Greater London · England
Festival Paella Catering for Southwark events
Cooked live, served hot and made to share: paella street food for festivals, fairs, markets and community events for events in Southwark and across Greater London.
- Open days
- Race days and sports events
- Village fêtes
Planning an event in Southwark?
Southwark: your questions answered
Could we have live paella in Little Dorrit's Playground?
Only with permission from the park’s owner, usually the council. Check with them, and we’ll provide our paperwork.
What’s the nearest station to Southwark for guests?
The closest is Elephant & Castle station, roughly 0.5 miles away.
Is the paella cooked on site?
Yes. Every paella is cooked from scratch on site, in front of your guests.
What areas do you cover?
We cover London and the South East, including Greater London. Find your area.
Do you do desserts?
Yes, Spanish desserts can be added. Let us know if you’d like one in your enquiry.
Can you serve drinks?
Sangria can be added, and we can staff a bar with your drinks.
Can you serve tapas as well?
Yes, and it is a popular combination. Tapas first, paella to follow.
How many different paellas?
Two or three covers most guests. We’ll recommend a mix based on diets.
About our festival paella catering in Southwark
The pans are part of the attraction. Visitors stop to watch, take photos and come back for lunch. On the menu are vegan paella, giant-pan paella and chicken and chorizo paella, and we are frequently booked for school and charity events and agricultural and county shows.
Events in Southwark range from street parties and school fairs to markets and festivals. Organisers generally need council permission for public spaces, and we’ll provide what the organiser asks for. Each paella is cooked from scratch on the day, not reheated, and served the moment it is ready.
- Location
- Southwark (SE1, SE11)
- Region
- Greater London
- Diets
- Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, halal
- Also available
- Tapas, desserts, sangria, staff
- Quotes
- Contact us for a quote
- Last updated
- 23 October 2026
Why live cooking beats a buffet
Food that sits in a hot cabinet isn’t much to look at. A giant pan cooking in view sells itself. Compared with a plated meal, live paella is often good value, as there is no kitchen to hire and fewer staff to pay. We’ll send you a quote.
Why us?
- Every diet catered for, pan by pan
- Everything cooked fresh at your event
- Add tapas, canapés and Spanish desserts
- Waiting staff and crockery on request
Read Our prices page And Our guide to catering costs.
The menu, dish by dish
Chicken & chorizo paella
A hearty, smoky pan.
Vegan paella
Vegans get a hot, filling dish.
Nearby places to Southwark
Other catering in Southwark
What happens on the day
We cook over gas burners in wide, shallow pans. We need a level, ventilated spot, and we agree where that is before the day. Evening events in Southwark have light until about 9:20pm at midsummer; after dark, we need a lit pitch.
- Send the event name, expected visitors and pitch size.
- You get our stall menu and what we need on site.
- 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
- Check the venue allows live cooking
- Arrange a covered spot for wet weather
- Tell us when you want to eat
Getting a price
It’s easy to get a price: share your date, venue, numbers and diets. We’ll send a clear, itemised quote and a suggested menu.
Planning help
Community events around Southwark
Southwark is about 0 miles north-west of London, in Greater London. Across the SE1 area, we will come to your venue or garden. Southwark is one of 764 places in Greater London we cover.
For a church fête or fundraiser, at a church such as Borough Welsh Congregational Chapel, a paella stall adds a hot meal to the cakes and tombola. School fairs, for a school like Charles Dickens Primary School, are a natural fit for a paella stall.
For festival paella catering in SE1 and SE11, we plan around your venue and timings. Local streets include Borough Square, Trinity Church Square and Merrick Square; an event at home on any of them works well with live paella. Main roads around Southwark include the A300 and B240, so getting the burners and pans to your event is simple. For events just outside Southwark, we cover Tower Hill (1 mile north-east), City of London (1 mile north), Aldgate (1 mile north-east), Bishopsgate (1 mile north-east) and Barbican Estate (1 mile north). Further out, we also cater in City of Westminster (3 miles west), Kensington (5 miles west), Walthamstow (7 miles north-east), Hampstead (5 miles north-west), Ruislip (14 miles west) and Brompton (3 miles west).
Other landmarks nearby include County of London (1.1 miles north) and Baynard's Castle (0.8 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Ludgate Hill and Bellenden Road Nature Garden.
- Schools near Southwark include London School of Musical Theatre (less than half a mile south-west) and Ark Globe Academy (under half a mile south-east)
- Pubs nearby include The Gladstone Arms (within half a mile north-east)
- Other local spots include The BFI Reuben Library (0.9 miles north-west)
Catering for every guest
We cater for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal guests. To get it right:
- Give traders a single information pack
- Ask for allergen information at each stall
- Ask about peak-time capacity
- Provide seating near the food
Crew meals are served at set times.
A vegan pan alongside the meat and seafood pans.
Organising for someone else?
If you are booking for a business, tell us how you’d like to handle the booking and payment, and we will explain how it works. We are happy to liaise with facilities on access and timings.
Hosting a party at home? Send a photo of the space and tell us about parking, and we will tell you honestly whether live paella will work.
Space, weather and the venue
Live paella is cooked over gas burners in large pans, so the cooking area needs a little planning. Here’s what we look for:
- The event’s site rules and timings
- Room for our cooking and serving area
- A pitch away from tents and structures
Southwark is in London, within the Ultra Low Emission Zone, and parking can be tight: tell us about parking bays, permits or a driveway.
If in doubt, send us a picture of the spot and we’ll advise before booking.
Menu ideas
- Vegan paella
- Churros
- Chicken & chorizo paella
- Giant paella pans
- Tapas
- Seafood paella
Should I cook it myself?
You can cook paella for a crowd yourself, but it takes practice. A big pan needs a burner that heats it evenly, and getting the rice right for dozens of people takes experience. Our guide to cooking paella for a crowd explains how.
For a small group, cooking yourself can work well. For larger numbers, mixed diets or a wedding, a caterer takes the pressure off, and keeps vegetarian and allergy-safe pans separate.
Perfect for your event in Southwark
It feeds crew and volunteers well on a long day.
Whatever the occasion, live paella can be the centrepiece. We often cook for:
- Music and food festivals
- Agricultural and county shows
- Open days and community events
- Sports club events
Events in parks such as Little Dorrit's Playground need permission from the council or landowner, and we will send any documents they ask for.
Questions to ask before you book
- How late numbers can change
- When payment is due
- Any travel, parking or access charges
- Allergen information for each dish
- 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