a diverse weekend of dance music is offered by Out to Graze Festival

As the sun sits high in the sky and shines brightly down on us, we make our way through the beautiful countryside. This year the site has moved north, from near Thame on the Oxon/ Bucks border, to somewhere north of Banbury and straddling the Oxon/ Warwickshire county lines.

We find the site after doubling back (the signs were pretty hard to spot), and are greeted by a smiling steward who directs us to an appropriate place to abandon the car. The ticket office isn't open but we are encouraged to get onto site and get set up, which we do.

The idyllic location boasts two main camping areas. The one at the top of the hill seems to house most of the camper vans, and a few tents. Further down the hill is the main spacious camping area with areas of grass more closely cropped defining the camp site boundaries. In the centre of the site is a lake, reflecting the clear blue skies and unspoilt scenery. It really is blissful. Not another building in site and the natural bowl will keep most of the noise from the stages set up around the lake.

We elect to camp in front of a stage which looks like an inflatable monster and which pumps out soothing dub and reggae for most of the day and night.

Once set up, we wander over to the refreshingly relaxed stewards at the arena entrance and are given wristbands. To be honest, the stewards at Out to Graze are more laid back than I've encountered anywhere else. This may be to do with the size of the crowd that they have to manage (I think it's around 700 punters), or it could be the luscious setting.

The crowd also seems to be far more relaxed than at any other dance event that I've been to. No dashing around from stage to stage to see the latest and greatest act. In fact, most of the people appearing over the weekend, are unknown to me which is great as I feel no pressure to be anywhere at a given time.

Musically, the options are diverse. Mainly in the dance spectrum but encompassing most sub genres of modern electronic music as well as the reggae and hip-hop. The highlights for me are Rebel Control who manages to combine reggae and roots sounds live, with really well thought out lyrics.

Also appearing live are Drunken Uncle Bungle and Freddie Fridge Magnet. Their portaloo hip hop song is pretty amusing and though the crowd is pretty sparse, it soon grows to a swell as word spreads. Abergavenny – the song about picking mushrooms - brings a smile to the faces of everyone present.



The Nextmen are one of the other few acts that I've heard of before, and I'm keen to catch some of their set. They don't disappoint from a skills perspective, deftly chopping and slicing between tunes, and genres, these guys really know their stuff. The only issue I have is that sometimes the huge talent for swapping from one kind of music to something completely different disturbs the continuity and I find dancing even more challenging than I usually do. Gazing open mouthed in awe is seriously not a problem though!

Music isn't the only entertainment on offer at Out to Graze and the Dubuteo keeps us all on our toes. A life sized inflatable table football pitch plays host as part of the Out To Graze Olympics and people strap themselves in to become part of the game. After a rapid exit from the tournament, we try to squeeze in to watch the football being shown on one of the stages but the bright sunlight proves too much for the projector and we make a sharp exit back to the camp site to listen on the radio.

Sunday offers a birds of prey display and although the music ends early, a rain shower convinces us that sitting around the campsite and marvelling over what has been a fantastic weekend is the order of the evening.

Of the few improvements I would make for next year, I would recommend a wider variety of food. The falconry centre serves burgers and hot dogs and there are a few other choices (including a veggie option), in the bar but for those that have an appetite and didn't bring much more than a bag of peanuts with them, it's always good to have options.

I'd also suggest putting together a musical timetable of who is playing where and when. However, these really are small suggestions rather than proper gripes.

Out to Graze has so much going for it. I have no doubt that this is the best small festival I can remember going to in ages; beautifully chaotic in a serene setting and the right mix of people make Out To Graze a winner. We'll be back next year for sure!!

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