It's costume time

Almost a decade since my last visit, it was a thrill to once again walk through the gates at Cornbury Park and into the decadent thrills of Wilderness festival. Having long regarded my last visit as a highlight of my teens, my expectations were high – and Wilderness truly rose to the challenge.

The first thing you notice at Wilderness is that attendees undoubtedly dressed for the occasion, with almost all revellers doused in glitter at all times - flamboyance truly was the name of the game. Costumes ranged from the colourful to the outrageous, with there seemingly no concept of ‘too much’. It was also a delight to see such a variety of ages - Wilderness is a family friendly affair, with kids roaming freely.

With a focus that spans beyond music, Wilderness offers festival goers spa experiences, high end banqueting and learning experiences.

That isn’t to say that the musical line up isn’t top tier - Jungle were the perfect Friday night headliner, the music ideal for a summer sunset vibe. It felt at times half the crowd were hoisted up on friends’ shoulders, singing along to Jungles plentiful hits. Years and Years put on a true show on Saturday, living up to our expectations of flamboyance, vocal skill and showmanship. Rounding off with arguably their biggest hit, King, even Olly Alexander seemed to be swept up in it all, jumping and shouting encouragement at the crowd. It wasn’t just the headliners that brought the house down, there were tons of great afternoon acts such as Sophie Ellis Bextors main-stage opening set, mixing her own hits with disco classics that got the crowd dancing their way into the weekend.

For us, the biggest highlight came from the Forum tent and the Guilty Feminist Podcast. Lead by the incomparable Deborah Frances-White, it was perfect blend of comedy and activism, swinging from a fantastic stand-up set from Kemah Bob exalting the praises of oral sex to a serious discussion around ensuring teenage girls and non-binary people have public spaces to hang out in, all rounded off with a rousing chorus from stage and crowd of I Will Survive – a moving moment of joyous female solidarity.

Once the musical headliners packed up, it felt like the whole festival migrates to the late night dance stage, named for its literal location – The Valley. The valley as always was a debaucherous parallel world, and impressively organised to ensure that the throngs of party goers were kept safe late into the night.

Although the festival offers banqueting experiences, the standard food stall situation was definitely hit and miss - compared to other festivals it felt like you got much less value for money, and many stalls closed after the headline act. This meant that the thousands of late night revellers were left with a handful of stalls with long queues and dwindling quality.

It was great to see the amount of family friendly events taking place, with massive games of musical statues and mind bending circus acts keeping even the smallest revellers entertained. Many families opted to bring trollies into the arena, often turned into portable beds to transport the kids in – something I felt rather jealous of! However one thing we did notice over the weekend was a heavy security presence, which felt slightly strong handed for such a family focused festival and didn’t seem to match the casual vibe.

Wilderness clearly prided itself on accessibility, with the main stage well catered for with a viewing platform and we saw sign language interpreters at The Forum stage – a welcome addition. However the line up itself wasn’t particularly diverse, which was a disappointment and felt like a real weakness in the event.

Overall Wilderness once again proved itself to be a sensory delight, with so much on offer it was impossible to see and do all that was on offer, giving all the more motivation to return – and I definitely won’t be waiting another decade to experience it all again!