Why not simplement "popular" meal ??? IMHO cela convient quel que soit le sens donné au mot "populaire"...

isn't it about alot of people eating together?

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Note added at 28 mins (2011-04-24 20:02:43 GMT)
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Visit to St Benoit August 2001
The evening ended in another shared meal, including the Russians, who provided ... stall at the Cookham Dean Village Fete or contact Liz Kwantes on 01628-525130. ...
www.cookham.com/community/news/twinning/photos.htm
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Great Bedwyn, Great Bedwyn: St Mary Church - Wiltshire ...
Great Bedwyn Church Fete. Held in Manor Farmhouse garden; a traditional church fete with stalls, teas and lots ... Communion in the setting of a shared meal Places are limited. ...
achurchnearyou.com/print_events.php?V=great-bedwyn-st-mary
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in that list, I'd just put "food"

I think the "populaire" bit is a way of saying "nothing fancy" as in "simple fare" or "basic food"

cf. this entry for "populaire" from Hachette/Oxford:

(ouvrier) [quartier, banlieue] working-class; [littérature, art, roman] popular; [édition] cheap; [restaurant] basic; être d'origine populaire to be from a working-class background; il écrit pour un public populaire he writes for ordinary people; classe populaire working class;

Where to eat at Portobello Market on a Saturday
Earl of Lonsdale - Pub: comfortable lounge/dining areas, basic food ...
www.portobellomarket.org/eating.htm

Toulouse Restaurants, Cafes, Dining: Restaurants in Toulouse Area ...
where you enjoy more simple fare whilst soaking up the atmosphere. ...
www.toulouse.world-guides.com/toulouse_restaurants.html

suggestion

A suggestion.

I think "banquet" conveys the festive tone, and "communal" tones down the grander associations of "banquet". But it is a tricky one, a bit culturally specific.

.

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Note added at 10 hrs (2011-04-25 05:47:45 GMT)
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> populaire
Ecouter la définition

connu, apprécié, célèbre.
ouvrier, démocratique, laborieux, folklorique, traditionnel, vulgaire

A translation of the idea... summer fairs, queuing up for a veggie burger and Pimm's...

Since Asker has now told us "I don't know either when or where the repas populaire is going to take place", in the light of this absence of defining context, making it too risky to pin it down more specifically, I'd like to suggest this as a non-committal but not-very-pretty solution — based entirely, of course, on the suggestions already made by A/T and Melissa, to whom all credit is due! And on the peer comment by Jeux de Mots.

I'd really like to work 'village' in there somewhere, with all that folksy stuff, I think Asker might be able to glean more information to see if that is feasible — I'd have thought a quick phone call to the organizer might have enabled this to be cleared up right away?

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Note added at 13 heures (2011-04-25 09:08:02 GMT)
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As the context dribbles out, perhaps we could take the (slight) risk of over-translation and extend this to 'outdoor meals' — although that doesn't directly or literally render 'populaire', I think in context the implication of 'all eating together outdoors' would be perfectly understood.

I must admit, I'm rather intrigued (given the difference in meaning of 'exhibition' between EN and FR!) to know just what these delightful folk-like exhibitions are going to involve ;-)

BTW, as we now know that more than one event is involved, I'm wondering again about that singular 'repas populaire' — does it imply that in all the series of events, there is going to be just one meal? Or that there is going to be one meal on each event day? That would seem more logical and consistent with the source syntax — though in that case, an argument might be made for adding the indefinite article in the EN version.

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Note added at 13 heures (2011-04-25 09:11:57 GMT)
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Reminds me of the street parties we had for the Queen's Silver Jubilee — now there's a good English example of a 'repas populaire', and incidentally, an example of just how context-specific any translation is likely to need to be.

Works in this context,

I think the reason that a satisfactory neat translation of "repas populaire" is proving elusive is that it is a very French cultural phenomenon that has no exact counterpart of which I am aware in any anglophone culture.

I have been to several, and see them announced quite frequently on local militant email lists campaigning on environmental issues or homelessness. I have heard that Front National repas populaires always ensure that pork included in the recipe to put off Muslims, but this may be a calumny. In any case, left or right, the central idea of a repas populaire is that everyone who turns up at the event gets fed. In Britain, unless you're part of the elite, you usually to have to take sandwiches along on your political days out.

My concrete experience has been as follows: the menu offered at a repas populaire is usually a single "plat" of soup or stew accompanied by rice or cous-cous, often vegan. Salad, bread, and a glass may also be offered, but not always. The most usual arrangement for payment is a monetary exchange at "prix libre": in other words, a donation of what you can afford. If you're in work, this would usually be a few, up to maybe five, euros.

The food is served by volunteers set up behind a couple of trellis tables. Repas populaires are undoubtedly more frequent during "la belle saison," when this can be outdoors, though I suppose there's no reason why one shouldn't also be served in a "salle polyvalent" at any time of year.

I recently translated "soupe populaire" (which amounts to very much the same thing) as "Popular picnic with free soup! (donations welcome)" but as the comments above have made clear, how you slice it will depend very strongly on the [lacking] context.

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Note added at 18 hrs (2011-04-25 14:18:03 GMT)
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I drew the attention of my translation guru to this: after she had stopping laughing, she congratulated me on the metatextuality of my translation, but failed to trump any of the responses so far proposed.
The collocation "shared repast" has swam into mind since I wrote my original post, but I reject it for being rather archaic and arcane, and for its religious connotations.

Knowing that "soupe populaire" in fact means "soup kitchen", I would venture to say that it is not related to "repas populaire" and would be more along the lines of "favorite meal" such as in a restaurant where the meal most commonly ordered is the "favorite meal". Or perhaps something that a family makes on a regular basis and is the "repas populaire de la famille".

Well, I hardly dare post an answer as no doubt it will be immediately dismissed like all the others (!), but I was wondering about re-phrasing the sentence to read something like:
...concerts, plays [...] exhibitions etc, plus of course the chance to sit down to a meal together while you soak up the atmosphere.