Entry is FREE to this festival, held over two days on an island in Charlbury. There is no overnight camping but accommodation is available locally. Small, laid-back and very friendly – think afternoon beers on a picnic blanket, while happy kids run around and great music on the stage nearby 🙂
FREE family-friendly music festival in idyllic riverside setting, with more than 30 bands playing across two stages, rock, indie, jazz, and folk.
Riverside Festival may not have the starry Iine-up of a Reading or Glastonbury, but when it comes to the feel-good factor, Riverside beats them hands down. It’s not just the idyllic setting beside the Evenlode river in the Cotswold town of Charlbury that makes Riverside so special, nor the easy-going atmosphere, great music and good food. In these straitened times what makes Riverside exceptional is that it’s totally FREE!
Riverside has become a major fixture in Oxfordshire’s music calendar, with more than 30 acts playing across two stages. Despite the work involved and the cost of putting on an event of this size, the festival is still run entirely by volunteers and still free for all to enter. It’s a truly family-friendly festival, with a dedicated kids’ area kitted out with a bouncy castle and activities. Last year over 5000 people attended Riverside and the organisers are expecting similar numbers this year.
RIVERSIDE RASCALS – For pintsized Riversiders there will be hands-on activities, which last year included music sessions, butterfly painting, clay modeling, hiphop workshops, Bushcraft survival skills, wacky physics and other crafts.
Riverside Fringe stage
Last year’s experimental Fringe stage was a big success, so is returning this year with everything from song and dance acts to performance poets and, for the first time, a contortionist.
Bring the kids
This year’s children’s activities include sing-along and African drumming sessions, storytelling, cupcake decorating and bunting making. Saltbox will be running music sessions and there are whacky science experiments with Physics in the Field, hip-hop DJing lessonss, Bushcraft survival skills training, outdoor games, a bouncy castle and the Millfield model village which will be created by junior festival goers over the weekend.
Live Lounge returns
Oxbox.TV will be back with the Riverside Live Lounge offering exclusive behind the scenes interviews and the chance to see and hear extra songs performed in a special back stage area. The Live Lounge was a huge hit last year – you can see why by going to the Live Lounge section on the Riverside or Oxbox websites.
Festival stalls
As always, there will be plenty of food and drink options. This year, for the first time, as well as the traditional bar and Pims & Tins tent, there’s a Gin & Tonic Bar and, for the kids, the dedicated Punch and Juicy Juice Bar. And don’t forget to pick up a limited edition Riverside T-shirt, hand printed by local designer John Mackay and a pint of the special Riverside beer, brewed by local craft brewer, Wychwood Brewery.
What a little load of rubbish
The Riverside Festival is run entirely by volunteers from the local community and they aim to leave this unspoilt corner of the Cotswold countryside, unspoilt; and keep damage to the environment to the very minimum. Last year’s efforts were nothing less than heroic. Despite the thousands of visitors, after the volunteer’s recycling efforts, there were just ten domestic rubbish bags left to go to landfill.
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HOW TO GET THERE
Location: The Mill Field, Dyers Hill, Charlbury, Oxfordshire OX7 3QG
Entrance to the Festival site is down Mill Lane, virtually opposite Charlbury railway station. The station is on the First Great Western London Paddington to Hereford and Worcester line, 15 minutes from Oxford. On the Saturday there are buses to and from Oxford, Woodstock, Witney, Chipping Norton and Banbury to the centre of Charlbury, five minutes’ walk from the Festival.
WHERE TO STAY
No camping onsite but local campsites are available. For information on these and local hotels and B&Bs visit www.charlbury.info
For more information, images and media passes please contact Kathryn Custance on 01608 810181 kathryncustance@aol.com; for more information on Truck/Rapture contact: Carl Smithson on 07956 791988, carl@rapture-online.co.uk
Tickets:
Invisible tickets can be bought by sending a wish to the festival fairies, but don’t worry if you forget because this party is FREE with no tickets required! 🙂
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