The culinary delights of Black Deer Festival

One of the highlights of Black Deer has to be their Sunday morning gospel brunch, brought to life by the Powerhouse Gospel Choir. Their uplifting performance and infectious charisma will have you sailing into Sunday afternoon, no matter how many whiskys you had the night before. A team of experienced singers and musicians with a love for gospel music, they’re led by the inimitable T-Jae Cole, one of the UK’s most respected gospel choir directors.

Many of the singers came up through The London Community Gospel Choir, and have gone on to work alongside names such as Quincy Jones, Pharrell Williams and Tokio Myers.

Although T Jae is a busy man, running several community choirs throughout the Southeast of England, he took a minute to speak to us about the Powerhouse Gospel Choir’s upcoming performance at Black Deer.

BEST FIT: What can people expect from the gospel brunch?

T JAE: Powerhouse Gospel choir will set your Sunday morning festival off in style, with traditional gospel classics and popular Motown Hits. Lots of crowd participation and moments to reflect and enjoy.

What makes this a unique experience from the other music at Black Deer?

We love to get our audience involved in the songs. You’ll be clapping, dancing and singing like you never thought you could. Everyone feels like they are part of this fabulous choir family as they join in and allow their spirits to be lifted by the amazing voices.

What is it that you find special about Black Deer Festival?

We loved the diversity of people attending. Families, couples, groups of friends; everyone just felt comfortable and at ease. It has a real vibe about it that is like no other festival that we have performed in.

Rocket Dogs specialise in Authentic American Hot Dogs, using high-quality and carefully sourced Beechwood smoked frankfurters. Their Dogs are served naked, or with a wide range of authentic American-inspired toppings including sauerkraut, pickle spears, raw diced onion, plus American mustard and ketchup. The Dogs are served from a replica Airstream Trailer to add a bit of ‘60’s class to your order.

Based on the Welsh border, Shepherds began creating their delicious ice cream in 1987 using their own sheep’s milk. Their core values are to source their ingredients locally, and to try and make their ice cream as honestly and healthily as possible. They use sheep’s milk as it’s around 50% richer than the milk from cows or goats, so they can make their ice cream without adding any other fats. Flavourings are made from scratch in their farm kitchen, and they even grow some of their own fruit. The lower fat content of their ice cream allows the natural flavours to shine. They have also recently added recipes using plant-based milks to their menu, along with sorbets made from their own spring water.

Created in 2010 by ex-chef Jo Jeffery, Naked & Ready Foods wanted to pair the best quality local and natural ingredients with the most exciting flavour combinations, selling directly to the public at festivals and farmers markets alike. They offer a wide range of gourmet scotch eggs, sausage rolls, free-range pork pies, tarts and pâtés. They’re also very excited to be part of Black Deer as the festival is just round the corner from their kitchen!

Meat Street BBQ specialise in the finest authentic American BBQ, cooking their meat for up to eighteen-hours at low temperatures over different flavoured woods to create the juiciest, most tender and flavoursome meat you've ever tasted. Their menu includes BBQ Ribs, Pulled Lamb, Pulled Beef Chilli and Smoked Brisket.