THE county’s most beautiful music festival, Wilderness, will return this summer with a mix of chart acts, dance, folk, jazz, reggae and country music.
The festival, held among the woods and lawns of the Cornbury Estate near Charlbury, will be headlined by DJ Jamie XX, rapper Loyle Carner and live drum & bass act Rudimental.
The line-up announcement for the event, which runs from August 5-8, follows a decision by many other popular festivals to again postpone their events due to the ongoing pandemic.
Also booked to play the festival are Kidlington reggae selector David Rodigan and his Outlook Orchestra, Irish dance music stars Bicep, London disco-funk duo Franc Moody, multi-instrumentalist Georgia, jazz talent Alfa Mist, Irish rockers Picture This, Americana artist Katy J Pearson, Holly Humberstone CMAT,Weird Milk and singer-songwriters Charlie Cunningham, Jodie Nicholson, Joseph Reuben and Lyra.
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Famed for its DJ sets, this year’s parties will be presided over by funk and soul lover Craig Charles, Grammy-nominated house and techno DJ Nic Fanciulli, and Portuguese tropical jazz and soul DJ Mafalda.
Clockwise from left, Layla, Rudimental and Jamie XX will play Wilderness this summer
Rudimental
There will also be sets by Worldwide FM DJ Luke Unabomber, London’s Dom Chung, The Blessed Madonna, Jayda G and Eats Everything who will perform in the festival’s Hidden Valley – an elaborately illuminated ravine surrounded by trees and lit with lasers.
The festival’s strong programme of intellectual pursuits and spoken word performances will continue, including a repeat of its popular Letters Live shows, which have previously hosted A-list stars Olivia Coleman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley and Russell Brand. As previously, the line-up is kept a tightly kept secret.
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Also returning will be its gastronomic line-up, with long table banquets, which this year go fully vegetarian and vegan with feasts cooked by Helen Graham, Robin Gill, Lee Westcott and wild food restaurant Native.
A smaller Chef’s Table restaurant will cater for just 26 diners at a time in a venue overlooking one of Cornbury’s lakes. Chefs include Michelin-starred Mei Mei founder and ex-Masterchef Elizabeth Haigh, Osip founder Merlin Labron-Johnson, and Brad Carter of Michelin-starred Carter’s of Moseley.
Jamie xx is playing Wilderness 2021
Jamie XX
There will also be shows by the 47-piece Wilderness Orchestra, cabaret, comedy, an unusual Miss Wilderness event and talks and debates – with a line-up including His Dark Materials creator Philip Pullman in conversation with BBC producer John Lloyd.
A festival spokesman said: “This is a return to a celebration of classic Wilderness traditions. A nod to old school origins. The programme is inspired by the landscape and the natural world and as such is a true celebration of the wild, of adventure and of the wilderness itself.
CMAT is playing Wilderness 2021
CMAT
“Dive in the lakes, roll in the grass, ride a bike or a horse through the forests, take a wild medicine walk or foraging class and build a den. Camp under the stars and then dance like there’s no tomorrow to some of the mightiest sounds on the planet. After all, that is what Wilderness is all about.”
While tickets have sold out, there is a limited final release going on sale tomorrow via the waiting list at wildernessfestival.com
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