I thoroughly enjoyed myself this year. I saw lots of great music - Turin Brakes, Spookies, Hayseed Dixie, Barbara, Le Vent du Nord, Banter, Celtic Social Club & Danny Bradley in particular. Gutted to have missed Rob Jones & the Restless Dream, my bad planning!
Yes it was hot but it’s preferable to rain any day in my book when you’re camping and sat in a field.
Food was ok but pricey (but isn’t everything these days…?)
Stalls ok but nothing within my meagre budget.
The AF beer was ok, a bit hoppy. I took cans of Thatchers Zero which I chilled in the fridge. They just stayed cool enough in the 20 minute walk from the van to getting sat down. Nothing worse than warm beer/cider!
Disappointed to be on field 7b (Mr Bridgwit has trouble walking these days) but it was ok in the end, and as my group pointed out a few times over the weekend - we were just glad to be there, and we could hear the excellent Skalectrics from the van Friday evening
For various reasons we went back to the van when FC were on, we were too far away to hear them so I’ve been listening to their set on Radio Oxford.
I really hope next year isn’t the last one but I have a suspicion it could be. 6500 punters might work out financially for the festival, but you could see all the food traders were quiet, and there wasn’t as much atmosphere especially during the singalong parts. I suspect even the band haven’t decided yet.
Mr B is being made redundant at the end of the year so he’s retiring, so maybe time to check out some different festivals as we’ve only ever been to Cropredy
Brij, I am always wary of commenting on here because I haven’t done Cropredy since 2018 but I hope my 25 plus yrs of Cropredies gets me a minute t comment.
Most of my 25 yrs were with the same people, Cropredy was a pilgrimage and Fairports the focus…..
I akway# thought I’d go to Cropredy but people died and something changed. I went on my own a few times but…to respond to your post…….In recent yrs I have targeted smaller fests , bands I don’t know mainly , I did Magpie Fest, curated by Blair Dunlop ( which clashes with Cropredy) and Between the Trees , in S Wales end of this month , which is now my fave fest. I did Warwick for a few yrs but like Cropredy this yr , I didn’t like the lineup…..morexa case of having seen several of the acts several times , particularly RT
As Fairports took to the stage on Sat I was playing a much smaller fest with WHALE and as stood on the stage as the sun went down I did have Cropredy memories.
The band have decided we’ll be at Cropredy next yr, our bass player was having withdrawal !
So it did become about lineups.
I’ve been on the field with 10,000 people, I’ve been there with 20,000(1997) and 6.500 doesn’t seem economically viable for the stalls.
Of course reading tawhile there are people I miss and there are pangs …….
