Campfire Country Music Festival – Oxford

Since I started line dancing, my social media feeds picked up on this and now show me everything country and Americana. A while back I saw a day festival advertised on Facebook in Oxford and decided to risk the early bird low price to get a ticket. Booked the day off work, and then it was just fingers crossed that the Campfire Country Music Festival would happen.

Festival run up worries

The run up was a little hairy as there were mixed comments about previous Campfire festivals taking place around the UK. One was cancelled last minute. And there was a lot of social media talk about lack of advertising on local ‘what’s on’ pages. It sounded like the city council only gave them the permits the day before – the organisers were holding 3 different festivals on each of the Friday to Sunday in Cutteslowe park.

Luckily it all worked out fine, despite the lack of communication about anything to do with the Campfire Country Music Festival. There was no information on parking (whether you could or couldn’t). Nothing on what you could or couldn’t take (other than no food and drink). The running order of music was put up on the day (but ended up being totally different anyway. You could tell it was a first time. Better communication needed if they’re doing it again in future.

I know Oxford well, and decided that park and ride was the best option to get to Cutteslowe Park, given that the last time we’d visited that park, the parking area was tiny. After the bus journey and 10 minute walk, it turned out there were plenty of spaces when I arrived. And it was cheaper to park than using the park and ride! I’ll know in future to risk it. On leaving I noticed lots of people with parking tickets due to not parking in proper spaces or not buying tickets.

As I was early, I mooched around for a bit in the park. I ended up chatting with a family who were also heading for the festival while we waited. I think everyone was relieved turning up and seeing it set up (although they were doing last minute getting organised right until entry time).

Being a day festival it wasn’t going to be a big event; people were saying there were around 2-2.5k tickets sold. That was plenty for the space and atmosphere.

I hadn’t taken a chair with me because I didn’t want to walk around Oxford lugging lots of stuff, but there were plenty of people sitting on the ground too. 

Food and drink

As soon as I got in, I decided to get food as I’d not had lunch, and wanted to get in ahead of the queues.

I thought the food choices were ok – noodles, indian, BBQ, and then coffee & cake stands, and an ice cream truck. I was first in to buy at the noodle stand, choosing chicken with sweet & sour sauce. It was pricier than I expected at £14, £17 with a soft drink bottle. But then it was a festival in Oxford! I’m glad I didn’t leave the food til later, because the queues were nuts.

It was a shame the tables put out by the food stalls didn’t have any seating, so I had to eat my noodles standing up. They were hot and tasty, and a good sized portion so I was settled foodwise for the day.

The bar was faster than I expected. The queues were only 3ish people deep when I went, and they moved quite quickly, although people were buying large rounds.

Other activities and facilities

As well as the music, there was a rodeo bull you could have a go on, a few fairground rides catering for both young children through to thrillseekers.

There was also a merch stand selling cowboy hats and t-shirts. I didn’t go and check it out, but I didn’t see people there the couple of times I went past.

The toilets (always a concern at festivals) were plentiful, and there didn’t seem to be lots of queues. I didn’t use them so no idea what state they were in. But given it was day one of the festival weekend site, they shouldn’t have been too bad.

VIP area

Some people paid for VIP tickets (you could also upgrade on the day for an additional £20). I’m glad I didn’t, because apart from potentially having a hay bale to sit on, the view was better and straight on to the stage from the main area. The VIP area also looked quite crowded. Without chairs I’m not sure you’d have seen as much, or been able to grab an area to stay.

The VIPs did have a small separate bar, and a smart toilet block. But given the main bar didn’t take long to serve people, I’m not sure the upgrade would have been worth it for me.

The music at Campfire Country Music Festival

Obviously the music is the main event, and overall it was good. I enjoyed it, and the atmosphere was good. Lots of people got up to dance once they were warmed up and bevvied up, and there was plenty of room to see the stage.

The music was all tribute country acts. First up was Chris Stapleton UK who was excellent. I recognised a few of the songs which is always a good thing. 

Then it was a guy doing a mix of Luke Combs, Teddy Swims and a few others.  He wasn’t as good. Some songs were better than others, but it wasn’t too awful. Just a bit pitchy on some.

In between some acts there was someone on stage teaching line dancing. We all piled down at the front to follow along. The first slot was carnage, just a lot of people in a small space and a lot of moving around for the dance. But it was lots of fun, and he was a good teacher.  The second time round, I just danced in the area I was stood in alongside some others, and that worked better. Flukily it was one of the dances I’d learnt on Monday at the different dance class I went to.

Next up was Dolly Parton – I thought she was quite good, although picking out audience members wasn’t my favourite thing given they tend to ruin nice songs (Islands in the Stream was funny though that she picked out a guy called Ken to be Kenny Rogers). She was very popular, and obviously it helps that everyone knows her songs.

Fearlessly Taylor Swift complete with 2 backing dancers was good bringing in the party atmosphere. The kids there loved it.  I bumped into an old Ceroc friend with her daughter being dragged down to the stage during that set.

I wasn’t so keen on the singer brought inbetween acts for a few songs. His singing was a bit off to me.

I hung around to see a bit of the Shania Twain act. She had the dance moves and attitude to make a convincing tribute act.

I didn’t fancy walking back through the park on my own in the dark, or back through the housing estate, and it had been a long day. So I headed back out to the bus halfway through that act. I missed out on the last band which I presume was covering lots of different songs and the Lainey Wilson Experience who I’d have liked to have heard. 

If I was local I’d probably have done what others did and sit on chairs in the park just outside on the hill so they could just about see the stage, and hear the music. Although hearing it inside the festival was so much louder and more fun.

The verdict on Campfire Country Festival

I’m all for day festivals (I would never do camping at them, I like nice shower and toilet blocks if I’m camping, with space between tents). I think I only paid £20 for my ticket, so for an afternoon and evening of music, that was a bargain.

Yes, the organisation of the festival itself left a lot to be desired in the post ticket sales. The communication was non-existent (a lot of moaning and unanswered questions on social media for lots of venues). But the day was a lot of fun, even going on my own.

There were people of all ages there, from families with young and older children, teens to much older people. There was even a hen do turned up.

My only issue was all the vaping, and there were also people smoking right in the middle next to everyone else. Ok so it’s outdoors, but I wish people would be aware that not everyone wants to be wafted with smoke or smelly vapes. Or ideally, tell people to head towards the exit or a certain area if they want to smoke. Especially with the dry grass, it’s probably not the best time of year to be smoking where there’s nowhere to put cigarette butts.

They were trying to keep the area clean by having litter pickers going round getting glasses and rubbish, but it was getting a bit messy. There were plenty of bins around to get rid of your rubbish which was good to see. 

I’d probably go again. It was worth taking a day off work. But next time I’d want to find someone to go with, and take chairs so I’d have somewhere to sit and hold an area.

Now I’m on the lookout for potential other festivals to go to. And how to work out which ones are worth going to fairly locally.

Have you been to any country festivals this year?