There’s nothing Cerys Matthews enjoys more than getting out in the great outdoors and making memories with her loved ones.
This wholesome mantra inspired the BBC 6 Music Radio presenter and Catatonia singer to help found a unique outdoor festival called The Good Life Experience, which takes place next month in her beloved Wales.
Now in its fourth year, the family-friendly weekender features music, literature, craft and design, pit cooking and the natural world – all in the beautiful setting of the Hawarden Estate in Flintshire.
Says Cerys: “Value to me is not measured in terms of material wealth but in experiences. We started the Good Life Experience so that memories can be made, whether that’s climbing a 100-year-old oak tree or discovering a new act.
“At our festival you can hear the best authors, best musicians, poets and chefs, be inspired by collectors and makers, and get your hands dirty wood carving or fire starting.
“It’s about getting out of the urban routine of the daily grind and getting outside and reconnecting with the landscape. It’s a festival for thinkers and question askers. We have international chefs but they’re not allowed to cook with shiny stainless steel cookers. Instead they’ll be cooking on an open fire or in a pit in the ground.”
Cerys herself is an accomplished home cook and cites daal as her signature dish.
“This is a real home cooking favourite,” she says. “It’s so cheap and delicious and sustainable. There are so many different variations of daal so there are no rules. My mam learned the recipe from our Indian neighbour Madrika.
“At first my mother didn’t like cooking so we grew up on Findus crispy pancakes, fish fingers and tinned spaghetti hoops. My dad was from a bohemian family and they started traveling and trying different cuisines. She took the bull by the horns and started trying to cook the things at home. Curry became the norm and all my siblings can cook a mean Gujurat curry.”
To buy tickets for The Good Life visit www.thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk/buy-tickets/.
