Hampshire · England
Festival & event paella in Lower Swanwick, Hampshire
We cook paella street food for festivals, fairs, markets and community events in Lower Swanwick and nearby, with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal options.
- Charity and school events
- Community events and open days
- Farmers’ and Christmas markets
Book festival paella catering in Lower Swanwick
Dishes our guests love
Vegan paella
Vegan visitors get a real meal.
Giant paella pans
The giant pan is the star.
How our festival paella catering works in Lower Swanwick
Paella eats well from a bowl with a fork, standing up or sitting on the grass. On the menu are chicken and chorizo paella, giant-pan paella and churros, and typical bookings are for school and charity events and county and country shows.
Rural events near Lower Swanwick can be a long way from food outlets, so a paella stall is a welcome sight. We cater for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal guests, with each paella cooked in its own pan and clearly labelled.
What affects the price in Lower Swanwick
Your quote will be clear and itemised. What affects it most:
- The length of service
- Crockery and cutlery, or disposables
- Your choice of paellas
- How many staff you need
The cost per head typically falls as numbers rise, because the cooking set-up is similar for different sizes of event. Tell us your numbers for an accurate price.
What to tell us
The more we know about your event, the better we can plan. Try to include:
- Your date and when you want to eat
- Approximate guest numbers, including children
- Anything your venue supplies
- Which courses you have in mind
The quickest way to a quote is to fill in our quote form. Give us the details of your event, and we’ll put together a menu and price.
DIY paella versus live catering
You can hire equipment and do it yourself, but there is shopping, prep and hours of cooking. A caterer handles all of that.
For a small group, cooking yourself can work well. For big numbers or lots of diets, a caterer makes life easier, and handles separate pans for each diet.
Lower Swanwick events: pitches and permissions
Lower Swanwick is about 2 miles west of Whiteley, in Hampshire. Give us the address of your event in Lower Swanwick, and we will plan the journey and set-up before the day. We cater in all 683 towns and villages across Hampshire, from the larger towns to small villages.
For visitors coming by rail, Bursledon station is in Lower Swanwick itself. If you are organising a summer fair or fundraiser for a school such as Bursledon Church of England Infant School, a paella stall is a crowd-pleaser. With the sea within about 2 miles, we plan shelter from the wind for coastal events.
This part of Hampshire takes in SO31, so your event can be anywhere in it. Local streets include Green Lane, Bridge Road and Station Road; an event at home on any of them works well with live paella. Close by, we cover events in Swanwick (1 mile south-east), Sarisbury (1 mile south-east), Sarisbury Green (1 mile south), Park Gate (2 miles south-east) and Burridge (2 miles east). Larger places within reach include Winchester (12 miles north), Gosport (8 miles south-east), Havant (14 miles east), Eastleigh (6 miles north), Fareham (5 miles south-east) and Horndean (13 miles east).
A little further out are St Andrew's Castle (2.4 miles south) and Bursledon Brickworks Industrial Museum (under half a mile north-east). Not far away are Swanwick Lakes.
- Local schools include Brookfield Community School and Language College (1.5 miles south-east)
- Pubs nearby include The Old Ship Inn (less than half a mile south)
For planners, venues and organisers
Organising a club, school or community event in Lower Swanwick? Paella is quick to serve to a crowd and suits most diets. Tell us about the event and we will suggest a menu.
If your event is in a public space, such as a park, check what permission you need first. We can send whatever the landowner or council needs from us.
What else we do in Lower Swanwick
Paella compared with other options
Most street food is cooked one order at a time. Paella is batch-cooked and served fast, keeping queues short. Extras such as tapas, desserts, sangria, staff and crockery are priced separately, so you only pay for what you want.
What you get with us
- Waiting staff and crockery on request
- Sangria, plus bar staff for your own drinks
- Tapas, canapés and desserts if you want them
- Served hot, straight from the pan
Read Our prices page And What paella catering costs.
Planning for every diet
Nearly every event has some special diets. To plan for them:
- Ensure the line-up includes vegan and gluten-free options
- Send traders one clear trader pack
- Book crew catering in advance
- Ask traders about serving speed at peak times
At the end, we clear the pitch and leave it clean.
Crew, volunteer and VIP catering.
Common questions in Lower Swanwick
Do you come out to small places like Lower Swanwick?
Not at all. We cater in villages and hamlets as well as towns. Tell us about lanes, gates and parking.
Can you cook near the sea around Lower Swanwick?
Yes, as long as we can shelter from the wind. Sea breezes cool the pan, so a windbreak, building or gazebo helps.
Do you need water?
Tell us what’s available at the pitch and we’ll confirm what we need.
Do you offer halal options?
Yes, we do. Halal paella is cooked with halal chicken and no pork or alcohol, in a separate pan.
Where do you cater?
London and the South East: Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, Bucks, Oxfordshire and the Isle of Wight.
Can you trade at our festival or fair?
Send us the details, and we will reply with our availability and what we need.
Do you have a kids’ option?
Yes. A simple chicken paella is normally popular with children. Include children in your numbers.
Is the paella cooked on site?
Yes, always. Every paella is cooked from scratch on site, in front of your guests.
What happens on the day
We cook over gas burners in wide, shallow pans. It needs a level spot with some shelter and good ventilation, and we agree where that is before the day. At midsummer, events in Lower Swanwick stay light until about 9:20pm, so evening trading normally finishes in daylight in high summer. For winter markets, dark by about 4:00pm, the pitch needs lighting.
- Send us your event details and pitch information.
- We send our menu, needs and paperwork.
- We arrive and set up at the agreed time.
- We cook in full view and serve all event.
- We pack down and tidy the pitch.
Preparing for the day
- Pick a flat, firm spot for us to cook
- Get the venue’s permission for cooking
- Confirm numbers and diets before the day
Get a quote
We quote for each event separately, so the price fits what you actually want. To ask for one, use our quote form.
Read more
Perfect for your event in Lower Swanwick
It brings theatre to the food court.
We can help if you’re planning any of the following:
- Sports club events
- School and charity events
- VIP and hospitality areas
- Summer fairs and fêtes
Running a fête for a church like Church of St Leonard? A paella pan draws people in.
Before booking anyone
- What the price includes, item by item
- How each diet is kept separate
- Staff numbers and hours
- Whether crockery, cutlery and napkins are included
- 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