Wilderness 2026: Why Britain's most delicious festival is back on the menu
Michelin-starred chefs, unforgettable woodland feasts and headline performances come together as Wilderness returns to Cornbury Park for its most delicious festival yet.
- Words by: Harry Jarman
There are few places where you can spend the afternoon watching one of the world's finest chefs cook over open flames, dance until sunrise beneath a canopy of trees and then wake the following morning to a long-table brunch in the Oxfordshire countryside. But then, Wilderness has never been interested in doing things the conventional way.
Returning to Cornbury Park this weekend coming from 30 July to 2 August for its fifteenth edition, Wilderness has long evolved beyond the confines of a traditional music festival. While headline performances from Scissor Sisters, Carl Cox and The Last Dinner Party will undoubtedly draw the crowds, it is the festival's culinary programme that continues to set it apart. Over the past decade and a half, Wilderness has quietly established itself as one of Britain's most exciting food destinations, bringing Michelin-starred chefs, celebrated restaurateurs and rising culinary talent together in a setting unlike any other. This year is no different.
Leading the charge is a quartet of chefs whose combined influence spans continents and cuisines. Atul Kochhar, the pioneering Indian chef whose restaurants have earned multiple Michelin stars, joins the programme alongside Margot Henderson OBE, co-founder of London's beloved Rochelle Canteen and one of Britain's defining voices in modern cooking. They're joined by Mike Davies, the chef behind South London's much-loved Camberwell Arms and Frank's Café, and the ever-charismatic Andi Oliver, whose infectious energy has made her one of the country's most admired chefs and broadcasters.
Together, they'll headline the festival's celebrated Long Table Banquets, communal feasts that have become one of Wilderness' defining experiences. Set against the backdrop of Cornbury Park, these banquets are about far more than exceptional food. Music drifts through the woodland, strangers become dinner companions and every course arrives with the sort of theatricality that simply couldn't exist within the walls of a traditional restaurant.
For those seeking something even more intimate, The Chef's Table once again promises to be one of the hottest tickets of the weekend. Perched above Lake Wilderness, guests will enjoy a seven-course tasting menu prepared by some of the most exciting names in contemporary gastronomy. Among them is Ash Valenzuela-Heeger, winner of the Michelin Guide Young Chef Award, whose South African heritage and mastery of live-fire cooking have earned widespread acclaim. Joining her are Sam Carter, whose ingredient-led cooking has helped Restaurant Twenty-Two earn its Michelin star; Douglas McMaster, the visionary founder of zero-waste pioneer Silo; and John Chantarasak, whose Michelin-starred AngloThai has redefined the possibilities of British and Thai cuisine.
Elsewhere, Wilderness continues to celebrate the simple pleasure of eating outdoors. The ever-popular Forest Feast & Lazy Brunch, hosted by Woodfired Canteen, transforms woodland clearings into open-air dining rooms, where generous sharing plates and slow mornings beneath the trees provide the perfect antidote to the previous night's festivities. It's this balance, between extraordinary fine dining and wonderfully relaxed communal eating, that has always made the festival's food programme feel so distinctive.
One of this year's most meaningful moments comes on the festival's opening evening, as Andi Oliver hosts the opening banquet in partnership with The Circle, the global feminist organisation co-founded by Annie Lennox. With £5 from every seat donated directly to organisations supporting women and girls confronting gender-based violence and economic injustice, it's a dinner that pairs exceptional cooking with genuine purpose. Fittingly, Lennox herself will curate the festival's much-anticipated SISTERS performance on the Sunday main stage, creating a thoughtful thread that runs through the weekend's celebrations.
It's this relentless attention to detail that has earned Wilderness its reputation. While many festivals now include food as an afterthought, here it remains central to the experience. Michelin-starred restaurants sit comfortably alongside cult street-food favourites; long lunches effortlessly become late-night conversations; and every meal feels as much a part of the entertainment as the performances taking place across the park.
The chefs at Wilderness aren't simply making an appearance before disappearing backstage. They're cooking, hosting, telling stories and creating experiences that simply couldn't happen anywhere else.
Fifteen years after it first arrived in the Oxfordshire countryside, Wilderness remains impossible to categorise. It is part music festival, part gastronomic celebration, part cultural gathering and entirely unlike anything else on the British summer calendar.
Discover everything waiting for you at Wilderness 2026, from Michelin-starred banquets and woodland feasts to unforgettable music, culture and late-night celebrations.
