IT sounds like a preposterous idea. Invite every unsigned band in the county to send you a demo, whittle them down to 18 favourites, and stick them on stage at a selection of city centre venues – all on one night.

Crazy, maybe, but for well over a decade, Oxford gig-goers have flocked to this unique celebration of local music.

The event is called the Oxford Punt, and it allows music-lovers to do exactly that – take a ‘punt’ by going out to see a clutch of bands they have probably never heard of. And all for the price of a pair of pints.

Conceived as Oxford’s version of the notorious Camden Crawl, the annual Oxford Punt has grown into the city’s best night of new music.

The Punt is pulled together by Ronan Munro of local music mag Nightshift.

“The aim is to showcase the best unsigned bands in Oxford,” he explains. “All the bands are either very good, or offer something a bit different.”

So while a few perennial names crop up on the bill – such as harmonic indie-power rock trio The Black Hats, and former Fell City Girl frontman Phil McMinn’s deliciously lush Winchell Riots – there are also loads of new names.

These include artists like Bethany Weimers and bands like Mary’s Garden, Dial F for Frankenstein, Dr Slaggleberry and We Aeronauts.

Previous graduates of the Oxford Punt to have cashed in include the Young Knives, Winnebago Deal and Yannis Philippakis and Jack Bevan of Foals (under their earlier guise as Elizabeth).

For Ronan, selection is a long hard process. “I get 120 demos and have to choose 18. It takes a while, but I just have to keep going through them.

“First I get rid of the rubbish, then the average ones, and then it gets difficult. I could have done with another three slots this year as there are some bands I would have very much liked to have added to the bill – such as The Anydays – who do their thing really well, and who I really like.”

One of the rules of the Oxford Punt is that bands can’t play two years running. And that’s what keeps it fresh.

“We have some very interesting new bands, with four groups of teenagers – including From Here We Run and Hearts in Pencil; Beaver Fuel, who are funny; and headlining at The Cellar the Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, who play jazz-swing in a punk rock ‘stylee’!”

And with a few all-venue Punt Passes still available for just £7, and each venue only charging £4 each to get in for the whole evening, it’s a credit-crunch-busting night out.

“We have no sponsors or subsidies, and it doesn’t make much money,” he goes on. “It’s just here as a great way to see new bands.”

The Oxford Punt kicks off at 6.15pm on Wednesday. Entrance is just £4. Alternatively, you can pick up one of a limited number of all-venue Punt passes, priced £7, available from Videosyncratic on Cowley Road, or Oxfordmusic.net