Sep 22 • Jo Cox-Brown

Chefs on Fire: What Cities Can Learn About Curating Calm, Creative Night-Time Experiences

The beauty of my job is that I get to attend events that remind me why I do what I do. This weekend, I attended two outstanding events in Portugal, which is fast becoming my favourite festival hotspot: the first was Deep House Bible, a legal rave on the beach in Portugal. Thankfully, the weather is still warm enough to dance outside.

I love Praia de Irmão as a beach, restaurant and event space. The music, location, staging, organisation and performances were exceptional. They have a great attention to detail, and this event did not disappoint. As a lover of deep house music, my soul ignited, and we danced until dawn.

By lunchtime the following day, I was ready for the second event, Chefs on Fire, a beautifully curated cultural and food-focused festival of food cooked on fire, music and art and held in Cascais, a pretty city 15 miles west of Lisbon, in Marechal Park, a delightful oasis in the heart of the city.

If you’ve never been and you love food, go. It’s food for the soul, the décor, the vibe, the music, the setting, the thoughtfulness in every detail. At every corner, we squealed with delight.

We chose the five-plate, two-drink option but shared it, savouring 10 dishes. Eight of them were pure excellence, delighting every taste bud. We were so full and so happy that we ended up having a mid-afternoon disco nap on the lawn, gingham blankets and cushions laid out as if they’d known we’d need them, saving the other half of our food joy until evening time.

Despite the event being busy, it felt calm and peaceful. Very few queues. No chaos. Just care, creativity, and community.

Why aren’t more cities embracing this kind of experience?

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Lessons for Cities: Food, Culture, and Placemaking After Dark

Chefs on Fire showed me how powerful it is when events weave together the best of local food, design, music, art, and placemaking. It wasn’t just a festival. It was a vision of what our public spaces could feel like after dark.

Here are a few lessons cities can take from it:

1. Use Parks as Cultural Stages

Cities often overlook their green spaces when thinking about nighttime activity. Yet parks can host carefully curated evening festivals that feel welcoming, calm, and connected to nature.

Evidence shows that cultural festivals make a measurable impact. The Southsea Food Festival in the UK generated £1.52 million for the local economy in 2025, attracting 63,400 visitors over just two days. Nearly half of the attendees came specifically for the festival, and over a third said they planned to return to local businesses afterwards.

2. Partner with Experienced Promoters

Chefs on Fire worked because it was expertly organised. Partnerships between city councils, experienced promoters, and event producers are essential to curate safe, seamless, high-quality experiences that reflect the city’s identity. The whole event was sponsored by Makro, which was a lovely aligned touch.

3. Celebrate Local Food Producers

Instead of relying on generic fast food stalls, the festival elevated local food, artisans, chefs, and producers. Cities can use events like these to shine a light on their culinary talent, whether established or emerging, from microbreweries, soft drink providers, or sustainable farms, building both economic resilience and cultural pride. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find Irish Whiskey at a stall. 

Food and culture in cities isn’t a luxury; it’s an economic driver. Pembrokeshire Fish Week in Wales brought in an estimated £2.7 million for the local economy, demonstrating how celebrating regional food heritage supports growth.

4. Design Matters

Every detail was intentional: long communal tables that encouraged slow dining, art galleries showcasing the story of past events, music carefully balanced to create atmosphere without overwhelming conversation. Even the floor plan reduced queues and kept the energy flowing.

Design isn’t decoration, it’s how people feel, move, and connect in a space. And when done well, it becomes part of the storytelling and placemaking that makes a festival unforgettable.

5. Night-Time Doesn’t Have to Mean Noisy

Too often, when we think of night-time events, we imagine loud, late-night, high-energy experiences. (I love these too.) But Chefs on Fire showed another way: festivals that invite joy, calm, and connection. Night-time can be inclusive, diverse, and soulful.

The UK festivals industry itself is growing steadily, with projections showing it will reach £4.8 billion in revenue by 2025, growing at around 5.7% annually. The global festival market is expected to grow from about US$2.57 billion in 2024 to around US$3.04 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~17-18% over that period. This is a space cities cannot afford to ignore when shaping their night-time economy strategies.
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A call to cities

As cities reimagine their night-time economy strategies, I want them to look beyond bars and clubs. Imagine what would happen if parks became spaces for night-time picnics, food festivals, communal art, and cultural connection.

Events like Chefs on Fire prove that when we design with thoughtfulness and collaboration, we can create nights that are safe, inclusive, economically sustainable, and unforgettable.

The future of the night-time economy isn’t just about keeping people out later. It’s about curating spaces where everyone feels they belong, where food, culture, and community come together under the stars.

If your city is exploring how to diversify its night-time offer, my team and I would love to help you design inclusive, inspiring cultural festivals and placemaking strategies that bring people together in ways that nourish community and local economies.