Feast of Fire is difficult to describe by comparing it with other food events, because it was deliberately created to be something different.
It is not a large festival where thousands of people move between traders , queueing up and buying small samples. It is a small, hosted weekend built around fire, extraordinary food and the people who cook it. You watch the food being created, hear from the chefs, eat what they have prepared and then spend the rest of the weekend alongside them.
Here are the questions we are asked most often.
WHAT EXACTLY IS FEAST OF FIRE?
Feast of Fire is an intimate weekend of live-fire cooking, eating, learning, music and time spent together.
Rather than putting chefs on a distant demonstration stage and guests on the other side of a barrier, we bring everyone together around the fires.
You see dishes being prepared, learn about the ingredients, techniques, equipment and traditions behind them, and then get to eat the food you have just watched being created.
Between services, the chefs and pitmasters don’t disappear backstage. They are part of the weekend too.
That means conversations around the pits, questions while things are cooking, drinks afterwards, stories, techniques, ideas and the opportunity to spend time with people you would rarely have access to in this way.
That is the Feast of Fire experience.
IS IT A FOOD FESTIVAL?
Not really – and deliberately so.
There are no thousands of people fighting their way through queues, buying tokens and hoping to get a sample before something sells out.
Feast of Fire is built for approximately 150-170 guests.
Your place is already there. Your food is being prepared for you. The weekend has been designed around the number of people attending.
You can relax, watch, learn, eat and enjoy it rather than spending the weekend deciding which queue to join next.
WHY DO YOU KEEP IT SO SMALL?
Because becoming bigger would destroy the thing that makes Feast of Fire special.
We could sell many more tickets. We have chosen not to.
At around 150-170 guests, you can actually meet the chefs. They begin to recognise you. You can stand around a fire and ask questions. Guests meet one another. Conversations happen naturally. By the end of the weekend, it feels much more like a gathering than a festival.
Feast of Fire will not grow into a huge commercial event.
However popular it becomes, the intention is to preserve that intimacy.
The scarcity of tickets isn’t a marketing device. It is fundamental to the experience.
WHY DO YOU DESCRIBE IT AS A VIP EXPERIENCE?
Because access is built into the weekend rather than sold as an upgrade.
There isn’t a standard ticket and then a separate area where a handful of people get to meet the chefs.
Everyone is in the room. Everyone is around the fire.
The chefs, fire cooks and pitmasters you have watched cooking are the same people you may find yourself talking to later that afternoon or sharing a drink with that evening.
You are not simply watching their world for an hour.
For a weekend, you get to become part of it.
WHO COOKS AT FEAST OF FIRE?
Each Feast of Fire brings together a collection of chefs, live-fire cooks, barbecue specialists and pitmasters, with influences, techniques and flavours drawn from around the world.
Part of the pleasure is putting people together who you would rarely find cooking in the same place at the same time.
Some will be familiar names. Others may be people you discover for the first time and end up following for years afterwards.
And importantly:
the line-up changes.
ARE THE TWO FEAST OF FIRE EVENTS THE SAME?
No.
They share the same format and philosophy, but not the same experience.
Smoke and Soul in Wexford and Smoke on the Waters in Devon are designed as two separate chapters of Feast of Fire.
The chefs will change.
The dishes will change.
The techniques will change.
The fires will change.
And at each event we intend to feature a different major cooking machine, fire installation, technique or showpiece.
So even if you come to both events – or return year after year – you should never simply be watching the previous Feast of Fire repeated.
The format stays. The experience changes every time.
HOW MUCH FOOD DO I ACTUALLY GET?
A lot.
The current weekend format contains 11 scheduled food services plus the opening cocktail experience.
The working schedule includes Friday evening food, a full Saturday beginning with breakfast and running through light bites, mains and dessert into the evening, and breakfast and a final main service on Sunday.
This isn’t 11 tiny tasters.
The intention is for the dishes to be proper, chef-created food – restaurant-quality dishes cooked over fire and served as part of the experience.
You aren’t expected to spend the weekend buying additional meals from traders.
The food is the event.
HOW DOES THE MEAL SCHEDULE WORK?
Food is served across the weekend at scheduled times.
The present format begins on Friday evening, includes seven individual food services across Saturday, and continues with breakfast and a main service on Sunday.
You will receive the appropriate meal tokens for the weekend.
One token = one serving from the corresponding scheduled service.
The timings mean there is always something happening, but enough space between dishes to watch the cooking, explore, talk to the chefs, enjoy the music or simply sit around the fire.
The final detailed schedule, including chefs and dishes, is confirmed for each individual Feast of Fire because every event is different.
DO I GET TO SEE THE FOOD BEING COOKED?
Absolutely. That’s one of the main reasons Feast of Fire exists.
Where appropriate, dishes are accompanied by demonstrations, explanations or the opportunity to see the cooking process taking place around the fires.
This isn’t simply a plate appearing from a kitchen.
You get the story behind the food.
You see the equipment.
You smell the smoke.
You watch the technique.
You can ask questions.
And then you eat the result.
SO HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM BUYING FOOD AT ANOTHER FESTIVAL?
At many food festivals, your admission gets you through the gate. Once inside, you may then queue and pay again for individual dishes, often served as festival-sized portions or samples.
Feast of Fire works differently.
Your food is already included.
The dishes are planned specifically for the people attending. They are prepared by the chefs and fire cooks who form part of the weekend, and the experience surrounding each dish – the cooking, explanation and interaction – is as important as the plate itself.
There is no need to spend the weekend calculating how much more everything is going to cost.
WHAT DOES THE TICKET INCLUDE?
The £300 Feast of Fire ticket is designed to cover virtually the entire weekend experience.
It includes:
- the full programme of scheduled food services;
- the opening cocktail experience within the current format;
- live-fire demonstrations and cooking;
- access to the participating chefs, pitmasters and fire cooks throughout the weekend;
- camping;
- music;
- the included entertainment and activities;
- the Feast of Fire experience across the weekend.
The principal thing you buy separately is your drinks.
There aren’t premium viewing areas or expensive chef-access upgrades hidden inside the weekend.
The ticket is intended to be the ticket.
IS IT GOOD VALUE?
We think the fairest way to judge Feast of Fire is to look at what you are actually receiving rather than compare the ticket price with ordinary event admission.
You are getting a weekend away, camping, music and entertainment, together with 11 scheduled food services and an opening cocktail experience in the current format.
But even that doesn’t really capture it.
Each food service is part of a live cooking experience involving exceptional chefs and specialists working with fire. You can watch, learn and interact with the people preparing it rather than simply collecting a plate from a counter.
If you separated out the cost of multiple restaurant-quality chef-cooked dishes, demonstrations, a weekend’s entertainment, camping and genuine access to the chefs themselves, it becomes much easier to understand what the £300 represents.
Feast of Fire isn’t selling you entry to somewhere you then have to spend money. It is selling you the weekend itself.
DO I NEED TO BUY FOOD ONCE I’M THERE?
The scheduled Feast of Fire food programme is included in your ticket.
You therefore shouldn’t need to arrive budgeting for a succession of additional meals in the way you might at a conventional food festival.
You will need to purchase your own drinks.
IS CAMPING INCLUDED?
Yes.
Camping is included in your Feast of Fire ticket.
For us, that is part of the experience rather than simply somewhere to sleep.
Staying on site means you don’t have to rush away when a day’s cooking finishes. It allows the evenings to develop naturally – food, fire, music, conversation and time together.
Specific camping and arrival information will be supplied for the individual event.
IS MUSIC INCLUDED?
Yes.
Music and the included weekend entertainment are part of your ticket.
They are there to complement the food and atmosphere rather than turn Feast of Fire into a conventional music festival.
The fires and the food remain at the heart of everything.
DO THE CHEFS LEAVE AFTER THEIR DEMONSTRATIONS?
That is exactly what we don’t want Feast of Fire to be.
The idea is that the chefs, cooks and pitmasters become part of the wider weekend.
Of course they have work to do and there will be times when they need to prepare, cook or rest, but the intimacy of the event means you’ll regularly find yourself around the same fires and spaces as the people creating the food.
There is no conventional backstage separating the people cooking from the people eating.
CAN I ASK THE CHEFS QUESTIONS?
Please do.
Curiosity is part of the experience.
Ask about the fires. Ask about cuts of meat. Ask about vegetables, smoke, wood, equipment, temperatures, seasoning, technique or where a dish came from.
Obviously there will be moments when a chef is concentrating on a critical part of a cook, but over the course of the weekend there is plenty of opportunity to talk and learn.
DO I NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BARBECUE OR LIVE-FIRE COOKING?
Not at all.
Some guests may be dedicated barbecue enthusiasts.
Others simply love eating exceptional food.
You don’t need your own smoker, a collection of thermometers or any knowledge of fire cooking to enjoy Feast of Fire.
Come interested.
Come hungry.
Everything else is optional.
CAN I COME ON MY OWN?
Yes – and Feast of Fire is particularly suited to it.
Because there are only around 150-170 people and everyone is sharing the same experiences, meals and fires, it is remarkably easy to start talking to people.
People arrive as guests and very quickly become part of the weekend.
Our ambition is that Feast of Fire gradually develops into a community of people who recognise one another from previous events and look forward to meeting around the fires again.
CAN I BRING FRIENDS?
Absolutely – provided they can get a ticket.
One of the nicest ways for Feast of Fire to grow is not by making the event bigger, but by existing guests introducing friends to it.
The capacity stays small.
The community grows.
DO RETURNING GUESTS GET PRIORITY FOR FUTURE TICKETS?
Yes. That is an important part of what we want Feast of Fire to become.
Guests who have attended will be given an opportunity for preferential or early access to future ticket releases before general sale, subject to availability and the arrangements announced for each event.
Because capacity will remain deliberately limited, this could become increasingly valuable as the events become established.
Our aim is to build a community rather than an ever-larger audience.
DOES THAT MEAN FEAST OF FIRE COULD EVENTUALLY SELL OUT BEFORE GENERAL RELEASE?
Potentially, yes.
Capacity is deliberately restricted and returning guests will have an early opportunity to secure places.
As the community grows, fewer tickets may therefore reach general release.
That is why, if Feast of Fire sounds like something you want to be part of, we recommend taking the opportunity when tickets become available.
WHERE IS THE DEVON EVENT?
Smoke on the Waters takes place at Atherington, near Umberleigh in Devon.
The existing event documentation identifies the site at Quiet Waters, Atherington, Umberleigh, Devon.
It takes place over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
Because this is a rural event, guests should plan their journey in advance rather than treating it like a city-centre venue.
Full arrival, parking and access information will be sent to ticket holders ahead of the event.
WHERE IS THE WEXFORD EVENT?
Smoke and Soul takes place in Wexford, Ireland, over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Detailed arrival information, site access instructions and any recommended travel arrangements will be provided to ticket holders for that year’s event.
If travelling from Great Britain or elsewhere overseas, we recommend allowing plenty of time when arranging flights, ferries, onward transport and accommodation around your Feast of Fire weekend.
CAN I COME TO BOTH DEVON AND WEXFORD?
We hope you do.
The two events have deliberately been positioned at opposite ends of the summer:
Devon – May Bank Holiday
Wexford – August Bank Holiday
So you can effectively bookend your summer around two completely different Feast of Fire weekends.
Because the chefs, dishes, cooking styles and showpiece elements will change, attending one does not mean you’ve already seen the other.
Think of them as two gatherings built around the same idea rather than two performances of the same show.
IF I COME TO BOTH, WILL I EAT THE SAME FOOD?
No.
This is one of our most important promises about the concept.
We do not want Feast of Fire to repeat itself.
Different event.
Different chefs.
Different dishes.
Different flavours.
Different fires.
Different techniques.
Different showpiece.
The relaxed format and intimacy remain familiar. What happens within them changes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY A DIFFERENT “SHOWPIECE”?
Live-fire cooking is an extraordinary world of machines, pits, grills, structures and techniques.
At each Feast of Fire we want there to be something you may never have seen used before – perhaps a remarkable piece of fire equipment, a particular cooking method, a dramatic large-format cook or another centrepiece around which part of the weekend develops.
It gives returning guests something completely new to experience every time.
IS THERE A STRICT TIMETABLE?
There is a schedule because the food has to come off the fire at the right moment.
The format includes Friday evening services, a sequence of food throughout Saturday from breakfast at 9:30am through to an evening main at 8:30pm, and Sunday breakfast followed by the final main service.
But the weekend itself should never feel regimented.
Between the key food moments, it is designed to be relaxed.
Sit down.
Talk to someone.
Watch another fire.
Listen to music.
Ask a chef a question.
Have a drink.
That space between the scheduled moments is an important part of Feast of Fire.
HOW DO THE FOOD TOKENS WORK?
Your weekend food allocation is represented by meal tokens or the equivalent redemption system provided at the Event.
Generally, one token is used for one corresponding scheduled food service.
Keep your tokens safe and bring the appropriate one to each service.
Because every dish is being prepared for a limited number of guests and food comes from live fires at specific times, we strongly recommend following the programme rather than missing a service and expecting it to be available later.
CAN I TRANSFER MY TICKET TO SOMEONE ELSE?
Yes, subject to the Feast of Fire Ticket & Event Terms.
If you sell or give your ticket to someone else, you must tell us who the new ticket holder is so that we can update or approve the transfer.
A privately transferred ticket may not be honoured where we haven’t been notified of the new guest.
Please see the full Ticket & Event Terms and Conditions for details.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I BUY A TICKET AND CAN’T COME?
Tickets are non-refundable except where applicable law requires otherwise.
If you cannot attend, your option may be to transfer your ticket to someone else in accordance with our ticket-transfer rules.
Please read the full Ticket & Event Terms before purchasing.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE EVENT HAS TO BE RESCHEDULED?
If Feast of Fire cannot take place on its advertised date, the Organiser may reschedule it to a replacement date within 365 days of the original event date.
Your ticket will automatically transfer to the replacement event, subject always to any consumer rights which cannot legally be excluded.
Please see our full Ticket & Event Terms and Conditions for the detailed provisions.
WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
Come prepared for an outdoor weekend.
Bring suitable clothing and footwear for the weather and terrain, your camping equipment where applicable, and anything else specified in the joining information sent before the Event.
Most importantly:
bring an appetite and don’t over-plan it.
Feast of Fire is at its best when you give yourself time to wander between the fires and see what happens.
IS FEAST OF FIRE FAMILY-FRIENDLY?
The event involves open fires, extremely hot cooking equipment, knives, machinery and other equipment associated with professional live-fire cooking.
Any children attending must therefore remain under the close supervision of their responsible adult at all times and follow all Event safety instructions.
Please refer to the ticket information for any age restrictions or ticket requirements applying to the individual event.
WHAT IF I HAVE ALLERGIES OR DIETARY REQUIREMENTS?
Please tell us about relevant requirements through the booking process where requested and speak to the serving team before accepting food.
Because multiple chefs work with different ingredients around live fires and shared preparation environments, we cannot guarantee a completely allergen-free environment.
If you have a serious allergy, please contact us before purchasing so that we can explain what can reasonably be accommodated.
WHY DO PEOPLE COME BACK?
Because the second Feast of Fire isn’t really the same event.
The people change.
The dishes change.
The techniques change.
New friendships have been made.
Old ones are waiting around the fire.
And because it stays small, returning guests don’t disappear into a crowd of thousands.
They become part of its story.
ONE CONCEPT. TWO VENUES. NEVER THE SAME FEAST TWICE.
Smoke on the Waters – Devon – May
Smoke and Soul – Wexford – August
Approx 170 guests.
Extraordinary food.
Exceptional fire cooks.
A whole weekend together.
Come to one. Come to both. Come back next year.
Just don’t expect us to make it bigger.