Overview

I said last year in my review that this festival is a classic in the making and now after visiting Cheltenham racecourse for a second time I’m convinced I was right, and so are several thousand others. So much so that many people took up the offer to buy concession tickets as they walked away lobster coloured from a pretty splendid weekend, happy in the knowledge they would be back next year.

If camping numbers double next year and the same numbers of day ticketers swell the ranks then Wychwood could be heading for a sell out. So if you want to go to the friendliest festival on the circuit then I’d get your tickets at early bird prices or possibly face disappointment in 2007.

The festival has really grown in the number of people attending, still not at capacity yet, but next year could see it reaching maturity once word gets out about how good a festival this is – especially for families. In fact I think Wychwood has the highest percentage of children to adults of any festival on the calendar. Certainly offering a wide range of kids’ activities although it was good to see so many happy to settle down in front of the stages.

The line-up, while at first looking like random programming, actually appears to have a formula which I think works well. If you imagine the line up for Glastonbury for instance – you have a varied line up over many stages – new bands, dance, acoustic, folk, festival favourites, older legends, world music, local acts and some eccentricities. Well it would appear Wychwood has taken the bold move of picking a few acts from every genre so they can please some of their visitors all of the time and conversely there were many opportunities for us to open our musical ears and take in some music we might otherwise have never experienced.

We were already aware that they had moved the campsite to within the racecourse, not only did this make for a shorter walk to the arena, and lovely level ground but an additional perk was no stones – perfect ground for pitching a tent and a pristine campsite with sufficient water points and toilets and this year a café too. Once again we were able to offload our cars (particularly full in our case) and then drive them to the car park. With provision for campervans, a family (quiet) and noisy camping – although walking through it late at night even the ‘noisy’ camping was respectfully quiet.

The sun beat down on us as we erected the tent and unpacked while children played around us helping to create a relaxed atmosphere. Tents were not crowded next to each other there was space to put out chairs and still see grass and it wasn’t just ticket holders, all the stewards, caterers and artists were residing together in the same campsite.

The tickets proclaimed a six o’clock start but in fact the arena opened earlier certainly by 4pm but we didn’t sojourn to the gently sloping amphitheatre with the hills forming a pleasing backdrop until the start of the first act ‘VeryBe Careful’ all the way from Los Angeles to please us with some laid back beats. A pleasant opener as we took in our surrounds.

The Tiny Tea Tent was again perfectly placed to sup fragrant teas and look out over the main arena – unfortunately the vista was slightly blocked by additional tents.

The Healing fields had been moved, sensibly from the wind tunnel of last year to a very peaceful location in front of the main racecourse buildings and it felt very tranquil revitalising there but still seemed rather quiet and wasn’t signposted from the main arena. In front of them replacing the fun fair was a skate ramp with a small queue of kids of various sizes that had brought their boards. But there was a big space here too – and I wonder what the organisers might be planning to put there, as long as the funfair doesn’t return (unlikely) it will be interesting to find out.

The Acoustic (open mic) stage of last year had expanded into The Other Stage with proper acts like the rather marvellous 3 Daft Monkeys, Captain Paranoid, local acts like Ska Daddy and SKANKt and Bagelfish who all got the crowds moving with their infectious rhythms and packed the tent full.

As it reached 10pm the bill suddenly became the domain of comics with Ribbed Comedy providing the entertainment and adding smiles to faces of those a little bit ‘tired’ by all the dancing. Still later the Late Night Acoustic kept the music flowing to the small hours.

Outside the picnic benches were full of those enjoying a chat in the sunshine with a pint while listening to the bands inside or having lunch with the kids before returning to the kids’ fields.

The kids’ area was a hive of activity, with even more (is that possible?) on offer than last year, a huge choice of drama, music, dance, arts, circus skills and entertainment kept kids grinning from ear to ear. The whole area is strewn with colourful creations left to dry in the tents. Tyburn Jig are hugely entertaining with pirate fun and stories and the nautical theme is repeated with the Pirate Fairies and their barrel of laughs.

As well as interesting stalls the nearby areas offered a host of themed workshop tents – six in total all named after trees. These included dance such as Ceroc, Belly Dancing and Tango; drumming; real jewellery making; Mark Thomas live, Zulu Singing, Poetry and a host of other skills. For a small festival Wychwood sure packs in a lot of things to do. Plus political forums and chances to sign up with ‘War on Want’, send a postcard to your MP and join Greenpeace. It’s nice I think to have some ‘right on’ politics with your festival.

Liquid sustenance including Wychwood Ales (yummy!) was provided at the two bars one in the Other Stage and one in the Big Top that also contained another stage. Once again providing a wide choice of acts and the crazy delights which are known as the ‘Silent Disco.’

Wow, what a concept, hysterically funny and surprisingly infectious, the idea is half the audience groove to one DJ and half to the other. The choice is yours, which you listen to – tuning in one or other at your leisure. However the tunes are all floor fillers and by and large well known. So everyone sings and dances, resulting in hugely funny choruses being shouted out in unison in the total silence. It really has to be experienced to be believed. But for us was an exceptional and unexpected highlight.

During the day however the Big Top feels less vibrant than last year, it seems darker inside and the floor is more uneven and soft underfoot, making it less reassuring and colder and damp. I put it down to the greater contrast now the sun outside is so bright. Possibly there has been more soundproofing to the detriment of having enough light. Whatever the cause, it would be nice to see it addressed if it’s to recapture the vibrancy of 2005.

Another surprise was The Pimms double decker bus parked at the back of the main stage arena. Now I don’t normally go for any other festival tipple than ale but it was actually very refreshing to drink in the hot sun and had many converts over the weekend, at least it wasn’t one of the ‘steroid-alcopops’ so many of the big festivals promote. Plus the top deck was a surprise and a great place to view the site from.

The number of stalls was about the same as the previous year but seemed to be more interesting and less junk than last year or could it be that I’m developing a shopping bug? We may have lost ‘Fairy Love’ but we gained ‘Joe Bananas’ the range of foods while still of the highest calibre had been added to and festie favourites from Mexican nachos, curry, veggie, pizzas and sausages were all available. Plus tasty snacks like potato wedges, crepes, real coffee (the life blood of this reviewer), smoothies, toasties, ice cream and even Brahma Beer. All reasonably priced – no increase on last year amazingly! I am happy to report.

Once again the site and the toilets were incredibly clean and most people disposed of their rubbish, although I was rather embarrassed to see the efestivals crowd had left a fair amount of debris, more so than most other groups. But it didn’t take long to clean up the mess – it was empty plastic glasses in the main. Hopefully we can set a better example next year.

The weather was fantastic through out, even when it rained it was a refreshing cooling change and we just stood there in the rain enjoying the cooler weather after such a scorcher. But the rain did show the number of fair weather people there was as the crowd rapidly dissipated before the main stage, I worried they were headed home but in fact they headed for the workshops, Groovy Movie, Big Top and other cover, happy to wait around until the rain abated.

Wychwood is definitely a winner as the crowd that reformed when the sun returned demonstrated and we’ll all be back next year, and recommending it to our friends - this could be the last year it’s so quiet. I’d expect numbers next year to have doubled. What this means for day tickets I have no idea. I suspect they may well remain the same. That could bring the festival to a sell out on tickets, so if I were you I’d take advantage of the early offer of reduced price tickets to avoid disappointment.

Thanks to the organisers for sticking to the diverse programme, to listening to what their festival goers wanted and for putting on such a diverse range of activities, catering, stalls and music. It’s shaping up nicely and already it has to be the family festival of 2006.

The whole festival was friendly and a wonderful weekend in the sun. Long may it continue to grow! A huge thanks to both the crowd and the workers for making it a festival with a wonderful atmosphere that can only blossom in the future one hopes.

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