Tim Hughes looks forward to two eclectic mini-festivals - the Oxford Punt and Cogges Manor Farm's Music For All

FOR lovers of new local music, it’s the big night of the year: The Oxford Punt.

Set up by Ronan Munro of Oxford’s free music monthly Nightshift as a showcase for up-and-coming talent, The Punt gives gig-goers the chance to see 20 bands and artists on one night, all playing in the city centre. This year’s bash takes place on Wednesday, with sets at The Purple Turtle, The Cellar, The Wheatsheaf, The Duke’s Cut and The White Rabbit, and covers everything from indie, metal and folk to hip hop, alternative country and art-rock.

As usual, the bands have been selected from a large longlist — and are all first-timers (though some artists will have played in different guises with previous groups).

Highlights are numerous — but would have to include Candy Says — the beautiful new low-fi chic-pop group fronted by Julia ‘Juju’ Heslop, formerly of Little Fish. The band made their real local debut at The Oxford Times’s Live & Unlocked 150th birthday celebration last autumn, and thrilled, charmed and delighted in equal measure. Also worth checking out are stunning Grace from The Goggenheim, the powerfully-lunged Phil McMinn (previously of Winchell Riots and Fell City Girl), Listing Ships, Yellow Fever, Duchess, Ags Connolly, The August List, doom hip-hop duo Death of Hi-Fi, and Afro-pop band Nairobi (fronted by Oxford Times reporter, and budding star, Pete Hughes).

Also gracing the bill are Mother Corona, Listing Ships, Bear Trap, Empire Divided, Ragdoll, Agness Pike, Traps, The Graceful Slicks, Limbo Kids, Poledo and After the Thought.

Entry to each venue is £5, with free entry to the Duke’s Cut and White Rabbit. Multi-venue Punt Passes are £8 from oxfordmusic.net

For more on the Punt: Ronan Munro talks about pulling it all together in today's Oxford Mail

  • While The Punt sees all the action crammed into one night, things are following a more leisurely pace in West Oxfordshire, where the seventh annual Witney Music Festival continues.

The 10-day feast of all things band-related was launched on The Leys with an open-air party last Saturday and has since seen shows hosted at venues around the town.

The big highlight though is Bank Holiday Monday’s Music For All party at Cogges Manor Farm which will feature country, folk and blues artist (and Punt star) Ags Connolly, singer and guitarist Matt Midgley, David Ashbourne’s folk-fuelled Samuel Zasada, and folksters Welcome to Peepworld. The music runs from noon-5pm and entry is included in the price of admission to the museum (which is £3.63 for adults and £2.72 for children).