Anyone know of a small West Midlands based festival in June 2025?

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Hello all,

 

I'm looking for a small (with camping) festival for June 2025. Ideally this would be a West Midlands based festival, or thereabouts. Also it 'NEEDS' to be a festival that doesn't limit the amount of alcoholic drinks that can be brought in. A variety of music would be a bonus, as opposed to one certain genre of music. 

 

The reason I ask is that it's my 60th next June and I'd like to be able to celebrate it at a festival with friends. It wouldn't have to be a well known festival either.

 

If anyone knows of 'anything' that might suit those requirements I'd be very grateful if you would let me know?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

PS - Could the Mods leave this on this page so that it gets greater exposure. I know it's a bit of an ask, but would also be greatly appreciated.

[GhostOfMaurice]

Depending on where abouts in the West Midlands, the Green Gathering in Chepstow is a good shout. I haven't been for a while but some friends have been recently, and said it was brilliant.

[Nobody Interesting]

50 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello all,

 

I'm looking for a small (with camping) festival for June 2025. Ideally this would be a West Midlands based festival, or thereabouts. Also it 'NEEDS' to be a festival that doesn't limit the amount of alcoholic drinks that can be brought in. A variety of music would be a bonus, as opposed to one certain genre of music. 

 

The reason I ask is that it's my 60th next June and I'd like to be able to celebrate it at a festival with friends. It wouldn't have to be a well known festival either.

 

If anyone knows of 'anything' that might suit those requirements I'd be very grateful if you would let me know?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

PS - Could the Mods leave this on this page so that it gets greater exposure. I know it's a bit of an ask, but would also be greatly appreciated.

 

Give this a try.

Not been myself but know lots who have and they all love it.

https://www.beardyfolkfestival.co.uk/

[ukmountie]

Second the recommendation for Beardy. Also not been, but have friends that love it and keep telling me I should go. Beautiful part of the country as well.
I’ll probably go during the 2026 fallow as the timing is too close to Glastonbury for me to be away from the family for both.

[stuie]

2 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello all,

 

I'm looking for a small (with camping) festival for June 2025. Ideally this would be a West Midlands based festival, or thereabouts. Also it 'NEEDS' to be a festival that doesn't limit the amount of alcoholic drinks that can be brought in. A variety of music would be a bonus, as opposed to one certain genre of music. 

 

The reason I ask is that it's my 60th next June and I'd like to be able to celebrate it at a festival with friends. It wouldn't have to be a well known festival either.

 

If anyone knows of 'anything' that might suit those requirements I'd be very grateful if you would let me know?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

PS - Could the Mods leave this on this page so that it gets greater exposure. I know it's a bit of an ask, but would also be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi Yog. 

I would say that Bearded Theory is probably your best option, date wise.  I've not been yet but I know lots of people who love it and I'm planning on going 2027 as it's the Glasto fallow year.   They always have a good mid-level varied line up and next year's looks decent enough.   It's very popular with those who've been and has a good reputation for a community festival vibe. 

 

If you can wait til September to celebrate that 60th, then Mucky Weekender would be the perfect place for a distinguished festival party veteran like yourself! 🙂 

 

 

[CharlotteB]

I can vouch for both Bearded and Gathering. Been to both fairly recently, and they are amazing festivals!

[Skelts]

46 minutes ago, stuie said:

 

 

If you can wait til September to celebrate that 60th, then Mucky Weekender would be the perfect place for a distinguished festival party veteran like yourself! 🙂 

 

 

Agree. Mucky Weekender is a great festival. Surprisingly diverse range of music. Good vibe too

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Unfortunately I haven't got sufficient up votes for all of you who have responded above. The information is extremely useful to me. 

 

The above said, there is now a fly in the ointment. I mentioned to my wife, brother and mate, earlier that I had posted a request on efests about getting a suitable venue for my 60th. I also indicated that if any people on this planet that could guide on this one, that it would be all the folk on here. It was then that I was made aware of 'secret' already concluded preparations for my 60th.

 

I am still very grateful for the suggestions made, and also still welcome any others. I say this because the suggestions so far are drool inducing. So much so that I may have to set up a rival camp for my 60th celebrations. I mean 'who's f'ing birthday is it anyway'!? lol I don't really mean that. I don't actually like celebrating birthdays, but 'experienced' what my wife achieved for my 50th, so thought it would be good to repeat it for next year' s 60th. That said, there's friends I have who have never been to a festival, and really ought to go before it's too late, and 'forcing' them to may be the only 'decent' thing to do. Mind you, that's all a bit fascist too, which is not to my liking.

 

Anyway, I've had a smoke and sense hat I may be flying off on tangents.

 

Thanks once again to those above. You may 'win' the day yet.

 

 

 

 

[Superscally]

Bearded Theory (though technically the arse end of May) is the closest thing to Glasto I've been to...

Edited Friday at 09:10 PM by Superscally

[Beerqueen]

Another vote for Bearded, albeit it is right at the end of May.

 

Beardy is good if you like folk (I don't really, I went in 2020 and 2021 due to lack of alternatives and enjoyed myself but haven't felt the need to return since).  If you do go, be advised it has its own (bloody freezing) climate as it is about 2 miles above sea level.  (I may be exaggerating  but I have never been so cold at a festival).  I can't remember if you can take your own booze in but I do remember drinking some lovely Hobsons.

 

I know you are based in Shropshire, so you could delay your festival celebration until August and come along to Farmer Phil's.  Lovely tiny festival, though sadly doesn't allow your own booze any longer but beer is pub prices and admission is only £100 which includes a week's camping if you want to enjoy the Long Mynd before the festival.  So I don't mind paying for my beer on top.  

[stuie]

28 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Unfortunately I haven't got sufficient up votes for all of you who have responded above. The information is extremely useful to me. 

 

The above said, there is now a fly in the ointment. I mentioned to my wife, brother and mate, earlier that I had posted a request on efests about getting a suitable venue for my 60th. I also indicated that if any people on this planet that could guide on this one, that it would be all the folk on here. It was then that I was made aware of 'secret' already concluded preparations for my 60th.

 

I am still very grateful for the suggestions made, and also still welcome any others. I say this because the suggestions so far are drool inducing. So much so that I may have to set up a rival camp for my 60th celebrations. I mean 'who's f'ing birthday is it anyway'!? lol I don't really mean that. I don't actually like celebrating birthdays, but 'experienced' what my wife achieved for my 50th, so thought it would be good to repeat it for next year' s 60th. That said, there's friends I have who have never been to a festival, and really ought to go before it's too late, and 'forcing' them to may be the only 'decent' thing to do. Mind you, that's all a bit fascist too, which is not to my liking.

 

Anyway, I've had a smoke and sense hat I may be flying off on tangents.

 

Thanks once again to those above. You may 'win' the day yet.

 

 

Er... it's your 60th, so it deserves suitable recognition and if you want to milk it a bit, so there's more than one celebratory event, then that's absolutely fine.  A birthday week or month is acceptable for such a milestone. 

 

Doing both things might work out for the best anyway - you don't really want people dragging themselves to a festival just because they feel they should, to celebrate your birthday when they don't really want to go.  Party for that lot, festival for your chosen few I say. 

 

And some of the best laid plans come after having a smoke, so no problem there. 

[Nobody Interesting]

12 hours ago, stuie said:

 

Hi Yog. 

I would say that Bearded Theory is probably your best option, date wise.  I've not been yet but I know lots of people who love it and I'm planning on going 2027 as it's the Glasto fallow year.   They always have a good mid-level varied line up and next year's looks decent enough.   It's very popular with those who've been and has a good reputation for a community festival vibe. 

 

If you can wait til September to celebrate that 60th, then Mucky Weekender would be the perfect place for a distinguished festival party veteran like yourself! 🙂 

 

 

 

You might want to check your years - GF fallow is 2026

[GhostOfMaurice]

13 hours ago, Skelts said:

Agree. Mucky Weekender is a great festival. Surprisingly diverse range of music. Good vibe too

 

That's never really been in my radar, but the ticket prices look reasonable, and decent lineups. 

[efcfanwirral]

14 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Unfortunately I haven't got sufficient up votes for all of you who have responded above. The information is extremely useful to me. 

 

The above said, there is now a fly in the ointment. I mentioned to my wife, brother and mate, earlier that I had posted a request on efests about getting a suitable venue for my 60th. I also indicated that if any people on this planet that could guide on this one, that it would be all the folk on here. It was then that I was made aware of 'secret' already concluded preparations for my 60th.

 

I am still very grateful for the suggestions made, and also still welcome any others. I say this because the suggestions so far are drool inducing. So much so that I may have to set up a rival camp for my 60th celebrations. I mean 'who's f'ing birthday is it anyway'!? lol I don't really mean that. I don't actually like celebrating birthdays, but 'experienced' what my wife achieved for my 50th, so thought it would be good to repeat it for next year' s 60th. That said, there's friends I have who have never been to a festival, and really ought to go before it's too late, and 'forcing' them to may be the only 'decent' thing to do. Mind you, that's all a bit fascist too, which is not to my liking.

 

Anyway, I've had a smoke and sense hat I may be flying off on tangents.

 

Thanks once again to those above. You may 'win' the day yet.

 

 

 

 

 

14 hours ago, stuie said:

 

 

Er... it's your 60th, so it deserves suitable recognition and if you want to milk it a bit, so there's more than one celebratory event, then that's absolutely fine.  A birthday week or month is acceptable for such a milestone. 

 

Doing both things might work out for the best anyway - you don't really want people dragging themselves to a festival just because they feel they should, to celebrate your birthday when they don't really want to go.  Party for that lot, festival for your chosen few I say. 

 

And some of the best laid plans come after having a smoke, so no problem there. 

Was going to say similar, for a milestone birthday it's completely acceptable to do both I reckon 

[stuie]

5 hours ago, Nobody Interesting said:

 

You might want to check your years - GF fallow is 2026

Haha oops! 

[Sawdusty surfer]

If it was up to me and if I had a fully functioning magic wand @Yoghurt on a Stick would be celebrating his birthday on the farm.

[Skip997]

28 minutes ago, Sawdusty surfer said:

If it was up to me and if I had a fully functioning magic wand @Yoghurt on a Stick would be celebrating his birthday on the farm.

I’ve tried, but that was for last year 

[Alvoram]

20 hours ago, stuie said:

 

 

Er... it's your 60th, so it deserves suitable recognition and if you want to milk it a bit, so there's more than one celebratory event, then that's absolutely fine.  A birthday week or month is acceptable for such a milestone. 

 

Doing both things might work out for the best anyway - you don't really want people dragging themselves to a festival just because they feel they should, to celebrate your birthday when they don't really want to go.  Party for that lot, festival for your chosen few I say. 

 

And some of the best laid plans come after having a smoke, so no problem there. 

 

6 hours ago, efcfanwirral said:

 

Was going to say similar, for a milestone birthday it's completely acceptable to do both I reckon 

 

48 minutes ago, Sawdusty surfer said:

If it was up to me and if I had a fully functioning magic wand @Yoghurt on a Stick would be celebrating his birthday on the farm.

I'm assuming he doesn't know what these plans are, so you have to wonder, given a festival is what he wants to do, what do we think his family have booked that prevents him from booking a festival? I know what I'd have tried to book. 😉 

I hope my hunch is right. 🤞

[BlueDaze]

I would add another vote for considering Bearded Theory.. 

Its on the end of May Bank Holiday weekend, probably ideal location wise and attracts a 'more mature' clientele which makes for a very friendly vibe..

I have been to the last few and until last year they had been blessed with decent weather..

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

 

My apologies for the lack of my presence after posting a request for info from you all ( you beautiful people). Unfortunately (or fortunately - the jury is still out) my wife's mom has just died. We had been putting up waifs and strays for Christmas. People who would have been on their own otherwise, and then this suddenly has come along. It's OK though as she wanted to go and was in her early 90's. It's also OK because my wife's OK about it. Anyway, that's why I have only just re-visited efests.

 

I would like to upvote all the posts other than my own, but can't.

 

I will now (out of appreciation) try to answer all of the above posts after my last post -one by one. This may not sound much, but if you were in my head you'd know just how tricky it'll be. Please do note that it may take some time to complete.

 

You are all a

 

 

Oh, and if I may go off on a kind of tangent on the star front, if you haven't seen this already, it's worth a watch

 

 

Right now to answer everyone in detail. Yikes!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

On 12/27/2024 at 9:10 PM, Superscally said:

Bearded Theory (though technically the arse end of May) is the closest thing to Glasto I've been to...

 

I very nearly got to Bearded Theory, but fell at the last hurdle. We even went as far as to have two tickets for it as well as a campervan ticket. We were very much all prepared to go. However, 2 years before that years Bleared Theory, me and my wife had booked this place (see below). It was at a time when we had more money than sense.

 

 https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/search-and-book/properties/kingswear-castle-8737/#Overview

 

The thing is, we'd booked the place (and paid for it) two years before, and had forgotten all about it. And then we were suddenly hit with going to this castle for a few days and then going to Bearded straight after. Unfortunately the last section of that did not happen. We (my wife and two friends) were so indulgent at the castle that, at one point, I turned to my wife and asked her if I had died, and was this the afterlife 'We really did have a barmy (but thoroughly enjoyable) time while there. 

 

The above made getting to Bearded totally impossible. It was such a shame because I had really wanted to go. Not only that but I never had the time to pass on the tickets for free to someone (you will be startled to know that I have done that successfully before with two separate year Glastonbury tickets).     

 

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

On 12/27/2024 at 9:35 PM, Beerqueen said:

Another vote for Bearded, albeit it is right at the end of May.

 

Beardy is good if you like folk (I don't really, I went in 2020 and 2021 due to lack of alternatives and enjoyed myself but haven't felt the need to return since).  If you do go, be advised it has its own (bloody freezing) climate as it is about 2 miles above sea level.  (I may be exaggerating  but I have never been so cold at a festival).  I can't remember if you can take your own booze in but I do remember drinking some lovely Hobsons.

 

I know you are based in Shropshire, so you could delay your festival celebration until August and come along to Farmer Phil's.  Lovely tiny festival, though sadly doesn't allow your own booze any longer but beer is pub prices and admission is only £100 which includes a week's camping if you want to enjoy the Long Mynd before the festival.  So I don't mind paying for my beer on top.  

 

Thanks for the suggestion Beerqueen. Oddly enough I have camped on the land of Farmer Phil's Festival. One of my friends (Jamie) somehow managed to hire the site for his 60th birthday celebrations - during covid and when one could still meetup in groups of 30. Jamie and other friends had the equipment hired for a silent disco. The weather was perfect, the site was perfect etc In addition the 2CB I was given was perfect. I asked around me if anybody else saw a squadron of drones playing a merry dance in the sky. It was then that I was told that I was looking at the stars, and that there were no drones in the sky. 

 

We went around the clock that night, with assistance of an open real log self feeding wood fire to keep us warm ( And then at about 7.30am we heard the sound of French horn(s)  going off. And then suddenly a 'real live' hunt came over the hill we were facing, and down the hill and almost through us, but actually slightly around us. It was the whole works - the foxhounds, the people on horseback with red jackets, and people on quad bikes too. 

 

I am flexible on when my 60th can be celebrated. I'll be quite OK if it isn't as well. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I've messed this up, as I should have started from the first answer to my OP, really.

 

I'm going to come back to this. It is evident to me that I am unable to continue right now.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

On 12/27/2024 at 6:10 PM, GhostOfMaurice said:

Depending on where abouts in the West Midlands, the Green Gathering in Chepstow is a good shout. I haven't been for a while but some friends have been recently, and said it was brilliant.

 

That festival is very appealing to me. Thanks for suggesting it. I have put the website details  in to my new 60th birthday folder.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

On 12/27/2024 at 6:18 PM, Nobody Interesting said:

 

Give this a try.

Not been myself but know lots who have and they all love it.

https://www.beardyfolkfestival.co.uk/

 

I've just looked at that in more detail. It would be absolutely perfect, if only the music wasn't purely folk music. It takes place not long after my birthday and is almost on my doorstep. However I don't know of a single friend that is in to folk music. Thanks for the suggestion anyway. It's a small festival like that that I was looking for.