Wychwood Summary

I had intended to do this earlier but procrastination is a curse! |So better late than never here is the rest of my Wychwood experience.

On Saturday the day dawned bright and clear and despite one small downpour of 30 minutes or so it stayed dry. I caught the incredibly talented The Epstein on the Main Stage and was totally blown away by them. They started their set in the middle of the downpour and there was little more than a handful of hardy souls watching. Luckily the sun soon broke through and their majestic and cinematic guitar magic brought the audience flocking. I was as they say, hooked from the first hello and cannot wait to see them again...a big career beckons for these unassuming guys from Oxford.

I then decided to take myself off took advantage of some brilliant bargains in the Rise merchandise tent and also got The Epstein to sign my copy of their latest single.

Across from the main stage I found myself in the Festival Fishy tent observing the latest beauty craze, people dangling their feet in a tank full of tiny relatives of the pirahna who love nothing more than to nibble away at the hard skin on your feet. The very charming gentleman from Glasgow whose business it is, told me this phenomenon started in Turkey with two brothers who suffered from a painful skin condition found that bathing in a small local river really helped their skin heal. They initially put this down to minerals in the water but it was in fact the teeny tiny fishes and the rest is history......well that what he told me anyway! I declined on this occasion despite the offer of a freebie, I just couldn't bring myself!

So I spent a delightful hour with the charming , witty and supremely talented Eliza Carthy basking in the warm sun , soaking up the tunes with the appreciative audience made me think, this is what Wychwood is all about, happy smiling people, sun and music in a beautiful

The act I caught was The Wurzels doing .....well.....doing what they do best, making people smile...Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby.....oh ahhrrr!!

Wychwood is so much more than the music, ok the music is key and the BBC Intro Stage saw a whole host of talent this year, The Suit Corps, The Voodoo Kings , Urusen, Tallulah Fix, The Black Hats to name a few. It's about people of all ages from 2 to 80+ having fun , in a relaxed atmosphere with brilliant food and activities at an incredibly well run  family festival. I can't wait for next years.

Wychwood Day One

The sun rose over the rolling Cotswold hills on Friday morning and stayed there all day giving Wychwood a fabulous first day.

I arrived around about 6.00pm , the first thing that hits you you make your way onto the festival site is the amazing aroma of all the myraid of  catering stalls everything from good honest pies from Bristol based Pieminster, to the tantasling smell of tThai stir fry and Goan curry. More on the food later though, I have volunteered to do a small separate blog on the food for Wychwood...I know its a tough gig!

I met up with some of my fellow bloggers after I had watched a brilliant set from the vibrant and brilliant 3 Daft Monkeys. They played a mixture of crowd pleasers from their new album The Antiquated and the Arcane and they set the tone for the whole festival with people from 3 to 70 dancing around and singing along in the early evening sunshine. They are doing a whole summer of festivals so catch them if you can, you won't be disapointed.

I then moved onto watch two up and coming bands in the BBC Intro Tent, the Voodoo Kings, 4 guys dressed in black playing wicked rockabilly music , followed by the Suit Corps consisting who played a set of smooth funk combined with some dub rhythms aligned with a super cool look. The amazing vocals of singer Bella who can range from jazz diva to funky temptress in the blink of an eye holds it all together, I was impressed.

I finshed my first day bopping along and singing with the crowd in the fading sun to Cornershop. I had forgotten how good they were and they went down a storm.

Well day two beckons with the lure of a fish pedicure, food sampling, a voyage into healing treatments and The Epstein and Eliza Carthy to name but two.......happy days!

Back and on it!

Pleased to report my operation is over and is a success, I'm a bit battered and black & blue but feeling better every day and its only 3 days to Wychwood!. I am really looking forward to meeting my fellow bloggers on Friday and with the weather set fair and good music everywhere I turn how can it fail to be anything but amazing!

I am going to be looking at the running order today and going to plan out my time properly. It will be impossible to see absolutely everything I  want to but if I can convey the essence of Wychwood through pictures, sound & words it will be a job well done.

I am going to venture into Cheltenham today, I have to go on the bus....can't drive until Friday :(( so it should be a measure of how I'm doing, well that and how much money I can spend on festival essentials!!.

Oooh before I go...........you must , simply must listen to the best album release of the month You & I by The Pierces, two sisters from Alabama chanelling Southern Gothic vibes with sweet harmonies and a Fleetwood Mac feel, it is a true summer feel good record, but listen to the lyrics......always slightly sinister, fab fab stuff.