You all know that my priorities at a festival usually go like this:
- Music
- Food
- Glitter
So when I was invited to a day festival on Peckham Rye Common (just down the road from me!) that was curated by London street food legends, Kerb Food, and was as much about the food as the music, then there was no way I could say no.
Jam on Rye Festival 2019 happened on the 29th May, which was bank holiday Monday, and just 24 hours after I arrived back from my 7 week sabbatical around SE Asia. Having landed at 7am Sunday, I slept very well Sunday night, and awoke on Monday mysteriously jet lag-free. I glittered up and made my way to Peckham on the bus, to meet my lovely friend Katey, and explore Jam on Rye Festival…
Jam on Rye Festival 2019
What music did we see?
We arrived at 2pm just in time to see Brasstermind on the main stage, who played a whole bunch of soul covers with their 10 piece brass band. It was a cracking start to the day. I especially loved their version of Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics), and also Touch The Sky (Kanye).
Next up was Greentea Peng, who was brilliant and not what I expected! Her voice was soulful yet punchy. Raspy and delicious! She really looked like she owned that stage, it was a great performance. I’ve since added her to my Spotify and am loving listening to more of her tracks on my commute.
We then took a walk to check out the rest of the site. The kids tent looked brilliant! They had mini obstacle course races, people telling stories and giant bubble balloons. I almost wished we could play ourselves!
As we were walking around we veered towards the Balamii stage where Alexis was DJing because it sounded great! I love a good afternoon dance and she was playing some cracking tunes with great scratching too. Katey and I enjoyed dancing there for a good hour, into Jordsss set which was equally great!
After stopping for food, having a chat and making new friends, we went round to the Corner Stage to catch the first part of Natty & the Rebelship. Katey and I are both pretty big fans of Natty so it was great to see him play his reggae perfection. But we had to leave early in order to catch all of…
Kelis! What an amazing headline act for a relatively small one day London festival? A worldwide R&B legend with a discography packed with bangers. Kelis graced the stage in a stunning multicolour catsuit (which I definitely want to wear myself!) and belted out hits including Millionaire, Got Your Money, Trick Me, and of course Milkshake which the crowd went absolutely bonkers for! I was disappointed she didn’t play Bossy (my favourite track), but on reflection, it does contain a LOT of swearing/explicit lyrics, so that’s probably why it was left off the setlist for this family-friendly festival! I wasn’t expecting Kelis to be that great if I’m honest, but her voice was on point and she performed amazingly! Really got the crowd dancing. The perfect way to end a great day.
What food did we eat?
To start the day off right, I’d heard that Bokit’la were going to be at Jam on Rye, and this excited me greatly because these guys were one of the caterers at my best friend’s wedding and I’ve wanted to eat them again even since! A “bokit” is a Guadaloupean fried gluten-free sandwich, and Bokit’la serve them with either salt fish, chicken or aubergine. Once you’ve chosen your filling, you choose your spice between 1 and 5 (super mild to super spicy!), and add toppings like salad and avocado. I had a Chicken 5 with extra avo (£8), and it was just as amazing as I remembered from the wedding! I love super spicy food though so I’d recommend you try a 3 or a 4 before diving straight in for the 5, it can really blow your head off!
After the spicy bokits, we decided to grab a few Wavey Ice (which are alcoholic ice pops/ice poles) to cool down (3 for £10). It was like my childhood but with an adult twist, and they tasted great! My favourite was the Sour Apple and Gin, followed by the Watermelon and Vodka. The Grape and Rum wasn’t quite to my taste, but I was told they’re the bestseller so it’s probably just me!
As an afternoon snack, Katey and I went to Eat Chay for vegan steamed bao buns. These fluffy clouds of deliciousness were so damn tasty, I’m definitely going to take a trip to their place in Boxpark Shoreditch. Katey got the Kimchi – korean BBQ seitan, kimchi, sriracha mayo, sesame seeds and crispy onions, and I went for the Korean Fried Tofu – crispy tofu, pickled cucumber, gochujang sauce and sesame seeds (two for £7.50). Both were yummy! We round these off by heading to the Frosé van for frozen rosé! Summer perfection!
Our final noms of the day we had to have one of the ‘headline food acts’, and quite possibly my all-time favourite London burger – Bleecker Burger! I have no idea what these guys do to their burgers but they melt in your mouth and taste like absolute HEAVEN. They’re simple, without any crazy toppings, but so damn delicious. Katey and I both went for the double cheeseburger (£10). They’re not the cheapest or biggest burgers, but once you’ve tried one I can promise you’d be willing to pay double that for their deliciousness! They have locations in Bloomberg, Victoria and Spitalfields Market. Definitely pay them a visit!
I wish I had more time/a bigger stomach as there were so many other amazing food places I wanted to try! I’m particularly gutted I didn’t try the Kelis special over at Only Jerkin’. Next time I’ll try and squeeze even more food in!
