Preview: Wilderness Festival

Ah, the humble music festival – once synonymous with free spirits, free love and Woodstock, over the years it has taken on many new forms. But reviving old traditions and […]


Ah, the humble music festival – once synonymous with free spirits, free love and Woodstock, over the years it has taken on many new forms. But reviving old traditions and taking festivals back to their roots is what the Wilderness Festival in Cornbury Park estate, Oxfordshire is all about.

Indulging in eccentricity, hedonism and fantasy, it’s back for its 3rd year running in 2013. Unleashing your inner hippy is both advised and encouraged – last year they held a world record attempt for the largest amount of people skinny dipping! The music is laid back and chilled out with a lineup including Empire of the Sun, Noah and the Whale, Rodriguez, Martha Wainwright, Michael Kiwanuka, Tribes, and Tom O’Dell, to name just a few. But Wilderness is about more than just headline acts – it’s about the festival experience, letting your hair down and literally losing yourself in good food, good company and late night revelry. As the brainchild of the producers of the Secret Garden Party and Lovebox, the festival is about indulging all the senses as well as nurturing the soul and of course partying on till dawn!

The late night parties are taking place in the Secret Valley over the three nights of the festival and you are cordially invited to “get super fly for some fancy-dressed tomfoolery and classic, super-deluxe Secret Valley high jinks.” As well as watching shows by the ever-mysterious cabaret performers and street theatre performances at 50ft high, over the 4 days you can also lose yourself in a realm of exotic beasts and fantasy at the Bacchanalian Masked Ball. There’s plenty of time for either soul searching on their woodland walks, yoga classes, horse rides or just chilling out at the lakeside spa. Enjoy the literary arts on offer and watch plays put on by Shakespeare’s Globe amongst others; or why not voice your opinions at the debates or “conversation starters” run by The Huffington Post (this year’s festival partner)? Stretch out in the sun and indulge your inner glutton by heading down to the many banquets, feasts, tastings and gourmet gastronomy taking place. Critic’s darling Russell Norman will be hosting lunch and dinner Venetian banquets, at his pop-up restaurant Polpo. If this isn’t to your taste there is plenty more on the menu, ranging from food by Mark Hix and Ottolenghi, all the way to a Spanish food tent, as well as DIY and cookery schools.

Wilderness doesn’t just upend the stereotype of a modern day “music festival”, but it turns the four days spent there into an experience. It is certainly a hidden gem, so this August you’ll find me somewhere between the main stage, the gourmet food stalls and partying the night away in the Gypsy Kingdom.