and I didn’t know where to look. All around us were stalls selling delicacies from cupcakes to burgers to fish to ostrich to a very large hog roast! Everything was tempting. We opted for some olives to start with to try and quieten our tummies whilst we attempted to make an educated choice on what to eat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a Wellington boot flying through the air before   plummeting back to the ground. We ventured over to investigate…  It seemed we had stumbled upon a game of Welly Wanging. This old school country game had been set up by a local boutique clothing and Wellington boots store (www.joules.com) as way to entertain the punters. Depending on which pad the Welly landed on, you could win various discounts or even a free pair of Wellies. Some contestants made it look easy and my friend managed to win a 40% discount. Alas it was not my day for Welly Wanging, as I missed on all three attempts…. perhaps I should practice in my garden for next year…

I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of the festival. There was plenty to see and taste. The burgers were fantastic, excellent quality meat and the ice cream was delicious. We managed to dip into one tent and learn a mackerel dish (I shall be practicing next weekend)  and in other tents you could find regular master classes or a food safari where you could discover how to pick wild foods.

As you have probably gathered I was particularly interested in the food at the festival, but not to forget Harvest does have a good line up of acts. The Kooks were headlining on the Sunday and other acts such as Eliza Doolittle and Charlie Simpson (Charlie from Busted) were also performing. I had to leave early to make it back down to the big smoke in time for work on Monday but the music I did catch was easy going and fitted in with the vibe of the festival.

I would definitely recommend this festival and would strongly suggest you bring two things: a healthy appetite and a strong right arm to throw your Wellies!