The 5 top eats to try out at this weekend's Meats & Beats festival

This year the festival is moving to a bigger venue at Summerhall, allowing all cooked food to move outside to create an Outdoor Street Food Courtyard, where festivalgoers can take a rest from throwing shapes on the dance floor and refuel on meat-stacked dishes.

For those not familiar with Meats & Beats Festival, it is best described as a “carnivore’s playground” set against a soundtrack of all the “cheesiest, ‘hands in the air’ tunes” from the last five decades.

Every hour the music changes decade, starting with the pop classics of the 70s, working through the disco anthems of the 80s, dance tunes of the 90s and teen pop bands of the noughties, climaxing in 2018.

Oyster Mushrooms with Sticky Sweet BBQ Glaze PoBoy. Picture: contributed

Festivalgoers can look forward to feasting on sizzling steaks, jerk chicken, slow cooked BBQ brisket, pulled pork brioche buns, meat-loaded nachos, chicken wings and meat-packed burritos (to mention a few).

Confirmed collaborations include Bonnie Burrito, Meat Stack, Rost, Fat Boy, Shanty Town and Tasty Buns Bakery.

There will also be pop-up bars from Stewart Brewing, Edinburgh Beer Factory and cocktail experts ‘Old Poison’ serving up craft beers, cocktails, wines and prosecco.

For the competitive eaters, there’s a hotdog-eating competition to enter, or take a trip down memory lane with retro playground games in the courtyard.

Here are our picks of the top 5 eats you should look out for at the festival:

1) Meat: Stack - West Coast Classic Cheeseburger and Beef Dripping Fries

Two 100 per cent salt aged beef patties grilled for a crispy crust and juicy centre, layered with sliced cheese, dry cure smoked bacon, relish and secret sauce, then topped with a bun and steamed for a soft gooey finish. Accompanied with extra crispy beef dripping fries in house seasoning or parmesan & truffle topping.

2) Bonnie Burrito - Balmoral Burrito

Succulent chicken pieces on top of traditional Scottish haggis with lime and coriander rice, Mexican beans, zesty guacamole and other traditional Mexican fillings, finished with a drizzle of homemade Scottish hot sauces for a Fiesta in your mouth!

3) Fatboys - Crispy Dry Rubbed Chicken Wings with White BBQ Sauce and Maple Syrup & Coconut Sweet Potato Fries

Fatboys’s menu is influenced by Southern America which owner Joe fell in love with after numerous holidays to see his family in North Carolina and being given the chance to work with one of the best Pittmasters in America.

4) Ròst - Venison Pastrami Slider

A delicious venison burger with hot-smoked mustard & cracked coriander pastrami, melted Swiss cheese, trailer pickles, Dijon mayo and crispy fried onions.

5) Shanty Town - Oyster Mushrooms with Sticky Sweet BBQ Glaze Po’Boy

This great vendor offers Cajun style oyster mushrooms with green peppers, spring onions and smoked sticky & sweet glaze, served in a soft garlic butter sesame seed bun

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