UPDATE: 19/06 - Unfortunately, owing to poor ticket sales and the financial risk this has incurred, the organisers of the Twisted Village Festival have made the sad decision not to proceed with year's event. A full statement on the event's cancellation can be found on the festival's website and Facebook page.
UPDATE: 25/06 - The Portsmouth News is reporting that the festival's production company has gone into liquidation; the festival's website is still active, however its social media presence has been shuttered.
Following on from their initial line-up announcement the organisers of boutique festival Twisted Village have released details of more acts and artists performing at the inaugural event. Joining the already mouth-watering selection of acts, which include Alabama 3 and The Lovely Eggs, are bhangra drummers The Dhol Foundation, players of tiny instruments Babsie Brown and the Miniature Orchestra, the quite fantastically named Johnny Kowalski & The Sexy Weirdos, the funky brass of Tuba Libres and the excellent Fake Empire.
In addition to the live music on offer there'll also be sets on the decks from Brandon Block, the rebel dread himself Don Letts and the one and only DJ Format. Twisted Village also sees the welcome return of Portsmouth’s legendary Hipshaker DJs to the festival circuit, if you want a taste of what they'll bring to the party check out their Express FM radio show (past episodes of which are available online). On the performing arts side of things the Circo Rum Ba Ba troupe will bring some joyful anarchy to proceedings and, if it all gets too much, there's always a relaxing game or two of Drag Queen Bingo to look forward to.
With more acts, including headliners, yet to be announced all is looking very good indeed for Twisted Village. The festival takes place at Vicarage Farm, Woodmancott, from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th August, Early Bird tickets may have sold out but Tier 2 tickets (priced at £105) are available now from the festival website.
UPDATE: 19/06 - Unfortunately, owing to poor ticket sales and the financial risk this has incurred, the organisers of the Twisted Village Festival have made the sad decision not to proceed with year's event. A full statement on the event's cancellation can be found on the festival's website and Facebook page.
UPDATE: 25/06 - The Portsmouth News is reporting that the festival's production company has gone into liquidation; the festival's website is still active, however its social media presence has been shuttered.
The tiny hamlet of Woodmancott, nestled roughly midway between Winchester and Basingstoke, might seem an unlikely destination for a new festival to pitch up. Yet here, at Vicarage Farm, is where the Twisted Village Festival will pitch tents for its inaugural outing.
Billed as a "festival of performing arts, music and curiosities" Twisted Village promises to be a compact and bijou affair, hosting 4999 souls on-site (a number which also includes both crew and artists), offering the seasoned festival-goer something more than big stages, huge crowds and annoyingly long queues for the amenities. If you didn't get Glastonbury tickets, or find that walking a festival site the size of Coventry isn't your bag any more, then this might be just what you're looking for.
Personally I'm a fan of a smaller festival; as much fun as a large sprawling site is to explore there is always something (or several) that gets missed. Limiting the number of attendees should hopefully make for a more comfortable stroll around the site, stumbling across promised curiosities, helping to create the "village vibe" that the organisers are striving for.
The organisers have set out their ethos on the website, which includes their vision for a festival that includes dance, spoken word performance, theatre and street theatre as well as, obviously , music. The festival also boasts excellent environmental credentials, effecting a no plastic policy on the main site, asking festival-goers to bring reusable bottles to enjoy free refills at various water stations. If that wasn't enough the festival will also employ solar power & biodiesel-powered generators to lessen its carbon emissions.
So far so very right-on, but what's to see and enjoy at this shindig you may wonder. Well, the line-up announced so far includes Beans On Toast, LibraLibra, Yassassin, Alabama 3, Curl, Oh My God! It's The Church, Shoot The Duke, Megan Linford and the truly brilliant (and quite possibly worth the ticket price alone) joy that is The Lovely Eggs. With more acts TBA it's refreshing to note that the festival is also aiming to ensure female artists represent 50% of the final line-up (other, larger, festivals should take note).
Twisted Village Festival runs from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th August and Tier 1 (Early Bird) tickets are available now, priced at £90 for adults, via the festival website. Prices are scheduled to increase in Tier 2 (£105) and Tier 3 (£120), full pricing information and more can be found on the festival's FAQ page.
