It’s less than a month until we’ll be popping up at Clapham Common’s Big Feastival – A festival that’s raising money for charity, whilst you stuff your face with delicious food and dance around to a seriously sweet summer soundtrack.

We’re going to be serving up our festival sized pork and summer vegetable tacos to keep you revelling and judging by their appearance at last September’s Harvest at Jimmy’s festival, they will go down a storm.

The event is set to be a total blinder with acts such as Athlete, The Charlatans, Soul II Soul and The Cuban Brothers all playing throughout the weekend. The Wahaca Taco Stall will be amongst good company with great chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Giorgio Locatelli and Peter Gordon all whipping up their own treats. In fact it was these guys, along with our very own Tommi Miers who have been heading up the committee for this Feastival and helping to get all of the brilliant foodie partners signed up *Pats on the back for Tommi*.

And whilst you are having a good old time, you can be safe in the knowledge that the cash you’ve paid for your ticket and food is going to a good cause. The money raised will go to two very like-minded charities: The Princes Trust (a charity that we’ve worked with many times over the years) and The Jamie Oliver Foundation. They are going to be sharing the wealth, both using the money to maximum effect, meaning you can have an even bigger smile on your face, all weekend long.

If you fancy picking yourself up some tickets, then head over to the website www.bigfeastival.com where you’ll see that you can go for day tickets, or for the whole weekend, and include tokens to buy your food when you’re at the festival. Fun times.

Even more fun times – Competition time! We’ve got 1 pair of day tickets to give away! To enter, simply tell us which of the acts on the line up famously sang (and you know it’s going to be in your head for the rest of the day) “Back to life (However do you want me)” in 1989?

Just post the answer, in a random fashion, on our facebook wall and we’ll put you in the big prize draw. Feel free to include any descriptions of how hearing the song makes you feel, although this will purely be for our own enjoyment and will have little-to-no sway on the final winner. The tickets are for the day of your choice and include 5 tokens to eat at the various restaurnts on site. The competition closes on Wednesday 22nd June.

Good luck!

Those of you who’ve been following the blog and reading ‘Ola London will know that our Training Manager Mims Smith has been spending inordinate amounts of time pumping the pedals and fundraising for her attempt to cycle across Mexico to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Care. We’re very glad to report that she’s made it back in one piece and you can read all about her adventure here. Over to you Mims:

On the 26th of March this year, I set off on the biggest adventure of my life. Little did I know, the experience was one that would change my life.

At 7am, a group of people met in Heathrow Terminal 4 for a flight to Mexico City – 45 strangers with a common goal – to cycle across Mexico in order to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. All of us had our reasons for being there – all of us knew someone who had been touched by cancer – some of us had lost loved ones, some of us were survivors, some of us were living with it – all of us had our own fears and anxieties and none of us knew what to expect, but there we were, willing, able and very committed.

10 days later, the same group of 45 people reached the Pacific Ocean after cycling 650km up mountains, down potholed roads, through farmland, across jungles and all in 40 degree heat. We’d slept on the ground for 8 nights – through heat and storms – we bathed in streams (when there was one – mostly, we just didn’t wash), we’d eaten nothing but carbs and sugar, and we’d pedalled day in day out for 8 days straight. During this time, I learnt what it truly meant to be part of a team – we put tents up and took them down again, we laughed and cried, we shouted and sang, we’d fallen off just to get up and get back on, we’d charged up hills only to come back down and encourage the others to ‘keep pushing, keep pedalling’ – and we got there, not as a group of 45 individuals, but as a team – Team Mexico 2011.

On the 28th of March, we left the Gulf of Mexico as a group of 45 people with their own personal motive. 10 days later we reached the Pacific Coast as a team of 45 people bound together by adventure, emotion, hard work and a sense of achievement – a group who had raised a whopping £152 000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Words cannot express how that last convoy into Puerto Escondido felt – happy, sad, victorious, relieved, joyful and an overwhelming sense of what we had achieved – there were tears, laughter, hugs, and smiles all around, before running, leaping, diving into the ocean. I have never felt so good in my life.

This was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. It was also the most inspirational, enjoyable and humbling – it taught me that impossible is nothing, that you can achieve anything you put your mind to and that a ‘wall’ is not a ‘wall’ – it’s just a moment outside your comfort zone, an extra obstacle to make you realise you’re alive – and you only live once. It’s a feeling that’s addictive. During the cycle, I met several people who travelled and cycled the world with Macmillan every year. I’ve become one of them. Next stop? Kenya and Tanzania, Autumn 2012. I can’t wait.

Earlier this year, our co-founder and executive chef, Tommi went along to see the great work that gets done by Ednica, the Unesco backed charity that we have chosen to support.

Check out this interview that Tommi filmed with Violaine Dulin who has helped us set up the fundraising partnership we have going on. We think it gives a nice feel for the amazing work they are doing.

Next time you’re in the restaurant spend some time perusing the “Street food special” section of the menu and you’ll see that every time you order one of these dishes 20p is given to Ednica to help educate and feed kids who work on the streets of Mexico City. At the momement we have the huarrache and a cactus queso fundido on offer, which are totally-knock-your-socks-off-delicious so you can have a extra big smile on your face when it comes to ordering.

Towards the end of last year we were delighted to be asked to help out with sponsorship of the Action Against Hunger Twin Peaks Challenge – A double tower run that had people running to the top of 2 of London’s highest buildings to raise money for charity.

Whilst our prize of a meal for 8 was offered in Wahaca Canary Wharf to keep to the tower theme, the winners were glad to hear the restaurant is only on the first floor of 1 Canada Square (and there’s a lift if the legs still haven’t fully recovered).

In total the event raised over £21,000 which will be going towards helping to ease the suffering of those caught up in the crisis in Haiti. You can check out the fun and games that were had on the day in their rather exhausting looking video below.

The FT London Twin Peak Challenge, starring Amy Williams! from Action Against Hunger on Vimeo.

If that looked like your cup of tea and you’re up for a challenge, The London Twin Peak Challenge 2011 will be taking place in June and that people can register their interest now by emailing: c.cavalier@aahuk.org or phoning: 0208 293 6138.

Having considered buying a bicycle for quite some time, the only thing that held me back was the thought of commuting through London traffic. And then I heard about ‘El Grandisimo’ – 612km of cycling from the east coast of Mexico to the west – and that was all the convincing I needed. I enjoy spinning classes at the gym – how hard could it be? Surely I could survive commuting in London traffic if 2 weeks in Mexico was at the finish line?

Am I a cyclist? No. Do I own a bicycle? I bought one last month on the Ride2Work scheme. I then immediately crashed it down on the Embankment. Since then, I have crashed, fallen off, picked myself up and got back on more times than I care to remember. But the more time I spend with my bicycle, the more addicted I am becoming – I spend weekdays daydreaming about it and weekends doing it.

But however nice cycling along canal towpaths may be I am yet to get involved with central London traffic. In order to conquer this, I started looking into cycling lesson options and was pleasantly surprised to discover Westminster Council offer free cycling tuition – 4 hrs of one-on-one tutoring with an instructor. So far I’ve had 2 hours of training – in the cleats I’ve been avoiding since leaving serious skin on the pavement 3 weeks ago and in traffic – it’s amazing how your confidence increases the longer you manage to avoid falling off!

But cycling is only half of it – and I’m realising maintenance is the other – you can’t have one without the other. So I’ve also learnt a few things recently – cleaning, lubricating and the all important ‘oh my goodness, I hope it never happens to me’ puncture repair – although admittedly, this did not go quite to plan…… I fixed a puncture on a friend’s bike which, unfortunately for him, went flat before he got home…… So more practise required I think…….

Can I turn myself from self confessed spin-a-holic and cycling amateur into a Mexican mountain climber? Time will tell. Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted with tales of falls and spills, steep climbs, frighteningly fast downward spirals, core strength, leg power and fixing my first puncture. I’m excited!

Look out for my next blog – all you need to know about my maiden commute to work on a cold, dark November morning…….. And who said cycling was a summer sport!

There’s no denying it, Mexican’s have the best moustaches in the world, but after months of experimentation on the humble British upper lip, we’re delighted to announce that help is on hand for all those struggling to muster more lip-growth than a 16 year old boy. We can exclusively reveal that burritos make your mo grow.

That’s why, to show our support for those taking part in this year’s charity moustache growing campaign – Movember – we’re offering every fundraiser a free burrito from our Canary Wharf takeaway each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in November 2010.

To claim your free burrito (and yes you can come back every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday if you want) you just need to come in to our takeaway in Wahaca Canary Wharf, showing us your hairy lip and a print out of your mo-space page to prove you’re a genuine mo-brother or mo-sister.

There are 4 burritos to choose from, all of them tasting like individually wrapped bundles of heaven. You can choose from a choice of fillings – British steak, slow cooked pork, free range chicken tinga and seasonal vegetables. These are lovingly combined with green rice, cheese, crunchy cabbage and salsas and then toasted for a few minutes on the grill to give them a great combo of crunch and melt in the mouth yumminess. You might have noticed we’re pretty keen on them.

So if you’re doing your bit and donating your face to Movember this year, then please do come on down to the Canary Wharf and let us give your lip a welcome boost. If you want to find out more about Movember and the great work they do to help raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity, then check out their website.