Now a strong fixture on the UK summer festival calendar, Wilderness Festival is part village fête, part hedonistic outdoor escape. The event is set in a pocket of Oxfordshire countryside, and those who attend are invited to embrace their inner wild one within a private nature reserve.
Perhaps the biggest complement for the four-day celebration is its eclectic program combining arts, wellbeing, nature, gastronomy and lots of silliness in between. Attend morning meditation and Tai Chi classes, feast on delicious cuisine at long-table banquets (now a Wilderness tradition) or hula-hoop across a field. There are opportunities to try Acro yoga, listen to a discussion on mindfulness, ride horses, attend cookery school for a few hours or sip a frothy beer while soaking in one of the cedar hot tubs. Wilderness continues to attract a host of memorable left-field music headliners, ensuring the mix of relaxation and revelry is just so. Bring children; bring friends, this easygoing festival will bring out the adventurer in everyone.
THREE KEY PACKING ESSENTIALS
Carry a backpack that holds enough loot for the weekend’s adventures. Plus sunglasses with festival credibility AND 100 per cent UVA protection. Rounding out the trifecta: rubber boots for rain dances. These are practically an essential given the tempestuous nature of the average English summers’ day.
WORDS OF WISDOM
- Upgrade the loo experience at Wilderness. Loowatt brings luxury (read: clean and nice smelling), chemical-free, waste-free toilets to Wilderness. It’s a far sight better than slipping on someone’s discarded toilet tissue and emerging feeling 150 per cent more grotty than upon entering. Loowatt’s toilets have nice, eco-friendly soaps and lotions, styling stations, natural light, plentiful toilet tissue and are ALWAYS clean. Buying one of their wristbands also supports their work building toilets in Madagascar.
- Expand the mind and attend a talk or a debate. Wilderness hosts discussions on all sorts of topics. The School of Life is regular attendee, holding talks about emotional intelligence and culture, while Odditorium is great for those who are looking for a little light relief.
Visit Wilderness Festival
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