Blur's bassist Alex James is considering taking his Big Feastival concept overseas, after a planned expansion to Peru fell through.
Peru plans fell through
Since 2012, James has welcomed 25,000 visitors each August to his Oxfordshire farm for a blend of live music, cookery and a village fete atmosphere. He now wants to transport the idea to a foreign setting.
"I'd love to try and take it somewhere else," James told the Star. "We nearly went to Peru. There was a promoter interested which would be amazing because Peru's got crazy, crazy, crazy food. But then the next thing I heard he was in prison. But no, I mean, the idea of doing great food, great music together, you know, there's a marriage made in heaven for all sorts of different places."
Oxfordshire focus and celebrity neighbours
For now, he is focused on this year's event, which will feature The Streets and Bastille, along with chef masterclasses from Anna Haugh and Simon Rogan. James founded The Big Feastival in 2011 with TV chef Jamie Oliver, launching it on Clapham Common in London before moving it permanently to the Cotswolds.
The event has become a place for James to catch up with celebrity friends. "Graham (Coxon) came down last year to play a set," the 57-year-old said of his Blur bandmate. "And Keith Allen who I hadn't seen for a while. It's always nice to see Peter Crouch and The Beckhams are just down the road in the Cotswolds. I crossed David Beckham at Burford roundabout a few weeks ago!"
James's farm is also near Jeremy Clarkson, who has become a prominent figure in farming. Asked if he has been tempted to make his own docu-series to rival Clarkson's Farm, James said: "I don't know if I could give him a run for his money, when it comes to making television programmes he's a master. I mean, I love that he's got a series going on at his farm right now. He's like next door but one so the traffic's at a standstill in Chipping Norton. No one can get here on time and it's all down to him."
Farm life and Blur's future
James bought his 200-acre farm in Kingham, Oxfordshire in 2003 while he and his wife, Claire, were on honeymoon. Back then, he wrote a weekly column about his transformation from "Metropolitan, nocturnal, hellraiser, to kind of quiet country gentlemen."
"I didn't have Jeremy Clarkson's budgets, but you know, it was actually what enabled me to reinvent myself writing about my farming disasters. Farms are fascinating places because they're a machine it's like living in a machine. So there is always something going wrong, something runs away, something broken, something on fire, something funny happening, you know."
James remains hopeful about Blur's future after their reunion tour two years ago. "We still send each other nice messages," he said. "We're in touch. I think because it was a long time between the last tour and the Ballad Of Darren album - eight years. Even when we actually split up, it didn't take eight years to get back together. I think it took us all by surprise. It's clear in that time the band had found a whole new audience. I think we were all staggered, and it was the best tour we've ever done, best shows we've ever done. First time we've ever got to the end without at least one of the band saying 'never again'. We're so lucky to have all those years of playing together. It's a gift and every time we get back together there's genuinely magic to it. We wrote a song at our first rehearsal that we still play today. It's crazy. There was like instant, instant chemistry there, which has never, never gone away so long may it continue."
Reflecting on festival-goers, he said: "You know, there's always the old pair of knickers in the woods. But what the hell, what are you going to do?"
The Big Feastival runs from Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30.
