GO wild in the country… but spare a thought for our woodland folk while you’re doing it!

That seems to be the mission statement of what claims to be the country’s greenest music festival – Wood.

And with bicycle-powered sound system, showers heated by a wood-burning stove and a solar-powered stage, we’re not going to argue with them.

Squatting in the midst of the Chiltern beech woods – a few miles from Wallingford, Wood is the beardy, hemp-trousered little brother of the annual Truck Festival – which takes place only a dozen or miles to the west, in Steventon.

And if you thought Truck was agrarian, Wood is positively mediaeval – all wood smoke, yurts and hay bales, in a clearing in the back of beyond.

Intimate, friendly and low-key, the festival makes great play of its environmental credentials – from its reliance on renewable energy to locally produced food and drink.

But, says musician and festival organiser Robin Bennett, who plays with The Dreaming Spires and Danny and the Champions of the World, the worthy stuff does not get in the way of the serious business of having fun.

“It is a green and envornmentally sensitive festival, but we also have an amazing line-up of bands – the best so far, in fact. There’s quite a mix but most will play wooden-type instruments.”

With only 800 people, it is low-key and spacious, with no queues, no hassle, and loads of room to do your own thing.

Music veers towards the folkier end of things – the line-up includes The Unthanks, Fionn Regan, Martin Simpson, Danny and the Champions of the World, and Tunng.

But there are also sets by singer-songwriter Frank Turner, Witney-based kora player Jali Fily Cissokho and Oxford legends The Candyskins.

And if you want a break from the music, how about a spot of self-improvement? Bolster your CV by taking part in workshops ranging from circus skills to cycle repair, and making your own wormery or hedgehog hut.

“My favourite workshop is going to be the University of Trees, in which you put on a blindfold, hold a tree and it communicates with you,” says Robin. “But I’ve always been a tree-hugger! And I know they never lie.”

He said the festival was a reaction against big corporate events. “It’s more like a community camp,” he says.

“It is quite hippy-ish, but only in the positive sense. You can sit here all day and drink the kind of cider that comes in unmarked containers, but you can also get engaged and creative.”

  • THE LINE-UP Tomorrow: (doors 3pm, first band 5pm) Fionn Regan Danny and the Champions of the World Neil Halstead Peggy Sue Inge Thomson Jali Fily Cissokho Six Day Riot Band of Hope Tricycle Riot Saturday Tunng Martin Simpson Cate le Bon The Candyskins The Dreaming Spires Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou Holton’s Opulent Oog KTB The Minnikins Malpas My First Tooth The Avalonian Free State Choir Nick Cope Sunday Frank Turner The Unthanks Ora Cogan Frontier Ruckus Timber Timbre Marmaduke Dando Ben Folke Thomas Jakko & Jay