ABSTRACT

Through the analysis of Street Feast pop-up food festivals in London, the chapter explores the symbiotic relationship between pop-up food festivals and unusual locations and venues. On the one hand, pop-up food festivals use unusual locations and venues such as abandoned warehouses, builders’ yards, power stations and car parks to embody their unusual and quirky nature and generate interest. On the other hand, these types of food festivals promote off-the-beaten-track city areas, alternative forms of consumption, support local communities and encourage local traders. As part of the alternative events and slow food movement, pop-up food festivals offer a chance for visitors to reinterpret, rethink and reimagine abandoned spaces. Arguably a different form of consumption occurs, one personalised to users and local communities. Therefore, the production and consumption of pop-up food festivals is directly influenced by the choice of alternative and non-traditional consumption areas.