State Fayre festival announces food trader line-up for debut FUME Pit at Hylands Park

State Fayre, a new weekend camping festival taking place at Hylands Park in Chelmsford from 26^th to 28^th June 2026, has announced the food trader line-up for its inaugural FUME Pit, alongside additional names joining the music bill. The festival, which combines live music with barbecue and Americana culture, is being staged by Festival Republic, part of the Live Nation Entertainment Group, and is less than 30 minutes from London by train.

The FUME Pit will be hosted on-site by FUME, a UK live-fire barbecue festival co-founded by social media figure Eating With Tod. Confirmed traders include KG BBQ, the Austin-based outfit led by pitmaster Kareem El-Ghayesh, who’s known for fusing Central Texas barbecue with Egyptian and Middle Eastern flavours and has been featured on Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown. Also appearing is Ember, the wood-fired restaurant headed by chef James Peck, alongside The Dragon Flame BBQ, which serves Argentinian asado-style cooking and was named Time Out’s Best Roast in London.

Further traders on the bill include Rack City Ribs, the 2024 FUME Champion specialising in Southern barbecue with Caribbean influences, Temper, the London steakhouse built around an open fire pit, Blacksmith Smokers, operating what is described as Europe’s largest barbecue trailer, and Craft and Cleaver, an American-style smokehouse based in St Albans. Wing specialists Ginger Wings, run by Jack Blumenthal, and multiple WingJam champions Shwings will also be in the mix.

Plant-based options come from Wholesome Junkies, previously seen on Netflix and BBC Two’s Million Pound Menu, and LD’s Kitchen, a London vegan smokehouse. The line-up is completed by Poor Boys, E8 Fish, Game and Flames, and Yello Yard. 

The FUME Pit will also feature a live fire cooking display using large barbecue rigs and offset smokers shipped from Brazil and the US. Visitors will be able to attend on-site eating competitions and cooking demonstrations, with guest appearances from content creators “Big John” John Fisher, Eating With Tod and Ollie Eats across the weekend.

FUME Festival co-founder and managing director at Savour Events, Alex Holland Davis said: “We’re rolling the biggest BBQs ever made in Britain and from across the Atlantic into Hylands Park for the inaugural State Fayre, alongside some of the most talented pitmasters the world has to offer. The FUME Pit brings together the UK’s most-awarded pitmasters alongside 2025 FUME Champion and Austin native KG BBQ for an unforgettable live-fire spectacle. Every trader will offer at least one BBQ dish for under £10, making world-class barbecue accessible to every fan – all hand-picked by Eating With Tod. This is about giving State Fayre’s visitors a true BBQ tasting experience alongside a brilliant music line-up. Working with the Live Nation and Festival Republic teams has been a real privilege. This is the biggest BBQ moment a UK music festival has ever delivered, and it’s only the beginning.”

The festival’s previously announced music headliners are Kings of Leon, Alanis Morissette and The Lumineers. They will be joined by acts including The Black Crowes, Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, Counting Crows, Skunk Anansie, Stephen Wilson Jr, Jack Savoretti, Orville Peck, Razorlight and KT Tunstall. New additions to the music line-up announced this week are Benny G, Brenn!, Emma Ogier, Hannah Hill, Landon Smith, Lily Moore, Linka Moja, Mae Estes, Marfa and The Brudi Brothers.

The festival will feature three main stages, food talks and demonstrations, whiskey, craft beer and cocktail bars, non-alcoholic drinks options, boutique camping and state fair-style rides and activities.

State Fayre’s organisers Anna-Sophie Mertens and Alex Simmonds said: “We’re so excited to bring The FUME Pit to the inaugural State Fayre. Curated by the masters of the BBQ, FUME, it will be home to a carefully selected group of chefs and vendors operating at the very top of fire-led cooking. It’s a rare opportunity for people to experience this level of talent, skill and flavour together in one place. Combined with three stages of incredible music, we are looking forward to a weekend filled with good times, good music and good food!”

Food Desk

The FUME Pit will be open at State Fayre, which is on from 26^th until 28^th June 2026. For further information or to book tickets, visit the festival’s website here.