Forest Feasitval, the street food festival in a woodland, near a castle by the sea, opens Easter weekend among the trees at Candleston Woods, Merthyr Mawr.
With two bank holidays for its opening weekend, there’s a family focus to the first four days.
To keep the little ones entertained, rope walker extraordinaire, Chris Bullzini, returns to Forest Feastival and will be performing at every session across the weekend. And to help families make the most of all of the street food available, many traders have created special £5 ‘fiver feast’ dishes.
These include Bao Selecta’s vegan crispy ‘beef’ baos, Kindle’s new Fried Chicken Chronicles’ smoked chicken wings, Kerala Karavan’s Massala Chaat Tostadas, Nomad Kitchen’s Korean Welsh beef Ssam wrap, fried chicken from Smokin’ Griddle, a mini steak roll with sriracha butter from Fire & Flank and chicken and waffles from Ychafi Street Food.
In Forest Feastival’s new Mexican Cabana & Terrace Sin Nombre Tacos and El Cabron Tacos will both have ‘fiver feast’ nachos dishes on offer.
And in the new sweet zone – Dessert Island Disco – diners can finish up with taster dishes including mini Belgian chocolate brownies from Pwdin, churros and chilli chocolate from the Church of Churros or a double Welsh cake and ice cream short stack from Rogue Welsh Cakes.
Good Friday’s evening session is just for the grown ups with new resident DJs Pamoja Disco Club taking over the music with a mix of jazz, soul, Afrobeat and disco. The four-strong DJ collective have been resident in some of Cardiff’s most popular independent venues and regularly tour European festivals. They’ll be kicking off Good Friday’s entertainment underneath the huge Street Food Circus disco ball at the Dessert Island Disco from 4pm – 10pm.
Drinks include a bar take-over by Tiny Rebel, featuring their locally-brewed lagers and pale ales, a new Harlequin cocktail bar with Welsh spirits, including an espresso martini from Ammanford’s Coaltown Coffee, and an elderflower sparkling wine made by Mydflower in the Brecon Beacons.
Street Food Circus founder and ringmaster Matt the Hat said:
“Spring is finally here and the days are warming up nicely as we look forward to the Easter long weekend.
“We’ve got some of the best street food in Wales at our unique site among the trees, alongside great entertainment for the whole family – all within walking distance from the Glamorgan heritage coastline and the Merthyr Mawr dunes. We work really hard to make this a fantastic day out that the whole family will love.
“Bring the kids to toast marshmallows over the fire and be wowed by our circus performers during the day, or join us for some of the best local DJs and a cocktail by the fire as the sun goes down over the trees,” he said.
Tickets this year have been held at 2022 prices – £5+VAT & booking fee per person, with kids free, and include a Forest Feastival reusable cup for use at the bar. Tickets must be bought in advance from forestfeastival.com
Dates & Times
EASTER WEEKEND
- April: Good Friday 7th – Easter Monday 10th
- Good Friday: 11am – 3pm; 3pm – 7pm; 7pm – 10:30pm (adult only session)
- Saturday: 11am – 3pm (dogs allowed); 3pm – 7pm; 7pm – 10:30pm
- Easter Sunday: 11am – 3pm (dogs allowed); 3pm – 7pm; 7pm – 10:30pm
- Bank Holiday Monday: 11pm – 4pm, 4pm – 8:30pm
APRIL/MAY WEEKENDS
- April: Friday 14 – Sunday 16
- April: Friday 21- Sunday 23
- April: Friday 28- Monday 1 May (BH Monday)
- May: Friday 5 – Monday 8 (Coronation, inc BH Monday)
- May: Friday 12 – Sunday 14
Times:
- Friday – 6pm – 10:30pm (adult only session)
- Saturday – 11am – 3pm (dogs allowed); 3pm – 7pm; 7pm – 10:30pm
- Sunday – 11pm – 4pm (dogs allowed), 4pm – 8:30pm
- Sunday (Bank Holiday weekends) 11am – 3pm (dogs allowed); 3pm – 7pm; 7pm – 10:30pm
- Bank Holiday Monday – 11pm – 4pm, 4pm – 8:30pm
Location
Candleston Woods, Merthyr Mawr, Bridgend CF32 0LS
