The festival started in 2000 as a small, one-off (we thought!) benefit gig for a charity supported by local musicians, but it quickly got away from us and expanded into the three-day event it is today.

The entire event is funded up-front by sponsorship, and by pre-festival raffles held at The Drones’ regular Wednesday night music sessions at The Plough. This allows us to give as much as possible of the proceeds to our charities.

We’re very lucky to have such a wealth of musical talent in South Oxfordshire. Because of this, we seek to encourage and support local musicians and performers at the festival. All of the performers appear free of charge – so another big ‘thank you’ goes to all of them.

The Drones

The Drones ‘folk club’ has been meeting at The Plough every Wednesday for more years now than some of us care to remember! There are a few ‘hard-core’ regulars who’ve been there since the start, including Lucy Quinn, who keeps order and makes sure everyone gets a turn. Musically, anything goes, from Jazz and Blues through Folk to Rock. Every session is different depending on who turns up, and the atmosphere is informal, with ‘joining in’ very much encouraged (mandatory really!)

We are lucky to have some very talented people playing regularly at the Plough – some of them are performing at the festival in their various bands. We hope it will encourage you to come and join us sometime – every Wednesday evening from 9pm, at The Plough