For three days Grant Park was transformed into a celebration of music with fans gathering from around the world to enjoy one of the summer's most powerful line-ups including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, The Raconteurs, The Flaming Lips and more than 120 other bands.
On show days, the Eat to the Beat team were catering for 850 people, three meals a day. Menus were planned in advance to take into consideration the hot weather and the many dietary requirements. Key favourites during the festival included the full Anglo-American breakfast to cater for varying tastes of the international artists and crew. The butternut squash risotto and mini cheesecakes went down well at lunchtime on Friday, whilst barbecue ribs and Texan chicken wings, with a gigantic selection of salads were a hit at dinner on Saturday.
Four men with carts had the sole job of distributing water to the eight stages spread across the park as temperatures soared. The kitchen was built within a marquee with gauze walls to allow a breeze to pass through and several large fans were strategically placed within the kitchen and dining area. A split shift rota was set up to ensure that the heat didn't become an issue for anyone in the kitchen.
(Lee Baldock)
