Mirror balls and lake livin'

Each year we go and each year we find different ways to love it more. Wilderness Festival returned last weekend to the beautiful surroundings of Cornbury Park. The lake, the wild woodland, the sun (and maybe a little rain...), the music, the energy – we could go on for a while.

If you haven’t been to Wilderness before it’s a wonderfully varied playground for adults and children, filled with a whole number of activities: sports, games, talks, debates, theatre, arts, workshops and wellbeing to name but a few, all alongside a stellar line-up of musical talent.

As you walk past the glistening, expansive lake through to the main area, you realise just how unique these surroundings are for a music festival. There were people swimming, some were doing yoga, there were kids, adults, teenagers – all enjoying the innocence of good ol’ fashioned fun by a lake. And there was ice cream, gotta love an ice cream.

Fancy dress was well and truly in full force too. This year’s themes were: ‘Seeing Double’ on Friday, ‘Mirror Ball’ on Saturday and ‘Warrior’ on Sunday. I’ll be honest, we were pretty slack with this (although we ended up being covered wholly in glitter by the end of Saturday night). We saw human sized disco balls, flamingos, all manner of warriors – and some that I’m not even sure they knew what they had on.

There were several different areas to the festival, all offering its own beautiful uniqueness. Music – which varied from swing dancing on haystacks to the awe inspiring headline performances on the main stage from the likes Grace Jones and Bonobo , independent food stalls – Buddha Bowls was our favourite (try the massaman curry if you get the chance), relaxation in the hot tubs by the lake with a glass of prosecco, the organised madness that’s the annual cricket match and sports day activities, secret cubby holes to tuck yourself away and get lost, arts and crafts – basically, think of something and it was probably available somewhere.

Don’t fret, it’s really not essential to take part in the additional activities that you have to pay for, you can easily have an amazing time with what’s on offer as part of the ticket. We took part in the sporting activities, swam in the lake, chilled in the sun, got involved in workshops – this festival is really what you make it, Wilderness is your own do it yourself festival.

This year, our favourite part of the festival wasn’t the headline acts, or the range of fun and activities on offer. It was the same as every year, and one of the main reasons we come back every year – the great people that you meet (and being by a beautiful lake helps too). Many people say Wilderness has got too ‘commercialised’, which may be true – but that comes with popularity. It still stays true to its values of creating a place for escapism and enjoyment.

Bring on 2018.