We were about to witness a piece of history, said folk musician and radio presenter Mike Harding as he introduced the first live performance on the Cropredy stage of the entire Liege and Lief album.

Gathered were the members of that 1969 Fairport Convention line-up that was to change both folk and rock forever - Ashley Hutchings on bass, Dave Swarbrick on fiddle, Dave Mattacks on drums, Simon Nicol on rhythm guitar and Richard Thompson on lead. There was, of course, one person missing - the late, great Sandy Denny. Her place was taken by Chris While, a well-loved singer familiar to Cropredy regulars.

This was one of the reasons that Cropredy was sold out in advance - the first time in its 28-year history. Fairport was marking a remarkable 40 years as a band and fans had travelled from all over the world to hear the album played live and to pay homage to this musical institution.

The evening air was heavy with expectation. Heavy, too, was the burden for Chris While - how was she to fill the shoes, even for an hour, of a singer who is so revered? From the moment those oh so familiar chords marked the opening track, Come All Ye, and While began to sing, the exhilaration of the crowd was palpable. If there were any doubts that While would rise to the occasion they were simply swept away by her rendition of the following Farewell, Farewell. For those who have long admired her work with the Albion Band and Julie Matthews, this was a crowning moment.

The clock was being turned back as the line-up tore into their radical reworkings of the epic folk ballads Matty Groves and Tam Lin. And there was the now diminutive figure of Swarbrick, a true folk legend, in inspired form - the best advertisement for the NHS, said Nicol, referring to the musician's recent grave illness. There would be, as Hutchings wryly pointed out, no encore but the memory will be constantly replayed in the minds of those fans who witnessed this rare performance.

The icing on the cake was to follow when Richard Thompson, the English Dylan as the Guardian described him, returned to the stage with a class band that included Danny Thompson on double bass. Richard Thompson seemed inspired by the evening as he let rip with the powerful anti-war song Dad's Gonna Kill Me, from his latest stunning album Sweet Warrior, and ran through many of his classics, Al Bowly's in Heaven, The Man in Me, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, and showed his guitar brilliance with an electrifying version of Hard on Me and the crowd-pleaser Tear-Stained Letter. What a night.

It was to be one of Cropredy's triumphal years - bathed as it was in glorious sunshine. The opening night saw Jools Holland and his r 'n' b orchestra, joined by none other than Lulu and Ruby Turner, get the joint jumping, while Seth Lakeman, Show of Hands, the Demon Barbers Roadshow and newcomers Mad Agnes and Giveway proved the cream of the folk crop.

How could the present Fairport line-up follow that at the climax of the three-day festival? They were in fine form as they tried to do justice to 40 years - at least Liege and Lief had been taken care of. Founding member Nicol, Dave Pegg, an ever-present since 1970, Ric Sanders, Chris Leslie and Gerry Conway inevitably drew much from the latest Sense of Occasion but tipped their toes in to each decade with former members - Thompson and Swarbrick revisiting their Full House partnership in blistering fashion and Judy Dyble reminding us of all those halcyon days of '67. Despite racing ahead of themselves with their set, it did indeed all come together at the end with their timeless, stirring anthem Meet on the Ledge.