Wickham Festival 2012

The family-friendly Wickham Festival (formerly known as the Eastleigh Festival) offers live music and entertainment for all ages with camping in a relaxed folk festival setting, and will be held in the Hampshire village of Wickham just east of Eastleigh and just north of Fareham.
This four-day event happens from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th August 2012. There will be three music stages in 2012 plus an open stage and other attractions including street theatre, a solar-powered cinema tent, circus tent, digital funfair, storytelling tent, crafts fayre and Real Ale Festival.

Line-up

The latest acts confirmed are The Wurzels, Steve Tilston, Karine Polwart, Rory McLeod, The Outcast Band, Nancy Kerr & James Fagan, Les Barker, The Fake Thackrays, Kitty the Lion, Lady Maisery, Chris Sherburn & Denny Bartley, The Long Notes, Ducie, Tinderbox, and Jack McNeill and Charlie Heys. .

Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra (with Ruby Turner plus special guests to be confirmed), Levellers, KT Tunstall, The Proclaimers, Bellowhead, Oysterband, Show of Hands, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Dervish, Jim Causley, The John Otway Big Band, Heidi Talbot with John McCusker & Boo Hewerdine, Shamus O'Blivion and the Megadeath Morrismen, Edward II, Home Service, Beshazzar's Feast, Jackie Oates, Session A9, Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker & John Doyle, Rua Macmillan Trio, Manran, Merry Hell, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, The Jason Wilson Band featuring Dick Gaughan & Dave Swarbrick, Calan, Babelfish, Jack McNeill, and Charlie Heys, plus many more. For the line-up details, and day splits, as available please click here.

Plus the festival has now merged with the Wickham Easter Festival due to take place in April (for more details click here) and had a line-up including Steve Tilston, Karine Polwart, Maddy Prior Trio, The Acoustic Gathering, Nancy Kerr & James Fagan, Charlie Mckerron Trio, Chris Sherburn & Denny Bartley, Rory Mcleod, Les Barker, Andy Dinan & Friends, Karen Tweed, Huw Williams & Maartin Allcock, Maggie Boyle & Paul Downes, The Long Notes, Fake Thackray, Lady Maisery, The Askew Sisters, Rachel Hair, Black Peak, Tinderbox, Hampshire Songs Session, and more. Most of the artists who were scheduled to appear at Easter will now appear at the main event in August.

Tickets

A 4-Day adult season ticket is priced at £135, with under-16s being half-price and under-10s free. Camping tickets are priced at £25 per tent or caravan for the whole weekend, and day tickets also being on sale with prices from £25 adult, £12.50 under-16s. Under-10s are free throughout.

To buy tickets, click here.

Show Of Hands Sub Tropical Seaside Festival offer

Floods forced Show of Hands to cancel their popular annual signature festival on the Saturday – as relentless rain lashed Dorset's Jurassic coast and roads were closed throughout the area.

It was the first time in the festival's 15 year history that the band has had to pull the plug on the event at Abbotsbury's Sub Tropical Gardens, between Bridport and the Olympic sailing hub of Weymouth.

A special offer has now been extended to disappointed Abbotsbury ticket holders by Hampshire's Wickham Festival, where Show of Hands will perform on Saturday, 4th August.

Organisers are offering free entry to the festival on that day - a real bargain as a ticket would normally cost £50. Also on the line up that day will be Bellowhead, Home Service, Michael McGoldrick, Steve Tilston, Jackie Oates, Jim Causley and Belshazzar's Feast, among others. The offer applies to adult, child and family tickets with the family ticket allowing entry to two adults and up to three children.

Attractions for children include a circus, cartoon cinema, digital funfair, storytelling and puppet theatre.

Those wanting to take up the offer should simply take their Abbotsbury tickets to Wickham Festival and exchange them at the box office for full day tickets.

For those unable to take up the Wickham offer, full refunds are available. To obtain a refund you should send your tickets back to Abbotsbury Tourism West Yard Barn, West Street, Abbotsbury, Dorset, DT3 4JT. They must be received no later than the last post on Friday, 27th July 2012.

For the news story about this offer click here.

On site

Other attractions for festival goers include The Groovy Movie Solar-Powered Cinema, storytelling, theatre, children's entertainers, unsigned bands stage, Punch & Judy, dance displays, healing area, campsite 'Posh Wash' showers, craft fayre, exotic foods fayre, and real ale bars.

Getting there

Wickham is easily reached by road, rail, coach, bus and air. If coming by road, Wickham is just two miles north of the M27 (junction 10) near Fareham and is less than 10 miles from both the M3 and A3. Alternatively, for a scenic route, take the A32 from Alton and head south through the beautiful Meon valley.

There will be more information here when it becomes available.

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