Arts & Culture
Ladysmith Black Mambazo bestowed a fittingly¬†momentous¬†finale for festival-goers on Sunday¬†night at the 11th annual¬†Wychwood Festival. Ending with Shosholoza and deafening¬†cheers from the crowd the revered South African¬†choral group were the last act to perform in a weekend that saw other¬†exciting headline performances from UB40’s Ali Campbell, Astro & Mickey Virtue Reunited and Boney M.¬†2015 has seen¬†record breaking ticket sales¬†and a Saturday sell-out for one of the UK’s best loved family festivals. Thousands journeyed to Cheltenham Racecourse to see unforgettable live performances from international and local talent along with stand-up comedy, craft workshops, children’s area and¬†dedicated Literature Festival. Festival partner Ecotricity hosted an¬†inspiring and thought provoking debate on green issues in the¬†packed Ecotricity Big Top tent¬†with founder Dale Vince, Riverford Organic¬†founder Guy Watson, People Tree Ambassador Geetie Singh-Watson and journalist Lucy Seagle.¬†The action-packed weekend even saw Wychwood’s first ever¬†marriage proposal, as one festival-goer teamed up with brother-duo The Proclaimers on the¬†mainstage¬†to pop the question (to which the answer was a¬†yes). Looking¬†ahead to continue the Wychwood celebrations, the festival is offering 2014 ticket-holders¬†an¬†exclusive offer for next year with¬†weekend adult tickets at just¬†¬£102¬†and can be booked¬†herewychwoodfestival.co.uk/2016. Additional¬†highlights and more information is available¬†at¬†the Wychwood¬†website.

Over the weekend the main stage hosted performances by heritage greats including reggae legends¬†Ali Campbell, Astro & Mickey Virtue of UB40, 70s icons Boney M, Scottish twin-brother duo The Proclaimers and Northern Irish punk-rockers¬†The Undertones. There were also a slew of local talent from around¬†Gloucestershire, Hereford & Worcester and Coventry & Warwickshire, showcased on both the¬†main stage and the BBC Introducing stage. The Ecotricity Big Top welcomed renowned contemporaries Ghostpoet, Lucy Rose, Mt. Wolf, Charlotte OC and Josephine & The Artizans each day before delving into late night hedonism with Wychwood’s famous headphone disco. Other musical highlights of the weekend included an ever energetic DJ set from Craig Charles, incredible talents from Mali with both Songhoy Blues and Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba plus an¬†extremely popular mainstage appearance from children’s entertainer Justin Fletcher.

On top of the¬†music¬†Wychwood 2015 offered a programme for all the family. The Children’s Literature Festival in partnership¬†with Waterstones saw¬†literary talents educate and inspire the young and¬†young at heart, while¬†festival-goers were tickled pink in the Hobgoblin stage as¬†stand-up¬†heroes Michael Legge, Keith Farnan,¬†Mitch Benn and more delivered late night¬†hilarity. Families got stuck into Bhangra dance, hula hooping, circus tricks¬†in an array of interactive workshops and those looking for more of a¬†relaxing¬†experience were well catered for in Wychwood Festival’s very own Healing Gardens.

Elated with this year’s Wychwood Festival,¬†founder Graeme Merifield said, “What a year! It’s the busiest I’ve ever seen the festival thanks to a fantastic turnout from Wychwood fans and spectacular performances¬†across all of our stages from legends like Boney M and The Proclaimers right through to rising stars Charlotte OC and Puppy. To top our landmark 10th year in 2014 with record ticket sales in 2015 is such an¬†achievement and we’d like to thank¬†everyone who joined us this weekend. We hope¬†they enjoyed the festival as much as we did and look forward to making 2016’s Wychwood¬†better yet!”

 

To show their appreciation for everyone who came along to the festival, Wychwood organisers are offering 2015 attendees an exclusive offer for next year with full adult with camping just £102, Youth/Concessions £77, 10-15 yr Full Weekend £42 and under 10 for free available here. Early Bird tickets for Wychwood Festival 2016 will be available soon with more information from the Wychwood website.

FESTIVAL LINE-UP

MUSIC
Ladysmith Black Mambazo / UB40 - Ali Campbell, Astro, Mickey Virtue reunited / Boney M
The Undertones / Justin Fletcher / The Proclaimers / Craig Charles / Andy Kershaw / Dreadzone / Basseskou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba / Mad Dog Mcrea / Dr & The Medics / Songhoy Blues / The Outcast Band / The Going Goods / Talk In Code / A Way With Words /  The Edwin Starr Band ft. Angelo Starr / Electric Swing Circus / Rusty Shackle / Pocket Club / Ghostpoet / Lucy Rose / Mt. Wolf / Plastic Mermaids / Fickle Friends / Monsieur Doumani / The Wonder Stuff Acoustic / Darlia / Demob Happy / TED ZED / Black Honey / Palace / Zak Abel / Lanshapes / Syd Arthur / Henry Green / Hunter & The Bear / Loud Mountains / Cooper Black / Object Object / Josephine and the Artizans / Sophronie / George Montague / Danni Nicholls / The Black Feathers / John Adams / Grace Palmer / James Michael / All Ears Avow / Spice & The Readies / SPOILS / Ben Cipolla / Gigi St. Fallow / Bobby Scaife / Katie Collins/ Megan Timms / Joe Buckingham / Dan Walton / Maxine Stacey / Neil Morris / David Young

BBC Introducing Coventry & Warwickshire: Grassroutes / Rosetta Fire / Yes Sunshine / Reece Bahia / Quarry / Speak Brother / James TW / Emily Burns / The Commonjets / Joe Doloman

BBC Introducing Hereford and Worcester: Cantaloop / Ronin / Clark Carmody / Tom Forbes / Interior Castle / Crowsaw / 7shades / The Dale Von Minaker / Fictonian / Chase The Deer

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WATERSTONES
Ali Sparkes / Petr Horacek / Giancarlo Gremin / Steve Anthony / Steve Cole / Chris Edge / Paul Strickland / John Dougherty / Anna Wilson / Karen Langtree / Tracey Corderoy / Philip Ardagh / Cathy Cassidy / Philip Adagh / Tracey Corderoy / Matt Brown / Tony de Saulles / First Draft

 

WYCHWOOD COMEDY IN ASSOCIATION WITH EFESTIVALS
Michael Legge / Jenny Collier / Jack Heal / Chris Turner / Jay Cowle / Jamali Maddix / Jarred Christmas / Becky Brunning / Sam Chaplin / David Jordan