Blur bassist Alex James has revealed the bizarre reality of running his annual festival and the grim discovery he made while enjoying his farm months later. The 57-year-old musician is preparing to welcome thousands of revellers to his Cotswolds farm for The Big Feastival, where music, great food and family fun come together.
But after the final bands have played and the crowds have gone home, Alex is left dealing with the aftermath, which can apparently involve some rather unusual and pretty gross lost property. He revealed: "We were going on our post-Christmas lunch walk, and there was a pair of knickers in a tree!"
Running the Festival Like a Small Republic
Alex admits keeping order at the festival can feel like a rather unusual job, and so he needs a clear head for the weekend. He told Outsiding: "The first few years it was like throwing a great big party but now I have to, you know, be quite sensible... It’s like being the Prime Minister of a kind of small republic of drunk, happy people for the weekend."
His duties don’t necessarily end when the music does, with Alex admitting there are usually still a few chefs "cartwheeling around the garden" on the Tuesday until he sends the "cheese police" after them. But once the final band has played on the Sunday night, he said he is "passed a margarita" and officially goes "off duty from that point".
The Big Feastival Returns for 15th Year
The festival combines music, food and family entertainment and returns bank holiday weekend with Basement Jaxx, The Streets, Bastille, Rudimental and more on the line-up. He said: "It's just what you want, when you're having a party you want good food, you want good music, something for the kids to do and so I've got the venue come on down!"
Knickers or not, Alex said the Big Feastival runs "slicker" now it's in its 15th year.
