London Vegetable Orchestra

The London Vegetable Orchestra is a British musical ensemble that fabricates and subsequently plays musical instruments made out of vegetables.^[1][2][3] It is the only vegetable orchestra in the United Kingdom.^[4]

London Vegetable Orchestra
Genres	Cover versions
Instrument(s)	Carrot recorder, courgette trumpets, butternut squash trombones, pumpkin drums and aubergine castanets, amongst others
Years active	2009-present
Website	londonvegetableorchestra.com

The orchestra was founded circa 2009 by recorder-maker Tim Cranmore, who took a bet on that he could not carve a recorder from a carrot; he did create one, and in so doing founded the ensemble.^[1] Many of the original members were students at the Royal Academy of Music at the time.^[5] As of 2016, members of the orchestra were also professional musicians with either the London Symphony Orchestra or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.^[1] Like the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra, the group was inspired by The Vegetable Orchestra.^[6][7]

Instruments created by the group include courgette trumpets, butternut squash trombones, pumpkin drums and aubergine castanets.^[1] Other vegetables played include bell peppers, potatoes and parsnips.^[8] The group must use fresh vegetables, created on the day of performance, to ensure the best sound quality.^[9] In 2017 the ensemble collaborated with LG, who demonstrated the strength of their products by refrigerating vegetable for a week before the orchestra used them to make instruments.^[10] The group has performed on Countryfile, Russell Howards Good News,^[11] This Morning,^[12] Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway,^[4] Room 101,^[13] amongst others.

The group plays a wide range of music from Greensleeves to Billie Jean (punning on both names: 'Greens-leaves' and 'Billie Auber-jean').^[1] In October 2024, the group undertook a one-off performance entitled 'The 'Farmonic' Orchestra' at the Other Palace Theatre in London, sponsored by Ginsters and raising money for The Trussell Trust.^[14] In December 2024 a video of the group performing Jingle Bells on Radio 3 went viral on Instagram.^[15] The performance quickly gained over 11 million views.^[4] In April 2025 the group performed at Windsor Castle and Charles III joined them in an impromptu, informal performance of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on a carrot recorder.^[8][16][17]