I’m always a bit unsure of what to expect of the food at festivals as it can go one of two ways. Either it’s all poor quality, overpriced burgers and chips or it’s an amazing selection of food from around the world, often healthy, always good quality and served in generous sized portions.
As I hadn’t been to the Hay Festival before I didn’t know which way it would swing and so came prepared with plenty of dehydrated pasta and noodles that I could quickly whip up in the van.
It turned out I needn’t have worried as the food at the Hay Festival was blummin’ lovely. I took all my pasta and noodles home with me again.
So in case you’re thinking about going to Hay next year and you’re wondering what the food will be like, I’ve collated some of my photos of the things I ate. Scroll down to find out more about the food at the Hay Festival.
The Food Hall
Most of the places selling food are located in the big food hall. The walls of the tent are lined on three sides with stalls and to the left of the main food hall is a smaller ‘family’ section which also has food stalls.
There are plenty of tables and benches in the main hall, more in the family hall and also tables and chairs just outside. There’s a water fountain where you can refill your water bottle and recycling bins for your waste.
There’s a really wide choice of food as you’ll see from the pictures below. I only bought ‘main meals’ from the food hall, but there are also stalls selling sandwiches, pastries and cakes.
Apart from the food hall there’s also a coffee shop and a pub on site, but I didn’t get time to go to either of these.
Pierogies
Pierogies are a bit of a new discovery for me so this was what I went for on my first day for lunch. They are a kind of Polish ravioli – potato, cheese, meat or fruit is encased in dough and then boiled.
I got three large pierogies topped with onions, sauerkraut and sour cream and with a little mustard on the side. They were really good and I was pleased to find that the plates were paper and the cutlery was wooden. This is something the festival has encouraged this year to help make the event less detrimental to the environment.
Smoked Tofu
The smoked tofu intrigued me and as there was a whole stall dedicated to it of course I had to try it. It was presented burger style in a seeded bun with salad and dressing. Tofu can be bland when it’s not in a sauce so I was interested to find out how flavourful it would be when served in this way. It actually worked really well as the smokiness came through as did the chilli. I’d say this works just as well as a regular veggie burger.
Mexican Beans
The Mexican bean stall was selling wraps that were so stuffed the filling couldn’t actually be wrapped. It was very messy to eat and needed a knife and fork, but boy was it good. The beans are in a fairly mild chilli sauce, but I got them to add lots of extra jalapeños . It was served with olives, and a red cabbage coleslaw.
Indian Curry
I struggled to choose what to have at the Indian curry stall as it all looked so good. In the end I went for a mix of the three main curries served with basmati rice and chutney.
I got a Keralan cauliflower curry with coconut, chickpeas and pineapple. I don’t usually like pineapple as part of a savoury meal, but this was fine as it didn’t overpower the rest of the meal. I also had a sweet potato and spinach curry in a tomato based sauce and tikka dahl.
The Good Slice Pizza
This might have been a food hall in a tent, but the pizzas were made to order in a proper pizza oven. I had a Margherita with added olives and mushrooms.
What I especially liked about this stall was its socially responsible ethos. The Good Slice works with a homeless charity in London and a children’s charity in Malawi and for each pizza they sell they provide a meal for someone in need.They also ensure the ingredients they use are sustainably sourced.
Shepherd’s Ice Cream
Shepherd’s ice cream has to be tried. If you try only one type of food at the Hay Festival it should be this. The ice cream is made from sheep milk hence the name ‘Shepherd’s’. It’s really creamy, tastes delicious and because sheep milk has less fat and more vitamins than cow’s milk it doesn’t take much to persuade yourself that it’s healthy (or is that just me?)
As well as all the usual flavours they make flavours you might not have come across before. The cone pictured has a scoop of peanut butter flavour and a scoop of Lebanese coffee which is flavoured with Arabic spices such as cardamom. I also tried sesame and honey flavour which was also really good.
Shepherd’s have been making their ice cream since 1987 and they have an ice cream parlour in the town centre. Every time I walked past the queue was out the door which has got to be a good sign, right? They also have a couple of stalls at the festival site which were really busy though the queues pretty much disappeared in the evening.
If you go to the shop in town there is a large seating area inside or you can bring your cone outside and sit in the covered outdoor seating area on the opposite side of the road.
The Old Electric Shop
It’s not just the site itself where you can go to get good food at the Hay Festival. The town has lots of wonderful places to eat or get a coffee. I only got to try a couple of them because I spent most of my time at the site, but I’m so glad I did make some time to have a nosey round town.
The Old Electric Shop is so named because it’s … yep, you guessed it … housed in an old electric shop. The shop itself is quirky and sells a whole mix of interesting things (that’s their term and I agree with it). You can find clothes, homewares, books, furniture, gifts, much of which is new, but some is also vintage.
The reason I visited though was for the cafe. They have a vegetarian and vegan cafe with a wonderful sounding menu. I wasn’t hungry when I visited and so only popped in for a coffee. I got tempted by the mini pastéis de natas displayed on the counter and as they were only tiny couldn’t resist having one along with coffee.
I looked at what the people around me were eating and it all looked really good. I would have gone back later for lunch except I’d already decided I wanted to go to the Salad Project for lunch. I really want to go back to Hay though and will definitely come here for food. The menu includes soups, risotto, stuffed peppers, houmous, salads, cakes, eggs … Maybe I’ll need to go more than once!
The Salad Project
I loved the idea of this place and I love it even more now that I’ve actually eaten there. This is another place that has a queue out of the door. I walked past a few times before I was able to get a photo with the queue this short – before you couldn’t really see it properly because of the queue.
It’s a tiny place. That counter you see is pretty much the whole place. There’s one table with a couple of stools, but that’s it.
The man you see runs it with his wife who was looking after their baby when I was there so he was on his own. Each day he prepares a selection of salads including ones with various grains and serves them up with falafel and halloumi and pitta bread.
He was working flat out, but still managing to have a cheery conversation with everyone. Unless you ask for otherwise, you’ll get a tray with a bit of everything in it.
It’s a bit difficult to tell what the salads are in this picture, but there were a at least half a dozen of them and all were delicious. Even the cucumber slices you can see weren’t just ordinary slices of cucumber, but were dressed and made into a really nice salad. The whole lot was topped off with tzatziki, tahini and chilli sauce.
So …
Have I got you excited about the food at the Hay Festival? And the food in Hay generally? Which would be your favourite? Do you know of any other must-try places in Hay? Share you thoughts and recommendations in the comments below.
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I love edinburgh, I was there during fringe…. awesome experience
I went to Edinburgh this year for Fringe too – I agree it was pretty awesome. You should try Hay some time too.