Bellowhead for Friday & Day Tickets

But mostly come prepared to dance like you have never danced before to the spectacular, show-stopping 22-legged groove machine that is Bellowhead. Winners of the Best Live Band accolade at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards an astonishing (and unparalleled) 5 times, we welcome them to our Friday headline slot.

To our Saturday bill we welcome Dr & The Medics, probably best known for their No. 1 smash Spirit in the Sky. We’re sure to be entertained by their psychedelic rock show. JuJu will be with us too with their hypnotic trance grooves. Gambian griot Juldeh is the master of the one-string ritti fiddle, and a singer of mystic power and his partner is guitarist Justin Adams (Robert Plant, Tinariwen) who came out of the post-punk period in West London, where dub and funk met Islamic sounds and Afro-beats.  Now signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World label their 3 albums Soul Science, Tell No Lies  and In Trance have all been greeted with critical acclaim, the first winning a Radio 3 World Music award.

In the Big Top on Saturday, we welcome Howard Marks. Described by the press as ‘the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time”. He’s the writer of the best-selling autobiography Mr Nice and this critically acclaimed one man shows draws on a wealth of experience ranging from growing up in South Wales and his time at Oxford University, to incarceration at America’s toughest federal penitentiary. He’s worked with the British Secret Service and has been connected with the Mafia, the IRA, MI6 and the CIA. Probably not one for the kids!

To our Sunday bill we wecome Dizraeli and the Small Gods. Drawing as much inspiration from sea shanties and folk ballads as from the grit of the city, Dizraeli recorded his debut solo album ‘Engurland (City Shanties)’ in 2009- Viola, turntables, flute, close harmony singing, beatbox and double bass, steel-string guitars and Dizraeli’s elastic rap vocals, bridge the divide between folk traditions and hip hop invention, rural and urban, heart and head.  And our final announcement for this edition areThrill Collins. After a number of years of being the festival’s ‘house band’ (and members also involved in running Wychwood FM and the Pomme Stage), Thrill Collins  get the chance to showcase their immense talents on the main stage. Reinventing classic 80s and 90s pop in the Skiffle style this highly engaging trio will have you moving to the beat of songs by anyone from Paul Simon to Rick Astley, Michael Jackson to Happy Mondays.

That’s it for now- loads more bands to be announced, plus the BBC Introducing Stage, Comedy, Workshops, Cinema and the Sunday headliner all to come!

Best wishes

The Wychwood Festival Team