POTATOES were the food highlight of the first Great British Farm-Fest held at NAEC Stoneleigh recently and one of its highlights, aka Spudman, recently took to social media to share his ‘takeaways’ from the event.
Social media sensation Spudman (Ben Newman) brought his famous Tamworth-based jacket potato van to the event.
Despite extreme, hot weather making hearty jacket potatoes less of an obvious choice, his pitch generated consistent queues.
The baked potato seller stated that The Great British Farm-Fest “absolutely smashed it out the park”, stating that some caterers struggled on Friday, but he later saw significant improvements as the weekend progressed, ending with queues and a really good day of trading. Spudman expressed hope that the festival will become a recurring date on the calendar, citing its economic and promotional benefits.
Spudman had shared various potato-related tips and fun content surrounding the event. Festival-goers and caterers discussed air fryer methods (cooking at 180°C for 45 minutes, then crisping) and various loaded topping combinations (e.g., pulled pork, chili con carne) with Ben at the event, and he recorded personal shout-outs and messages for fans.
The Greedy Cow food vendor also served up chimichurri and beef fat potatoes, while other stalls offered classic festival chips.
Former Top Gear host, Jeremy Clarkson, who lives in Oxfordshire where his hit series Clarkson’s Farm is filmed, was leading the new countryside festival and Spudman was amongst those who defended the presenter following reports that some stall-holders left early, saying the event was disorganised and they had lost money.
Rather than leaving early like a handful of other exhibitors out of the 400 who attended, Spudman stayed and offered constructive feedback. He suggested that organisers offer free pitches as an “olive branch” to smaller traders who had an atrocious time on Friday to build goodwill for future years.
