A MUSIC festival powered by chip fat, bicycles and solar power is to be held for the first time in Oxfordshire this weekend.

Wood Festival, which starts at Braziers Park, in Ipsden, near Wallingford, on Friday and runs until Sunday, is the brainchild of brothers Joe and Robin Bennett, of the band Goldrush.

The pair will this year be putting on the popular Truck Festival, in Steventon, for the eleventh time and have decided to launch a boutique, family-friendly festival to complement it.

Robin said: "It is really exciting because it is a new venture for us and it has a real focus on environmental awareness."

He said becoming a father last September had made him think differently about what made a good music festival.

Mr Bennett said: "Suddenly what you can do and what you want to do, changes very drastically because you have to think about different considerations."

So he set about coming up with a festival where the entertainment for children and their parents was interchangeable.

While the event will still be a music festival, featuring the likes of Get Cape. Wear Cape, Fly, The Epstein, Danny and the Champions of the World, and bluegrass act The Coal Porters, there will be more things that families can enjoy together.

Workshops, teaching everything from making instruments out of junk to circle dancing and harmony singing, will take place alongside the musical acts.

The main stage will be built of wood, and powered by solar panels, and the second stage's energy needs met by volunteers on bicycles. Everything else will be powered by recycled chip fat.

Mr Bennett said the Truck organisers had listened to older music fans who complained traditional music festivals were too loud, raucous - and even dangerous - so Wood will be a much quieter event, with most of the music performed acoustically.

Mr Bennett added: "What ties all these things together is that you can just join in and they are all sustainable.

"The weather has been really nice this week and it is looking pretty good for the weekend."

The event has a capacity of 1,000 and about half the tickets have been sold in advance.

Tickets will be available at the gate, with weekend tickets priced at £50, Saturday or Sunday tickets £20 and Friday day tickets £10.

Children under the age of 14 who are accompanied by an adult will be admitted free.