Charlbury Riverside Festival 2016

The Charlbury Riverside Festival is now in its 21st year, and the organisers claim that it's the largest FREE festival of its type in Oxfordshire. Charlbury returns on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th July 2016.

Line-up

Main Stage: NeverInd, Saedly Dorus & The Hoolie Band, The Epstein, The Wonder Beers, Leader, Dave Sutherland, Knights of Mentis, Speedbuggy USA, Bright Works, Peerless Pirates, Crystallite, Mighty Redox, Fuji, The Headington Hillbillies, and Dungeon Wolf.

Second Stage: Cherokee, The Hummingbirds, Alphabet Backwards, Frankenstein’s Lobster, Russell Morgan, The Beckoning Fair Ones, Henry Grace, Charlie Leavy, The Black Hats, Edd Donovan & The Wandering Moles, Sylva Kay, A Reluctant Arrow, The Shapes, and David Gib.

Fringe Stage: Cosmosis, Jinjacooze, Beard of Destiny, Monkfish, Beaver Fuel, True Rumour, Trev Williams, Mark Allan Barnes, Purple May, Albio Basement, and Freddy Le Cragg, plus DJs to close.

Sound of the Shire: Peerless Pirates, Mayhem, Saedly Dorus & The Hoolie Band, Loud Mountains, Zurich, The Tropics, Ed Geater, Alphabet Backwards, The Inflatables, The Balkan Wanderers, Lino & The Yow City Expedition, James Hollingsworth, Genevieve Miles, Orlando Seale & The Swell, The Tuneless Choir, The Mighty Redox, Captain Redeye & The Hoods, Daniel Billing Band, The Turn, Kris Dollimore, Dave Sutherland, Leader, Lux, The Wonder Beers, Welsh Folk, The Two Tone All Skas, I Said Yes, Great Western Tears, The Knights of Mentis, Cactus & The Lilac Sky, Chipping Norton School Jazz Band, Wavey Hills, and Van Susans. In total more than 40 acts will be playing across three stages.

The festival is famed for showcasing Oxfordshire’s music talent and this year is again inviting thriving independent record stores Rapture (in Witney) and Truck (in Oxford) to run the second stage. 

Riverside Fringe stage

The Fringe stage will also be returning this year .

On site

Riverside is very much a family event, children can join in free music workshops with Salt Box Music, go on nature adventures with Little Wild Things, and try their hand at a range of creative crafts and activities.

As well as three stages, there's always a smorgasbord of very reasonably priced food and drink stalls and a large kids' area with many free activities.

Despite the work involved and the cost of putting on an event of this size, the festival is still run entirely by volunteers and still free for all to enter. It's a truly family-friendly festival.

Restrictions

Like all festivals, festival goers cannot bring bottles and cans into the arena, but the two bars and other refreshment stalls will be selling drinks at very reasonable prices. No camping at the festival, see website for information on nearby camp sites and hotels. No dogs other than assistance dogs.

How to get there

Entrance to the Festival site is down Mill Lane, virtually opposite Charlbury railway station. The station is on the London Paddington to Hereford and Worcester line, 15 minutes from Oxford. On the Saturday there are buses from Oxford, Woodstock, Witney, Chipping Norton and Banbury to the centre of Charlbury, five minutes walk from the Festival.

Accommodation

This event does not offer camping. The area has local hotels and B&Bs and there is the Cotswold View Caravan and Camping Park on the outskirts of Charlbury.

More info

For more information, see the Charlbury Riverside Festival website.

This festival also programme the Riverside Stage at The Cornbury Music Festival at Great Tew on the first weekend of July.

More information will be here when available.

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