The first Wilderness festival, which took place last year, was a ‘celebration of the arts and outdoors’ that saw over 10,000 visitors enjoying a weekend of music, food and a variety of shenanigans. The event will be back this year, taking place over the weekend of 10-12 August at Cornbury Park, a few miles north-west of Oxford.
Every festival is ‘curated’ these days, and Wilderness is no different – the people behind Lovebox and Secret Garden Party are doing the biz. Organiser Tim Harvey says of this year’s event “it’s important for friends and family to come along and use the weekend as a place to indulge the senses, relax, eat well, escape, learn and enjoy activities that aren’t so easily accessible in our day-to-day lives.”
What that means is food-based activities, featuring Yotam Ottolenghi, Fergus Henderson, Valentine Warner and more foodie types, as well as talks, debates and ‘well-being’ activities like a spa and ‘healing garden’. There will, most importantly, be a lot of music on offer over the weekend, and an impressive and diverse selection of acts has already been announced:
- Cloud Control
- Field Music
- Fatoumata Diawara
- Giant Giant Sand
- Grant Lee Buffalo
- Jenny O
- Lianne La Havas
- London Folk Guild
- Miilagres
- Rodrigo Y Gabriela with C.U.B.A
- Spiritualized
- Stornoway
- To Kill A King
- Wilco
Weekend tickets for Wilderness cost £119, with young person tickets available to 11-17 year olds for £54. Children under ten get in for free, and there is also a ‘family ticket’ scheme on offer. Tickets are on sale at the Wilderness festival website.