THOUSANDS of visitors descended on a Cotswold village over the weekend for two days of food, music and entertainment.

Former Blur bassistturned- cheesemaker Alex James teamed up with chef Jamie Oliver to host The Big Feastival at his Kingham farm on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets were sold out with 20,000 people turning up to enjoy the event.

The pair wowed the crowds when they took to the stage with band Producers to perform Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s renowned track Relax in a surprise one-off performance as ‘The Farm Lovin’ Criminals’.

Jamie swapped his usual cooking utensils for drumsticks for a rare appearance with Alex on the bass guitar.

“I always knew Jamie was a great drummer,”

said Alex. “We have jammed together before and it was great fun being able to perform alongside Producers who are one of my all-time favourite bands. The crowd was amazing.”

Food lovers headed to the Cheese Hub for the launch of Alex James’ new artisan cheese, Goddess, which proved an instant success.

Jamie Oliver brought out his mentor Gennaro Contaldo on stage in the Big Kitchen to teach the crowds how to make “fish in crazy water”.

Noisettes singer Shingai Shoniwa celebrated her birthday on site with all her family, while singer Paloma Faith headlined on Saturday and pulled Alex on stage to support with backing vocals for her encore.

There was something for everyone over the weekend with kids dancing long into the night alongside their parents.

Other highlights included Adam Garcia teaching the MUNE Dance, Peppa Pig and a vintage fun fair.

Following the huge success of 2012, early bird tickets for The Big Feastival 2013 will be on sale from tomorrow at the bigfeastival.com.

The 2013 Big Feastival will take place on August 31 and September 1.