Today is the last day to get your orders in!

We’re thrilled to be able to announce that legendary Brit band James will be headlining Wychwood’s Saturday evening.

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, welcome to our latest newsletter. Thank you to all who came and had a laugh with us at our inaugural Cheltenham Comedy Festival a couple of weeks ago- we had a blast, and with many sell out shows, we can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Right now, we turn our attentions back to our biggest Baby, Wychwood. We have some early confirmations to tell you about, plus a reminder about our 2012 earlybird ticket offer.

Early Band Announcements
On the music front, we are already very busy booking and preparing what we hope will be the most exciting Wychwood line up ever, and the first of these artists going into our Wychwood Mix will be Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends- shanty singers from Port Isaac who have delighted visitors and locals for more than 15 years, with almost 300 live performances under their belts. They’ve known each other since childhood and learnt their powerful brand of Cornish harmony singing at the local Methodist chapel – now the pottery of Fisherman’s Friend Billy Hawkwins (baritone), where the group get together with a crate of ale and a good deal of bonhomie to rehearse their repertoire and try out new songs. And fisherman’s friends they truly are – each and every member of this unique group are or have been fishermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards (as well as builders, artisans, hoteliers, and shop keepers) in Port Isaac. Their regular portside concerts have become a much-loved local institution and as the group prepare to release their first professional studio recordings, the authentic sound of the sea will soon be heard at Wychwood.

For 2012 we welcome back Johnny Kalsi, with his pride and joy, the mighty Dhol Foundation, the organisation that delivers a now legendary wall of sound, global rhythms and thumping contemporary beats with the effervescent Johnny at the heart of their live shows. The full stage show features an energetic batteria of dhols up front, bass, drums, guitar and dholak. Their musical influences are drawn from a rich pallet of global sounds and it’s the openness to exploring the music of other cultures that has always set TDF apart from other Dhol groups.

We will also be welcoming Sean Lakeman and Kathryn Roberts; two of the folk scenes most accomplished performers, Kathryn and Sean have graced stages the world over in a number of guises, however, the intimacy and strength of passion shown as a duo, combined with an eclectic repertoire ensures a rare treat. With a story that includes music making with the likes of Seth Lakeman, Cara Dillon, Levellers, Kate Rusby and Show of Hands, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman have established themselves as pillars of modern British folk.

Finally on the music front, we welcome back one of the most popular and most requested local acts from 2011, The Roving Crows; Formed in early 2009 The Crows’ inexhaustible energy gives them standalone status in the up-surging live music scene, boasting fiery fiddle playing, trumpet, guitar, drums, bass and vocals. Described as completely unique and uncontainable, an original Celtic vibe, also drawing influences from genres including jazz, ska, folk, kleizmer and blues. An unbridled festival sound, Crow ‘n’ Roll.”Just pure musical energy. Tight rhythms, great on-stage personality”
Andrew Marston, BBC.

Over the coming months we’ll have lots more to tell you about- our headliners for each day and the bands that will take pride of place across Wychwood’s four stages.

Comedy
The Comedy Elves are already working their little socks off to make sure you laugh yours off in 2012. Our first piece of news is that Wychwood regular, Mr Robin Ince will be returning, and bringing with him a number of fabulous guests.
As well as being a performer in his own right, Robin has written extensively for television and radio. His credits include the BAFTA winning Have I Got News for You, Alastair McGowan’s Big Impression, Graham Norton, 8 out of 10 Cats, Dead Ringers and a multitude of other shows. Robin is working on some very exciting ideas for us for 2012- watch this space!

Family Entertainment
As our regulars know, Wychwood is set up to be a weekend of fun for all the family; a place where adults and children alike can immerse themselves in a multitude of music and workshops, and dip in and out as they so desire. On the family front, expect the usual spread of over 100 workshops for all ages, and we have some very exciting first announcements for our children’s entertainment in 2012.

First up we are delighted to welcome Cbeebies star Katy Ashworth. Katy is one of the main CBeebies presenters and is the host of popular series ‘I Can Cook’. Katy will be appearing on Saturday at Wychwood, and there will be an opportunity to meet her afterwards

Over the weekend, we are delighted that we’ll be being entertained by stars of Nick Junior, The Bopps, namely Keith Littler and Stan Bopp. Keith has written and produced Little Red Tractor, Merlin the Magical Puppy, Billy as well as directing over 100 series for children including Watership Down, Casper The Friendly Ghost and Albert the 5th Musketeer and many others. Stan started life as guitarist and songwriter in The Housemartins. After several years and several hits he retired from the pop world to become a fulltime father to his 4 children. He then began writing books for children and scripts for children’s television shows. With two series already under their belts at Nick Jr, the chaps are about to embark on a further 40 episodes as Bopps mania sweeps through a small town near Ipswich.

Last and by no means least in this set of announcements, we are extremely pleased to announce the return of our friends from The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, who, over the years have brought us the most amazing story telling shows, and creative activities. We are delighted that they’ll be with us for more of the same in 2012

Last Chance for Earlybird Tickets
Finally, a quick reminder that our earlybird ticket offer finishes in just a few weeks, so you don’t have long to get your orders in. There is still time to save up to £25 on an adult weekend ticket, and also to benefit from free under 10s tickets. Wychwood tickets make the ideal Christmas present!

Likewise, only a few weeks to go to get your friends and family introductions sorted, so that we can send you thank you cheques in the New Year.

Please visit our ticket page for more information, and please don’t delay in booking to make these great savings!

That’s all for now- we look forward to sharing with you the rest of our line up and all our headline acts in the coming months, and in the meantime, we wish you the best of early seasonal wishes.

The Wychwood Festival Team

We are already busy in early preparations for Wychwood 2012 which will take place 8-10th June. We will start to announce the line up in the New Year, and some more new exciting content, but in the meantime here is news of our earlybird ticket offer for 2012, plus our new payment instalment plan, and our introduce a friend scheme which could mean you come to Wychwood 2012 for free!

Earlybird Ticket Offer and Payment Scheme
We are very pleased to announce that a limited number of earlybird tickets go on sale from 9am on Saturday 17 September. To order simply call us on 01993 772580, or download the application form from our ticket page. Tickets prices have been kept at the same level as our earlybird tickets from 2011, and if you buy now you will save up to £25 on the full price of an adult weekend camping ticket.

We are also introducing a payment scheme this year to make it easier for you to budget for your ticket purchase, with the your order split into four equal payments, one taken at the time of your order and each of the remaining three payments taken at the beginning  of each of the next three months . If you’d like to pay by instalments, just let us know when you call and we’ll set it up for you.

Introduce A Friend and Save A Further £20 Per Friend!
Thank you to everyone who filled in our recent questionnaire- the information was extremely useful for us to understand how we can make your Wychwood experience even better in 2012. One of the most gratifying things was that 96% of you would recommend Wychwood to your friends and family, and in light of this we are introducing a friends scheme to enable you to save even more on your ticket costs, when you introduce someone to the festival who has never been before. For every person you introduce to the festival and who buys an adult or concession weekend ticket, we will give you £20 off your ticket order. So if you buy a weekend ticket during our earlybird offer (at £100), and introduce 5 friends to the festival , your ticket is essentially free! You can introduce as many friends as you like, and you’ll be getting £20 for each and every one!

In order to become a Friend of the Festival, you must have already bought your own ticket for the 2012 festival, either when you left this year, or during this earlybird offer. Then simply give us a call on 01993 772580 and we’ll give you your own unique reference number to give to your friends to quote when they ring up for their tickets. This offer is only valid during the earlybird offer, at the end of which we’ll count up how many people you have introduced to the festival and then send you a cheque for this amount by way of thanks.

PLEASE NOTE that all friends’ orders will be checked against our database of previous customers to confirm that they are a totally new customer to the festival.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that we recently added some photos to our 2011 festival gallery. Click here to take a look.

If you would like to share your photos from Wychwood 2011 please post them on our facebook fan page.

What a start to this year’s festival. Wall to wall sunshine and 1000′s a happy smiling people. Even we were amazed at the sheer variety of things to do in every corner of the site.

Loved the main stage acts yesterday from The Travelling Band right through to The Charlatans and bands like Arcadian Kicks and Revere seemed to go down a storm in The Big Top. If you didn’t get down to the BBC Introducing Stage (in the Stagefright Bar) and the Pomme Stage then you missed some cracking music and there was some really interesting stuff going on in the cinema tent. So here’s to another cracking day of workshops, tunes, films, food and drink…

We’d love to hear what you think of the festival both in words and pictures so don’t be shy…feel free to post stuff on our Facebook page

The Big Lunch is an idea started by those splendid people at the Eden Project. The aim is to get as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun. This year it’s happening on Sunday 5th June and we’ve decided to take part.

We’ll be holding ours in front of The Pimm’s Bus at 12.30pm and it would be lovely to get as many of you there as possible. We can’t supply the food, but a feeling of communal warmth and loveliness is sure to be in abundance.

Welcome to our final newsletter before Wychwood 2011. Activity is at fever pitch on site as we build, what we hope, will be your ultimate festival experience!

Just three more sleeps until Wychwood 2011, and we look forward to welcoming you all!

We have such a wonderful line up this year including The Charlatans, The Waterboys, and Ian Anderson, through to Transglobal Underground, Eliza Carthy, Eddi Reader and Baka Beyond, and from John Cooper Clarke to Robin Ince! Not forgetting over 100 workshops for all ages, comedy, cinema, kids lit including Korky Paul and Judith Kerr, Headphone Disco, Healing Gardens, Sculpture Gardens- the list goes on and on!

Advance Tickets

If you still haven’t purchased yours, our Box Office will be open all week until 10pm so you can book your tickets in advance (tickets on the door will be more expensive). We are not sending tickets out now, but they will be ready for you to pick up at the festival box office…call us on 01993 772580, or visit our ticket page here for full information.

http://www.wychwoodfestival.com/tickets

The Weather

At the moment, the weather for our weekend is looking glorious- you can track how it looks by visiting The Weather Channel.

Obviously we cannot guarantee the weather though, so do come prepared for the vagaries of the British climate- and please remember to pack your sun cream!

Special Occasion

Are you celebrating a special occasion at the festival? Birthday, Anniversary, Hen/ Stag to etc. We’d love to know, and we’d love to mention you from main stage. Do tell us by emailing us, special@wychwoodfestival.com. Don’t forget to include your mobile so we can contact you on the day.

BBC Download

One final note on the BBC Introducing artists playing, there is now a download album available so you can sample the bands before you turn up. Do download the album now.

http://www.wychwoodfestival.com/bbc-introducing-bands-downloads

That’s it for now- we wish you all safe journeys to Wychwood, and we look forward to welcoming you to all that’s in store this coming weekend.

We are offering a free download with tracks by the BBC introducing bands playing at Wychwood this year. You can listen to the tracks and download them by clicking here and entering your details.