Our 14th Wychwood Festival was a huge success and thank you all for making it epic!
Shed Seven performing at Wychwood Festival 2018.
Our sun-soaked festival was a wonderful family celebration with great performances from our headline acts: Baxter Dury, the phenomenal Gipsy Kings and on Sunday, rocking to a new generation, Shed Seven.
Other musical highlights include: Feeder, Skerryvore, The Real Thing, Kasaï Masaï and Hollie Cook. Plus our tremendous range of comedy, popular workshops and kids literature, which bring joy to so many, thank you all for creating such a delightful atmosphere.
…I love seeing so many smiling faces!
Graeme Merifield, Festival Founder
Please do share your Wychwood Festival photos and fun filled stories with us on our social media channels:
To thank you for coming along this year or in previous years, we're excited to offer you our very limited “super early-bird” tickets for next year's event!
Early bird tickets will only be available for a short time so act fast!
A real crowd-pleaser, welcoming both newcomers and old hands to Cheltenham Racecourse.
Telegraph Festival Guide
2 Ways to buy your 2019 tickets:
Festival Offer
The best value tickets for 2019 with a full Adult Weekend with Camping for just £115 (plus booking fee).
As well as a fantastic music line up, Wychwood Festival has a lot on offer for families with children of all ages.
Little Ankle Bitters
Just one week to the festival and we are getting really excited – we start building the site today! In addition to the bands already announced we’ve managed to squeeze in a few more. Plus we’ve got a message from Dick and Dom!
Final Bands
On Friday, in the Big Top, we’re pleased to welcome up-and-coming local band ICYMI, playing energetic alternative pop punk. They released an EP Sweat earlier this year.
ICYMITalk in Code
Also on Friday but over on the Hobgoblin Stage, you can see Talk in Code, whose sound can be described as indie rock, influenced by the likes of Daft Punk and The Killers. They’ve got the attention of BBC Introducing and Q Music and have played with groups such as the Hoosiers. A bit later in the day, come and see Tandem – a chilled out duo who mix acoustic guitar and ukulele. They’ve gigged all over Gloucestershire and had a successful busking tour around Europe too.
Our final Saturday bands to tell you about are The Shapes and Lya Stewart, both playing on the Hobgoblin Stage. The Shapes have been compared to REM and Crowded House and their upbeat indie sound will be perfect for a late Saturday afternoon. Singer-songwriter Lya Stewart has a back catalogue of more than two hundred songs and her blend of melodic rock and southern twists is a must-hear.
Donel
Last but not least, on Sunday we’ve invited Donel to join us in the Big Top. A fantastic young singer and dancer, Donel Mangena’s no stranger to fame. All fans of The Voice UK will recognise Donel who was coached by will.i.am and was one of this year’s two finalists. Listen out for Ndebele language in his songs, reflecting his Zimbabwean family roots.
And talking of music competitions, we’re still waiting to find out which lucky performers will be opening Wychwood 2018 – the Witney Music Festival Battle of the Bands winner will be announced in the next couple of days.
So with just over a week until Wychwood 2018, our line up is complete!
Dick & Dom
Dick & Dom are also getting excited about coming to the festival!
Dick & Dom
Headphone Disco
Headphone Disco
Our nightly Headphone Disco is not to be missed – come and dance from 11pm to 3am in the Big Top with two DJs vying for your attention with an eclectic selection on different channels. On Friday night, we’re having a hat party so make sure you bring some fancy headgear and join in the fun. Then Saturday night’s disco is a glow party with plenty of glow sticks and UV paint to brighten up your night.
Dorset Cereals Campsite Takeover
This year our friends at Dorset Cereals will be taking over the campsite! Attention all campers! @dorsetcereals are going to be in our campsite this year providing a breakfast worth sitting down for. Head over and join in on Saturday and Sunday to discover the key to a deliciously slow morning. With entertainment each morning as well as a team of Helping Hands on Friday to assist you unloading on the campsite.
Tickets
Just over a week to go folks! We have now sent out all our Ticket for Life Customers’ tickets and contacted anyone for whom payments are missing - so if you think you should have heard from us, please get in touch.
If you’ve not yet purchased your tickets, and wish to avoid disappointment, get your tickets now.
Welcome to our late March Newsletter. Before we down tools for Easter, we have yet more artists, bands, and comedians to announce plus our Kids Literature Festival authors and Illustrators, and news on tier 2 tickets which will only be available for a few more days!
More Artists and Bands
The Real Thing
To our Friday Main Stage line-up we have added the legendary Soul outfit The Real Thing who will perform classics like You to Me are Everything and Can't Get By Without You, plus first class exponents of the soukous style of music, (developed from Congolese rumba), the urban Equatorial funksters, Kasai Masai, and finally local indie favourites Better Than Never.
SKERRYVORE
To the Saturday Main Stage line-up we have added Scottish Celtic Rockers, and twice winners of Scotland's Traditional Music ‘Live Act of the Year’ Award, Skerryvore, plus drawing on her 30 year career and 8 top 20 hits, the amazing Toyah. And finally local folk-rockers, Harpers Ferry.
Fenne Lily
Additions to the Big Top include Bristol-based Fenne Lily with her sweet and soothing voice and her hit song Top to Toe which has had over four million hits on Spotify. Joining her will be Harrison Storm, Cosmic Strip, Gizmo Varillas, plus our sessions from BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester: Soeur, Vonhorn and The Americas.
New additions to the Hobgoblin Stage include Holly Holden Y Su Banda who will delight us with her Caribbean beat inspired tunes and Karl Phillips & The Rejects who will play original mashups of ska, punk and grime.
Tom Taylor
More additions to the comedy stage too, in association with eFestivals- the musical comic, Tom Taylor, Inel Tomlinson, best known for being one half of Johnny & Inel, the UK's first black comedy double act and their hit TV comedy show The Johnny & Inel Show, plus Ed Knight and Jake Lambert.
Dick & Dom
Dick & Dom
We are delighted to say Dick & Dom will be joining us on Saturday morning with their rambunctious interactive live show for the whole family!
Dick & Dom LIVE is the ultimate fight between the audience - The Dick's v. The Dom's. Expect all the usual Dick and Dom favourites from bogies to crowd surfing and of course a little sprinkling of mess!
The Story Box
The Story Box
Our Kids Literature festival this year, as The Story Box, includes a wonderful array or authors and illustrators including Horrible Science Illustrator, Tony de Saulles, with his new book Bee Boy, Christopher Edge with Infinite Lives of Maisie Day, Steve Antony and his Mr Panda series, Andy Seed with Wild Facts about Nature and Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton with their Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series.
Diary of Thomas Snoop
Plus, celebrating his 10th year at Wychwood, Philip Ardagh with Diary of Thomas Snoop, Tamsyn Murray and Instructions for a Second-hand Heart, Bryony Pearce with Savage Island and Gareth P Jones with his Pet Defender series and Revenge of the Atomic Burps.
As the Beast from the East continues to keep us chilly, we’ve got a load of announcements for a grand summery Wychwood to really look forward to!
More artist announcements
Pokey LaFarge
Joining the mainstage line-up for Friday will be Americana mastermind Pokey LaFarge. Looking like he stepped straight out of the Roaring Twenties, Pokey's contagious blend of hot swing, early jazz and ragtime blues promises to be a festival highlight. On Saturday mainstage we will be welcoming the Mercury-nominated Northern rockers Field Music, and on Sunday, storming the stage will also be the amazing Hollie Cook. Daughter of Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, Hollie's unique form of ‘tropical pop’ mixes her passion for female rocksteady sounds with her love of golden-age girl groups.
Speakman Sound
Another addition to our Big Top line-up on Saturday are jazz, funk and punk mish-mashers Easy Life, plus Pip Blom and Speakman Sound. Then on Sunday, you’re going to love the pink pop punk powerhouse that is Queen Zee, and 2018s indie one to watch, Sea Girls.
The Hobgoblin Stage
Immigrant Swing
We are very pleased to welcome back our old friends from Continental Drifts to programme the Hobgoblin Stage in 2018 - with a host of alternative acts for those looking to discover something new. Immigrant Swing will delight crowds with their uniquely riotous blend of gypsy swing, blues, hip-hop, and world music, as well as Kings Gambit, whose mix of traditional folk with Irish jigs and techno music, delivered with attitude, is unlike any folk band festival-goers are likely to have heard before. Also performing will be funk and hip-hop eight piece Selby and the Dharma Blitz, French rockers The Buns, North Yorkshire’s only contemporary New Orleans-inspired brass collective New York Brass Band as well as our lovely house band and Wychwood favourites, Thrill Collins.
Festival Kidz, the family Festival guide wanted to give the best family festivals their own ‘stamp of approval’, rewarding individual festivals for putting on great entertainment and the making of lasting memories. So, Festival Kidz created their ‘Recommended’ stamp, and awarded one to Wychwood Festival!
Workshop News
Our legendary workshops programme returns for the festival's 14th annual edition with an abundance of participation, games and marvellous mayhem for everyone to get stuck into.
Head to The Village Hall to get your hips moving and hula with instruction from record-breaking hoopers or learn how to shim sham and shimmy with swing dance lessons. The Hullabaloo hosts music workshops where festival-goers can learn to pen their own lyrics, sing in the Wychwood Choir or find out how to beatbox and rhyme.
The brand new Spinning Top is Wychwood's dedicated circus school. Our making venue, The Workshop, bustles with a chance to mould your own clay creations, cross-stitch and willow weave or learn the basics of robotics alongside an array of other eclectic projects.
Circus School at The Spinning Top
The talks and debates programme has grown this year with the addition of Speakers Corner, a venue to hear first-hand tales from adventurers, author talks, poetry performance and more. Or stop by The Wheelbarrow, the outdoor street theatre stage filled with magic, mirth and madness.
Wychwood’s Wellbeing offering includes a dedicated Healers Tent with a host of relaxing masseurs and therapists on hand to treat all ages. Yoga classes take place daily – designed for both adults and children. Festival-goers can browse the bustling Market Square for handmade homewares, precious trinkets and one-of-a-kind souvenirs. For those looking to be beautified, visit the glitter stations and hair braid bar or pick up the latest styles from the very best independent and cutting-edge fashion traders.
Welcome to our February news. We have lots to tell you about as we're announcing all our Main Stage headline acts and more!
Wychwood 2018 First Band Announcements
Gipsy Kings
We are very pleased to announce that the Gipsy Kings, featuring Nicolas Reyes and Tonino Baliardo, will be headlining Wychwood Festival on the Saturday night. The undisputed kings of flamenco, salsa and pop infusion will be delighting everyone with their irresistible blend of traditional Spanish and Western pop music. With mammoth hits such as Bamboleo, there's no doubt everyone will be up and dancing!
Shed Seven
Headlining on the Sunday night, 90's Britpop stalwarts Shed Seven will be bringing their own inimitable brand of indie to Wychwood Festival. And headlining on Friday will be indie powerhouse Baxter Dury. Son of the late, great Ian Dury, Baxter has developed his own musical style; compelling story-telling with just a hint of his rock and roll legacy. His 2017 album Prince of Tears has been hailed as his best yet, and is sure to mesmerise Wychwood on our opening night.
The Beat feat. Ranking Roger
Other confirmed acts for Wychwood 2018 include on Friday ska-punk rockers The Beat, featuring Ranking Roger, performing on Main Stage and the Scot with a voice of an angel, Nina Nesbitt, in the Big Top. On Saturday we’re also pleased to announce on Main Stage, The Go! Team, whose unique mix of indie rock, garage rock, hip-hop, samples and everything in between promises to have every member of the family on their feet and dancing, and not forgetting Yorkshire’s hardest working comedy band – The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican; in the words of Jarvis Cocker, The greatest thing to come out of Barnsley, since the A61 to Sheffield.
Plus on Sunday, Main Stage, we've got alternative rock legends Feeder and in the Big Top, Ten Tonnes with his distinctive blend of indie and 50s rock'n'roll and Glasgow’s rising stars of indie, LUCIA – with many more still to be announced!
Away from the music…
Wychwood's plentiful programme of arts, culture and family activities returns, and for 2018 there will be an abundance of games and mayhem to get involved in. From world class street theatre and side-splitting comedy shows to thought-provoking talks plus story-telling from leading children’s authors, all ages have been lovingly catered for.
And there are plenty of workshops to take part in too. You can learn a new skill in the crafts area, try your hand at circus skills, sing your heart out, or practise your swing moves and dazzle on the dance floor. Indulge in the full-to-bursting programme of colourful arts workshops, join the carnival parade or challenge friends in a volleyball tournament. Those looking to relax and rejuvenate can head over to the Healing Area where expert therapists are on hand offering an array of massage therapies.
