SAT on a bale on the edge of his farmyard, Alex James looks every inch the gentleman farmer.

In black jumper, skinny jeans and just the right length of stubble, he strikes the perfect balance between countryman and rock star. And he is clearly very much at home.

“I love it here,” he says, squinting into the sun and patting his dog Socks, who is relishing the attention.

“I really can’t grumble, especially on a day like today.”

Despite the easygoing manner, Alex has a job on. He is in the process of transforming his 200-acre back garden into a festival celebrating the best of British music – and food.

This weekend, up to 20,000 people will troop through his gate to enjoy two days of pop, rock, dance music and a huge variety of culinary treats.

Staged in partnership with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, The Big Feastival will feature headline sets by dance legends Basement Jaxx on Saturday, and airy pop act The Feeling on Sunday.

Other names, in what is a surprisingly eclectic line-up, include youthful pop duo Rizzle Kicks, singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, ’90s band Dodgy, Take That’s Mark Owen, Essex rhythm and blues-rockers The Milk and actor-turned musician Laurence Fox, better known to TV viewers as Inspector Lewis’s sidekick Sergeant Hathaway, in the Oxford-based Inspector Morse spin-off.

Providing more upbeat carnival beats are DJ Norman Jay and Caribbean comic three-piece The Cuban Brothers.

Foodies, meanwhile, can stock up on fresh produce, or watch cookery demos by Mr Oliver; his mentor, the Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo; French chef Bruno Loubet of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and Le Petit Blanc; top British chefs Valentine Warner and Mark Sargeant; and foodies Sabrina Ghayour and Gizzi Erskine.

Children will be treated to a set by CBeebies star Justin Fletcher, aka Mr Tumble, and will be free to have fun with animals and a kids’ area set up by BBC Countryfile TV presenter, Adam Henson, who runs  the Cotswold Farm Park in Gloucestershire.

There will also be art and craft workshops, children’s kitchen masterclasses, traditional country games, welly wanging, bubble shows, a vintage funfair and a return of the festival’s haystack play area.

For a rock star with a prodigious appetite for the finer (and occasionally illicit) things in life, it’s a most un-rock & roll gathering – and great because of that.

“It’s great to be able to fill this place with wonderful food, music and stuff for the kids to do,” smiles the 44-year-old father of five. “I’m trying to create the perfect weekend.

“It’s a labour of love and I enjoy it; doing this is my main focus. I have to get it right – I see how happy it makes people. I wanted to do this for the community and local producers, and it’s so much fun!”

Alex first hosted a food and music festival on his Cotswold farm in 2011, however, the company organising the event, Big Wheel Promotions, collapsed, owing £57,000 to local firms and organisations.

It was a difficult time for all, admits Alex. However, last year’s partnership with Taste Festivals marked a turning point. The festival was a great success, attracting 20,000 people. The company is also organising this year’s event, which has seen healthy ticket sales.

“I have worked harder than I have ever done, but I like it,” he says.

“There have been a lot of decisions – about roads and lights, meeting planners as well as building the site.

“I’m up and at ‘em every morning.”

He says he has also been enjoying the chance to work with other local farmers. “I try to look after them,” he says. “It’s crucial to get everyone on your side, otherwise you can’t do it.

“We don’t get any noise complaints. It’s a gentle festival.

“The response from last year’s Big Feastival was outstanding. Everyone gets it. It’s a little bit bigger and we’ve made a few changes – but if we get weather like this I’ll be happy.”

Darlings of the ’90s Britpop scene, Blur had huge success, scoring four platinum and three gold albums and a multi-platinum hits collection. They also amassed five Brit Awards, four of them in one ceremony, in 1995; an unprecedented achievement which has never been repeated.

Alex’s reunion with bandmates Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree, in 2008, after a five year separation, saw them again hit the big time, playing huge gigs in Hyde Park and at Glastonbury Festival, and, last year, performing one of their biggest ever shows: the closing of the London Olympics.

Yet while he admits the trappings of the rock star life have their appeal, this musician, who once confessed to blowing £1m on Champagne in three years, is far happier on the farm he shares with his wife, film producer Claire Neate, and their children Geronimo, twins Artemis and Galileo, Sable and Beatrix.

“I’ve spent years tearing all over the world, but things have moved on, and I’m very happy here.”

“It was a sinking battleship of an intensive beef farm when I bought it, and I worked hard to turn it around into a cheese machine. This festival is the icing on the cake.”

And Alex has enjoyed using his rock contacts to select the line-up.

“Picking the bands was quite easy,” he says. “It’s a cool proposition and people want to get involved. They know we’ll look after them which means we can punch above our weight. Our line-up is incredible for an event of this size. To get these kind of bands you’d normally have to be a much bigger festival.

“But then, it’s not a festival... it’s a ‘Feastival’ – so it’s really easy!”

And with the stage up, the lighting and fencing sorted, and the first campers allowed on to the farm tomorrow, all there is to do now is sit back and wait for the fun to start.

“We are all excited,” he grins. “Everyone knows Mark Owen and Basement Jaxx are going to be cool, and the kids are going nuts for Rizzle Kicks – so I’ll see you at the front!”

Details:

  • The Big Feastival
  • Saturday and Sunday
  • Kingham, near Chipping Norton, off the B4450, the festival site is just across the road from Kingham railway station, on the Cotswold Line, which is served by regular trains from Oxford
  • Adult day tickets £50/£60. Adult weekend tickets £100 (cheaper tickets for teens, accompanied under-12s free) but need a ticket. Tickets will cost more on the gate
  • OX7 residents discounts: call 01993 775802
  • Visit jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival