With great bands and free entry, Tim Hughes says Riverside Festival is the perfect summer’s day out
In a world where tickets to the average music festival can weigh in at more than £200, Charlbury’s Riverside Festival is a breath of fresh air.
For while the line-up is great, the production top-class, and the site a thing of beauty, this two-day gathering, on an island in the River Evenlode in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, has one major advantage over almost every other festival: it’s completely free.
Bands and artists play for the love of it and entertainers, craftspeople and volunteers generously give up their time to ensure the 2,500 people who will be descending on the meadow site this Saturday and Sunday all have a great time.
Remarkably the event not only covers its costs, but raises funds for good causes including Charlbury Pre-School and the mental health charity Oxfordshire Mind.
The brains behind the operation is Andy Pickard, a mental health worker for Oxfordshire Mind, who lives in Charlbury. He admitted Riverside had come a long way since its intimate inaugural event 19 years ago – with a few bands, one portable toilet and a couple of barrels of beer.
This weekend’s event features a vintage line-up. Saturday is headlined by Binsey folk-rockers The Epstein, who are joined by gorgeous Velvet Underground-influenced art-pop act Candy Says, Zurich, The Shapes, Dubwiser, King B, Tom Like Colours and The Madcaps.
Sunday’s main stage is topped by Witney’s adrenaline-soaked covers party band The Standard, with music also coming from Grudle Bay, Eyes for Gertrude, local girl Jess Goyder, The Mighty Redox, The Knights of Mentis, The Wonder Beers and Toliesel.
For the first time, this weekend’s festival also features a covered, weather-proof second stage curated by Rapture in Witney and the Truck Store in Oxford. The line-up includes Damn Vandals, Be Good, Sean Taylor, Des Barkus, Kid Kin, After the Thought, Maaians, Balloon Ascents and Limbo Kids on Saturday, and Empty White Circles, Vienna Ditto, Pony & Trap, Paul McClure, Little Brother Eli, Bunsen Honey, Tamara and Rainbow Reservoir on Sunday.
Elsewhere there will be green crafts, three bars, a fringe comedy stage, stalls, and children’s entertainment – with a kids’ banquet of macaroni cheese being served by smartly dressed French waiters.
Revellers can also sip a specially-made beer, Riverside Festive-ale, which has been brewed by Witney’s Wychwood Brewery.
Alternatively, Pimms will be available from a Pimms and Tins bar.
Country boy: Olly Wills of The Epstein
“I always say this year’s Riverside is going to be the best yet, but this year’s really will be,” says Andy.
“I’m really delighted to have a second stage marquee this year, in which the audience and bands can find shade or shelter. And we’ve got a great line-up.”
Many of the bands playing Riverside also played the Riverside Stage at Cornbury earlier this month, among them Grudle Bay, The Knights of Mentis, Dubwiser and The Standard – who over-shadowed even headliners Simple Minds with a standout set of punchy pop and r&b covers.
“If people liked us at Cornbury, they are going to love us at Riverside,” says Andy. “We’ve got great music played on a beautiful island in the river. There’s something for everyone, from kids to indie-rockers through to grandparents. And it’s free.
“People who have never been before think it’s going to be a village fete. But when they come here and find out it’s a proper professionally-run festival, it’s a real eye-opener.”
CHECK IT OUT
Riverside Festival runs from noon-10pm on Saturday and 11am-8pm on Sunday. Admission is free and all ages are welcome
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