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Smoked & Uncut festival proves a hit at The Pig, near Canterbury, as Supergrass headline countryside event
16:15, 14 August 2022
updated: 16:28, 14 August 2022
Ten hours of non-stop music, temperatures at a beautiful setting hitting 33C, food served up by a Michelin-starred chef... the county's Smoked & Uncut Festival had a bit of everything.
In what was the second hosting of the event at The Pig in Bridge, outside Canterbury, two thousand revellers descended on the country estate yesterday afternoon.
The Selecter, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and Connor Selby were among the performers to take to the main stage before headliners Supergrass pumped up the stereo.
Treating the crowd to their greatest hits - including Moving, Alright, Richard III and Caught by the Fuzz - the Oxford group rocked the scorched meadows of the Nailbourne Valley for about 90 minutes.
With the blazing sun constantly beating down on lead singer and guitarist, Gaz Coombes, the frontman rubbed in sun cream midway through the set - thanks to a bottle thrown on stage by the crowd.
The foursome proved their status as one of the UK's premier bands with their energised and perfectly tight-knit performance.
For such a relatively new festival - with last year's smaller-scale hosting at Bridge being headlined by Jools Holland - the family-friendly Smoked & Uncut ran seamlessly throughout.
An array of food stalls were nestled in a shady avenue of trees, while an artisan market selling handmade goods, a spa zone, children's area and glitter and braid bar were also on offer.
Free water refills were dotted across the site, and to sit back and relax, people could help themselves to a haystack and move it to any vantage point of their choice.
To the backdrop of snorting farm pigs opposite, the festival's other stage - housed in a big top tent - welcomed DJ Professor Green and Hariet's House Party later in the evening.
For those fortunate enough to be able to spend £995 for a two-person overnight stay, 40 glamping tents were pitched in a neighbouring field - allowing guests to stay the night before the music and food celebration.
Aside from the selection of stalls - including burgers, Greek cuisine and tequila - festival-goers could treat themselves to a £55 spot on one of the outdoor 'feasting tables' where apprentice chefs dished out three-course meals.
But for those with a bigger budget and appetite, a four-course £98 set menu by Michelin-starred Angela Hartnett was on offer inside the Grade II-listed manor house of the luxury Pig Hotel.
The Gordon Ramsay protégé, who has presented BBC show Saturday Kitchen, oversaw a team of top chefs - preparing flavoursome scallops for starter and a sumptuous pork neck rib eye main.
While the Pig, and its weathered brickwork exterior, is no stranger to fine dining following its £8 million transformation into a hotel three years ago, it is also no stranger to welcoming big music names.
Supergrass have now followed in the footsteps of Led Zeppelin, The Kinks and The Yardbirds to have played at the venue, which - during its hey-dey as the Bridge Country Club - was the most popular rock and roll location in the county.
With this year's success, there's no reason why Smoked & Uncut at Bridge shouldn't be a mainstay on Kent's annual music calendar.
The chilled atmosphere makes it a classic British festival - albeit without the mud, without the sub-standard food, and without any fear of dodgy sound systems.
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