As ever, the magic of Truck Festival lies in its variety and ‘small but mighty’ punch. The rain and mud might have scared off a few festival-goers, but such is their love for this almighty Oxfordshire weekend that the majority donned the wellies and squelched on.
Having bagged ourselves early entry tickets, and with five notches on our Truck Festival belt, we were keen to squeeze every last drop out of the weekend, starting with Thursday night headliners The Wombats.
15 years into their career and still pulling in huge audiences (and huge screams from the crowd), their 2023 single went down just as well as 2007’s massive hit ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Divison’.
On Friday we hit the main arena for something a bit different in the form of some hilarious Barrioke (Barry from Eastenders, paired with some select lucky Truckers, including the Mankini-ed Pokémon, singing their chosen Karaoke song).
Then it was back to main stage for a double dose of Indie in the form of The Vaccines, followed by the Friday headliners and Truck favourites Two Door Cinema Club who brought their dancey electronic rock to the Main Stage for a dramatic and highly satisfying end to the day’s main music.
Next up, the Palm City pit, now a byword for Truck’s DnB tent, for lots of big dance acts and DJs, dancing late into the night with the likes of personal favourites Hybrid Minds.
A calmer start on Saturday was brought by The Oxford Symphony Orchestra, their beautiful musical renditions serenading Truck’s early airwaves.
We also took advantage of the many great up-and-coming acts; enjoying an intimate gig by Coventry’s Candid, alongside belly laughs in The Rocking Chair by a slew of great UK comedians.
a big ear-ringing set by Royal Blood brought the weekend’s music to a regretful end, before fire works lit up the surrounding skies
Fuelling all the activity was pretty much any culinary cuisine you could think of, with the charity tent in particular providing hearty meals to suit a budget. And if you want a hiatus from the music, you can take part in everything from yoga to circus skills for the littl’uns.
The weather on Sunday scared off a few but most remained for perhaps the best day of music – including some soulful Cian Ducrot and poppy-punk Pale Waves.
But the big ear-ringing set by Royal Blood brought the weekend’s music to a regretful end, before the annual fire works show lit up the surrounding skies.
Part of the joy is that moving around the festival was easy because of Trucks compact size, no stage more then a 10 minute walk from the entrance, enabling you to cram as much or as little entertainment as you’d like.
With something for everyone, including the camping options where you can slum it in the field with most of the joyous crowds, keep it safe and happy in the family camping field or go full boogie and splash out on a full glamping experience, it’s no shock that Truck Festival keeps us coming back year after year.
And with early bird tickets from £99.50 being released on Friday July 28 at 12pm, it’s already impossible to say no to next summer and do it all again.
ALI HENDERSON
To register for early bird tickets go to: https://truckfestival.com/tickets/
