Wilderness Festival 2013 Preview

Winter can't last much longer can it?  I've been dreaming about the sun a lot recently and moreover thinking about how to fill those summer days.

Luckily I've been invited down to check out this year's Wilderness Festival.  Having seen last year first hand I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be right now as well.

It's the same basic mix of music, food, theatre, and fun as last year but the line-up looks even better this time round.  On the food front the rather excellent Yotam Ottolenghi will be back but this time joined by Mark Hix and Norman Russell.

Russell will be taking the best of Polpo and putting on a multi course banquet of Venetian sharing plates, Hix will be using the very best local produce, and Yotam will be putting on a vegetarian feast.  Refuelling both body and mind chatting with new friends over food puts you in the perfect frame of mind for the partying that is to follow.

This year we can expect French circus insanity from Transe Express and Les Pepones.  Theatre in the form of Petersham Playhouse, Shakespeares Globe, and Vignette Opera.

The festival is supported by the Huffington Post as well so there will be discussions from the likes of The School of Life, The Royal Observatory, Intelligence Squared, and The Idler. What I am most looking forward to is the night time craziness from the guys behind the Secret Garden Party and Rumpus. 

Last year's parties were amazing, the secret valley is the perfect venue for late night magic, and these guys deliver.  I'm looking forward to music from Empire of the Sun, Noah and theWhale, Rodriguez, Ghostpoet,  King Krule, and the always amazing LondonFolk Guild.

AND the best of it all?  When it gets too much just head down to the lakeside spa for wood fired saunas and hot tubs or just dive into the cool clean lake.  If you love Glastonbury but can't get in and you think Bestival is getting too commercial these days this is the festival for you and I for one cannot wait.