An über-cool addition

There is a school of thought that suggests people over the age of 25 are far too old to be going to music festivals. I know what they mean - it's the thought of damp sleeping bags, muddy fields, drunk people being annoying all night and annoying people being off their faces all day.

And the loos? Well, let's not go there. But given that I am closer to 30 years old than I am to 20 (and always will be), I take exception to this ageist theory that festivals are just for kids.

Having said this, festivals aren't quite my glass of beer, and now that The Big Chill festival - a less gruelling version of Glastonbury, held every August at Eastnor Castle - has this, its first bar venture in London in association with the people behind Cantaloupe, Cargo and the Market Bar, there is no need for me to go backpacking with a bunch of eco-warriors.

So here I am on Dray Walk, a pedestrian enclave off Brick Lane where people buy their food from the local caffs and eat their purchases at courtyard picnic tables.

The usual suspects are here: white guys with dreadlocks and parkas (never been a good image unless you're flogging The Big Issue), their unkempt, Guardian-reading girlfriends sporting pierced tongues and more than an air of lesbian tendencies, and children in pushchairs who are probably named Rosetta or Brisingamen.

Pigeons tackle the debris from randomly strewn polystyrene food cartons - this is so not very New Age.

The Big Chill bar is approximately 50 yards along Dray Walk on the right hand side. This is a deliberately dishevelled, concrete carbuncle of a venue that could easily serve as a small NCP car park, but the raw industrial interior has been softened with gold, satiny ceiling drapes and deep red floor-to-ceiling drapes.

Long, low banquettes have been built around the walls, there's a few battered sofas, a smattering of high dining tables and plenty of open space for hanging around, which is needed when this place comes into its own early in the evenings.

This is a DJ-driven bar, and the crowds each evening gather to hear an eclectic range of music including funk, hip-hop, ambient lounge music and reggae. The clientele spans all ages but only one genre: fashionably grungy folk who either live in East End squats or trendy Shoreditch lofts.

Unenthusiastic staff serve some interesting drinks including Konig Ludwig Weiss beer, Budvar and Weston's cider on draught, and there's a good bottled beer offering of Sagres, Moretti, Cruzcampo and Old Speckled Hen.