West Sussex · England
Festival & event paella in Furnace Wood, West Sussex
Something for every guest: separate pans for meat, seafood and vegetarian or vegan guests. Paella street food for festivals, fairs, markets and community events for events in Furnace Wood.
- Crew, volunteer and VIP catering
- Village fêtes and summer fairs
- School and charity events
Book festival paella catering in Furnace Wood
How our festival paella catering works in Furnace Wood
The pans are part of the attraction. Visitors stop to watch, take photos and come back for lunch. We’re frequently asked to cater community events and open days and school fairs and fundraisers, with seafood paella, giant-pan paella and vegan paella.
Near Furnace Wood, events may be far from shops and cafés, so a paella stall is a welcome sight. You can add tapas, desserts, sangria, bar staff and waiting staff, so the whole menu comes from one caterer.
- Location
- Furnace Wood (RH19)
- Area hub
- West Sussex
- Diets
- Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and halal
- Add-ons
- Canapés, desserts, sangria and staff
- Quote
- Quoted for your event
- Updated
- 23 October 2026
Diets, allergies and planning
Most events have a mix of diets. To cater well for them:
- Schedule crew meals
- Put all trader information in one pack
- Ask traders about serving speed at peak times
- Provide seating near the food
We arrive at the agreed time and set up our pitch.
Larger pans for peak times.
Prices and what affects them
Every event is priced individually, and the price depends on a few things:
- Whether you need crockery
- Travel, parking and access
- How many guests are eating
- Extra courses such as canapés, tapas and dessert
If you have a budget in mind, tell us, and we’ll put together a menu that fits. Even a simple menu can be a feast.
What we need to know
When you contact us, it helps to tell us:
- The date and rough timings
- A picture of the cooking space, if it is a garden or field
- The venue or postcode
- Expected numbers
Getting a quote is simple: share your date, venue, numbers and diets. We will come back with a clear quote and a suggested menu.
Furnace Wood questions
Can you cook at venues in the High Weald National Landscape?
Yes, though some venues in protected landscapes have extra rules; ask your venue. We’ll follow the site rules.
What’s the nearest station to Furnace Wood for guests?
The closest is East Grinstead station, roughly 2.5 miles away.
Is there a vegan option?
Yes. There’s a vegan pan next to the others.
Can you bring crockery?
We can. Let us know what you have, and we’ll quote for the rest.
Do you cook inside?
Indoors only where ventilation and the venue allow it. Most events have us cooking outside or in a doorway or courtyard.
Is halal food available?
Yes, we do. We use halal chicken and leave out pork and alcohol, in a separate pan.
Is the paella gluten-free?
A gluten-free pan is no problem. Tell us about any coeliac guests when you book so we take the right care.
How do you work out quantities?
We plan quantities from your guest numbers, timings and other courses, with a little extra built in. Accurate numbers help.
The menu, dish by dish
Seafood paella
The seafood pan is a festival favourite.
Vegan paella
A proper vegan main, in its own pan.
Community events around Furnace Wood
Furnace Wood is about 3 miles west of East Grinstead, in West Sussex. Anywhere in RH19, we can cook for your guests. Furnace Wood is one of 371 towns and villages in West Sussex where we cook. You can also see our page for Brighton, about 21 miles away.
For visitors coming by rail, East Grinstead station is about 2.5 miles away. Events in and around the High Weald National Landscape, within about 6 miles of Furnace Wood, frequently have rules about vehicles, ground and waste; we will follow the site’s requirements.
Festival paella catering in RH19 is planned around your venue and your guests. Streets in the area include Lake View Road, Felcot Road and Furnace Farm Road, and we can cook for an event on any of them. Close by, we cover events in Domewood (1 mile north-west), Snow Hill (1 mile west), Felbridge (1 mile east), Crawley Down (1 mile south) and Newchapel (2 miles north-east). We also cook in nearby towns such as Crawley (6 miles west), Horsham (12 miles south-west), Haywards Heath (10 miles south), Burgess Hill (13 miles south), East Grinstead (3 miles east) and Broadfield (7 miles south-west).
Well-known places in the area include Effingham Park Motor Museum (0.9 miles west) and Queen Victoria Hospital (3.1 miles east). Not far away are Hedgecourt Lake.
- Local schools include Imberhorne School (1.6 miles east)
What happens on the day
A typical event goes like this: we arrive, set up and start cooking, your guests watch the rice cook, and it is served hot from the pan at the agreed time. Summer events in Furnace Wood have daylight until about 9:20pm at midsummer and about 7:05pm by late September, which helps evening trading. For winter markets, dark by about 3:55pm, the pitch needs lighting.
- Tell us about the event, the crowd and the pitch.
- We reply with our menu, prices for visitors and requirements.
- We send the documents the event asks for.
- We time the first pans for the lunchtime rush.
- When trading ends, the pitch is cleared and left clean.
Getting ready for the day
- Choose a level spot for the cooking area
- Keep the cooking spot clear of fences, hedges and branches
- Tell us when you want to eat
Get a quote
We quote for each event separately, so the price fits what you actually want. For a quote, use our quote form.
Read more
Places near Furnace Wood
Other catering in Furnace Wood
Working with your venue
If you’re organising for someone else, whether you are a planner, an office manager or an event organiser, we’ll work directly with you and the venue. It saves passing messages back and forth.
Throwing a party at home? Send a picture of the space and tell us about parking, and we’ll tell you honestly whether live paella will work.
Perfect for your event in Furnace Wood
One trader, many diets, which saves pitches.
In Furnace Wood and nearby, we cater all sorts of events. Popular bookings include:
- Open days
- Summer fairs and fêtes
- Feeding crew and volunteers
- Country shows
School fairs, for a school like Felbridge Primary School, are a natural fit for a paella stall.
Comparing caterers
- What the price includes, item by item
- When final numbers are due
- How long the team stays
- Payment terms and deposit
Where we can cook in Furnace Wood
Most gardens and venues can host live paella, but a few things matter:
- Firm, level ground
- Access for unloading at set-up
- Spacing from tents and other structures
If you are unsure, send a photo of the space and we will say what we think before booking.
What we offer
- Vegan paella
- Tapas
- Chicken & chorizo paella
- Giant paella pans
- Churros
- Seafood paella
Cook it yourself or book a caterer?
You can hire equipment and do it yourself, but you’ll still need to source ingredients, prep and cook for hours. A caterer handles all of that.
Cooking paella for a crowd yourself is possible, but it is harder than it looks. A big pan needs a burner that heats it evenly, and getting the rice right at scale is tricky. Our guide to cooking paella for a crowd explains how.
- Cooked live in giant pans at your event
- Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal options
- Paella, tapas, canapés and desserts
- Sangria, bar staff, crockery and waiting staff