Cornbury Festival

Posted by Gill Sutherland at 11:36 on 7 Jul 2008

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Having got my head back together from the crazy tie-dye swirl of Glastonbury I decide to risk another weekend spent idly gawping, drinking a bit and dancing a lot while shod in ill-chosen footwear.

We set off for Cornbury Festival on a rainy Saturday morning, wearing platform flip-flops. Take that, storm clouds!

Cornbury takes place on a country estate on the edge of the Wychwood Forest in the heart of Oxfordshire, aka Poshtershire, and has the rep of being the most luxurious of all festivals.

Of course you have to fork out a hefty £175 for a VIP ticket to experience the full-on luxe treatment. And ye god it's worth every penny. Upon our arrival we are greeted by a tall chap holding a golf umbrella aloft, lest us VIPers get wet; he has the bearing of a royal butler, and appears to be restraining himself from tugging his forelock and kissing our muddy toes.

We are ferried around the site in a speedy golf buggy and dropped off between the ginormous VIP tent and the VIP Spa - yup, massages and pedicures come as standard. After a warming complimentary coffee and wearing our complimentary poncho we decide to 'slum' it with the hoi-polloi.

Ah, the Bangles, those princesses of '80s rock pop and an old fave, are on the main stage, we head for a boogie and are surprised, if not slightly alarmed, to find David Cameron, 'groovy' Conservative Party leader, doing his thang beside us.

Slumming it in Cornbury terms appears to consist of spreading out a picnic blanket, producing some Waitrose nibbles, getting in a pitcher of Pimms/and or magnum of champers and defying the rain to penetrate the Barbour.

Toots and the Maytals have us dancing around like baboons to a rousing Monkey Man, before the torrential conditions see us return to the comfy sofas in the VIP tent, where we find Jeremy Clarkson loudly holding court.

We peek out only to catch headliner Paul Simon's majestic rendition of Graceland and to nip to the loos. I can honestly report that I've not experienced such a fragrant smelling bog in all me festival-going days, and there's even ornaments and books on the shelves, and lovely smellies to use.

It's just a shame money can't buy you sunny weather, because if you could, Cornbury would make sure you had plenty of it. Bless them and their blingtastic festival.

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