I’ve been to a lot of music festivals, but Wilderness Festival is undoubtedly the fanciest.

Wilderness is a four-day boutique festival held in early August each year set in the rolling hills of the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire, England.

It also has a reputation for being extremely middle-class.

Say goodbye to dodgy food and watered-down beer – at Wilderness, there are lavish Long Table Banquets rustled up by big-name foodies like Yotam Ottolenghi and Deliciously Ella; a champagne garden sponsored by Verve Cliquot with waiters dressed in Great Gatsby-inspired outfits; and ex-Prime Minister David Cameron has been spotted multiple years running.

I don’t always love the elitism of middle-class events, yet somehow I’ve now been to Wilderness Festival three times: once as a first-time visitor, once as a member of a hen party, and once as a speaker (!).

At Wilderness Festival 2017, I was asked to speak about my travels to an audience of forty people sat around a campfire beside a boating lake. It was the most ridiculously picturesque setting – and it also made me re-think my initial opinions about this ‘posh’ festival.

Because middle-class or not, Wilderness Festival isn’t just about the music. Now in its ninth year, the Wilderness 2019 lineup includes sets from Robyn, Bombay Bicycle Club and Groove Armada – but the organisers advertise it as an ‘alternative’ festival and put a strong focus on experiences, too.

Over the course of the weekend you can attend wood carving, foraging and toxic masculinity workshops, lake swimming, arts and crafts, axe throwing, ecstatic dancing, life drawing, paddleboarding, stimulating talks from prominent authors, yoga and meditation, and an unbelievable amount of gourmet food.

So if you’re looking for a music festival that’s family friendly, keen on colourful costumes, and focuses more on delicious food, alternative entertainment and thought-provoking talks than getting wasted?

Wilderness ticks all the boxes.

What to expect from Wilderness Festival: a review

After three years at Wilderness, I feel pretty qualified in reviewing this fancy festival. The following is a list of my favourite aspects of Wilderness: what you should see, where you should go and what you might have forgotten about.

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1. The setting of Wilderness Festival is undeniably idyllic.

Wilderness is held at the Cornbury Park estate in Oxford, south England. That’s 5,000 acres which play host to a few different campsites, a lake, forests and woodland, all surrounded by rolling fields – not to mention a hidden valley where the late-night revellers dance their troubles away.

2. You can take a dip in the lake.

To reach the festival from the campsites, you have to walk past Lake Majestic – and that’s usually enough to convince you to jump in. The water’s pretty chilly but it serves as a much-needed refresher during the summer heat!

The lake is also the prime spot for water-based activities: you can go out in a rowboat, take a yoga class on paddleboards or chill out in the wood-fired hot tubs which sit on the edge of the lake’s waters.

3. Dressing up isn’t mandatory, but costumes are a big deal.

There’s a big focus on fancy dress at Wilderness Festival. You’ll spot groups in the same outfits, people carrying inflatables bigger than themselves, and at least one hen party dressed up as superheroes.

Each night of Wilderness Festival has a designated costume theme – this year the themes are ‘What Comes Naturally’ on Friday, ‘Hue Are You?’ on Saturday and ‘The Great Big Hats Off’ on Sunday (and for those worried about the possible cultural appropriation of Sunday’s theme, Wilderness have politely asked guests to refrain from wearing Native American headdresses over the course of the weekend.)

4. There’s plenty of places to buy yourself some sequins.

If you’ve forgotten to bring enough glitter, feathers, fur, sequins, sparkly spandex or generally shiny materials, never fear: there are dozens of stalls and shops selling every conceivable addition to an outfit.

Moreover, each year there seems to be a different festival trend – my favourite was the year of clip-on animal tails.

5. Keep an eye out for a giant snail on a leash.

The troupes of performers and roaming art installations are one of my favourite aspects of Wilderness Festival. You never know when a giant snail will be ceremoniously led past you, or when a group of Bearded Ladies will appear from behind a tree and start dancing maniacally.

And let’s not even get started on the annual tradition of streakers running through the Sunday cricket match.

6. Get involved in some immersive performances.

There are slightly more official performances throughout the weekend: choose from choirs, swing dancers, comedians, ballet, Letters Live, dance-offs, hip-hop karaoke, and dozens of small theatre events.

My first year I arrived at a meeting point close to the festival’s entrance and was led by the hand around the far end of the lake in an immersive theatre performance, which culminated in a woman standing mournfully in the lake for a very long time. Bizarre but fascinating, nonetheless!

7. Try carving wooden spoons in the Greencrafts Village.

There’s an entire area dedicated to hands-on crafts workshops – and it’s totally green-friendly. Instead of using mains electricity or generators, the Greencrafts Village use solar power, traditional tools and work with recycled and sustainable materials.

Try your hand at wood whittling, basket weaving, spoon carving, felting, silversmithing or channel your ancient metal-working skills at the Iron Age forge!

8. Indulge yourself at the Sanctuary.

How many other music festivals let you soak away the day in hot tubs beside the lake? And if you really push the boat out there’s a bottle of champagne with your name on it, too.

Wilderness has a long list of indulgent activities, which mainly take place at The Sanctuary and the Lakeside Spa. Choose from massages, aromatherapy treatments, facials, tarot readings and medicine walks.

There’s also someone from Neil’s Yard wandering the site, ready to spray your hands with citrus-scented sanitiser!

9. How about a spot of early-morning outdoor yoga?

If you can rouse yourself from your tent-based slumber in the mornings, Wilderness has a lot to offer its early risers.

Areas like The Studio and Mindful Space hold sessions of yoga, pilates, meditation, sound baths, essential oil workshops, dance classes and vocal practices dotted all over the festival site – and some sessions are so well hidden that you might accidentally come across them underneath the trees.

10. The street food at Wilderness Festival is INSANE.

Rumour has it that Wilderness are positing themselves as a food-focused festival, and you can see why: the entire site is filled to the brim with over a hundred street food vendors.

You can find all the expected festival classics – crepes, bacon sandwiches, deep vats of paella, decadent burgers – but there’s also gourmet street food like I’ve never seen before, ranging from sushi burrito wraps, Buddha bowls and an Italian pasta stand to churros, truffle chips, acai bowls, and vegan curries.

Even in the camp sites you’ll find food vendors serving up fancy coffee, artisanal fry-ups and cheese toasties.

My personal foodie recommendations include:

– Pad Thai from BangWok

– luxe Mac & Cheese from Anna Mae’s van

– bao with pork belly & hoisin sauce

– late night Marmite crumpets from ‘Strumpets with Crumpets’ (these were also the cheapest food I found at Wilderness – a steal at £2.50 for two!)

11. Wilderness isn’t lacking in fancy drinks either.

Although I wasn’t too happy about the prices of some drinks, the festival undoubtedly pushes the boat out when it comes to alcohol.

Take your pick from beverages at a Bloody Mary caravan, a Jose Cuervo tequila bar, a Rioja tent, a Sipsmith gin palace, and a double-decker Pimms bus, or try your hand at cocktail-making masterclasses run by whisky distillers.

12. Listen to talks, debates, comedy and poetry at The Forum.

You could easily spend all day in The Forum, a large bell tent with literary-inspired paper decorations hanging from the roof. There’s a huge blackboard outside revealing each day’s schedule of talks, ranging from political and academic to LGBTQ and narcotics.

There are some high-profile speakers too – 2019 guests include Rose McGowan, Jack Monroe, Dermot O’Leary, Adam Kay and Scarlett Curtis.

At night, this venue focuses on comedy, poetry and spoken word: in 2017, we spent a rainy evening settled into comfy sofas with mugs of hot chocolate and watched a swathe of stand-up performances – perfection! I wish there were more venues like this at other festivals.

13. Learn from literary folks at the Books Tent.

Nearby to the Forum is the Books Tent, which comprises an entire bookshop (and elicited strong memories of the Hay on Wye book festival!)

There are dozens of poetry readings, debates and talks hosted by leading writers and publishers and writing masterclasses led by inspirational authors, as well as book signings afterwards.

The blackboard outside the tent gives the most up-to-date schedule.

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Read more: A day at Hay on Wye literary festival

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14. Dance all day to the Wilderness Festival lineup.

Despite all the other attractions on offer, music is still a huge part of Wilderness. It’s easy to discover a whole range of other styles of music around the festival at the following stages and areas:

The Clubhouse: a tented space by the playing field.

The Hustle: vinyl in the day time, disco at night.

The Highground: the dance space.

The Atrium: the collaborative stage right in the middle of the site which hosts performances from Letters Live, the Wilderness Choir, Hip Hop Karaoke and the Dance Off.

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The Troubadour: folk music and artist collectives.

The Carousel: self-explanatory, and my favourite stage out of every festival I’ve been to!

The Level: music from around the globe.

The Valley: a hidden ravine in the forest – the perfect place for late-night raves.

The Main Stage: where the biggest acts perform – as big and spacious as you’d expect!

15. Appreciate the tiny details which make Wilderness Festival unique.

It’s the attention to detail which really elevates Wilderness above other festivals. Everywhere you look, you’ll see tiny hearts painted on stages, dreamcatchers hung in the trees, and hand-made decorations in the rafters of tents.

It creates a really lovely atmosphere which makes people want to just sit around and strike up conversation with the strangers near them – like this guy dressed as a fox!

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A few of my top tips for Wilderness Festival

Like any music festival, there are a few unforeseen circumstances which can trip you up. Here are some of my top tips for Wilderness:

16. Combat the high prices by bringing some alcohol with you. 

Call me naive, but I was shocked by some of the drink prices. A small can of lager cost me £5 and I didn’t want to buy more booze after that – so I headed back to our campsite and our small stash of alcohol.

Like most UK festivals, Wilderness has a limited quota on bringing in beer, wine and cigarettes, and no spirits are allowed. The stipulations are as follows:

12 cans of beer, lager, cider or pre-mixed drinks OR 2 bottles of wine (decanted into plastic bottles) per person OR a combination of the two i.e. 6 cans and 1 bottle.

FYI there’s also a strict site-wide ban on glass. Make sure you decant bottles of wine into plastic and only bring cans of beer!

17. Share the cost of the printed Wilderness programme (£10).

The printed festival program includes enough information to constitute a guide book – but it’s only available once you reach the festival site, and unfortunately it’s not included in your ticket price either.

These babies cost £10, and they’re the only place you can fully read up on what’s scheduled, where and when. Buy one for your group and share accordingly (or make friends with a stranger and ask to look through theirs!).

18. Book the Experiences before you arrive at Wilderness.

Wilderness Festival has plenty of exclusive activities which they call ‘Experiences’. There are three categories – wellbeing, outdoor and dining – and include everything from massages, yoga raves and sound baths to hat-making workshops, foraging for aromatic plants and Long Table Banquets.

These experiences cost extra and it’s advisable to book them ahead of time to avoid disappointment.

19. Head into The Valley early to avoid the queues! 

Most of the music in Wilderness’s main arena shuts off at around 11pm – which means there’s a hefty queue to get into The Valley, a wooded ravine which hosts DJs and music late into the night.

If you’re planning a big night, it’s a good idea to skip the end of the Main Stage headliner and head to The Valley before you have to spend an hour in the queue.

20. Bring some layers for the festival at night.

Even in the height of an English summer, Wilderness still gets cold at night – both when you’re camping, and when you’re wandering around the festival in the evenings.

On my second year we got so chilly that we ended up buying overpriced woollen blanket ponchos from one of the stalls. It felt extravagant at the time but it’s paid off since: I’ve taken the poncho to other festivals and can even swan around my house feeling like I’m festival-worthy in London!

(I’m writing a festival packing list so will link it here when it’s published!)

Wilderness Festival takes place from 1st-4th August 2019 in Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire. You can get your festival tickets here.

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