Truck Festival

Why should I go? Because you’ll find your new favourite band as you stagger through a paddock.

Any interesting titbits of information? One of Truck’s traditional stages is a usually working cowshed - and so is infused with the rustic smell of manure.

Small but perfectly formed, Truck is the indie-est thing this side of Belle and Sebastian’s underpants. The Bennett family set it up in 1998 after having a “they’re selling hippy wigs in Woolworth’s” moment and deciding that it was time to fight the homogenisation of festival going. It struck a chord with disillusioned punters and 11 years later the festival is going strong.

The organisers make a point of not announcing the line-up – their reasoning being that you should come expecting to discover something new, be excited when you find out a band you love are playing and just generally embrace a bit of ordered chaos. The bill is usually stylistically broad: previous years have seen Altern-8, Lethal Bizzle and Brian Jonestown Massacre take to the stage, so if there’s nothing on offer that you like, you’re a cloth-eared arse. There’s also a healthy fringe, so fans of stand-up, theatre and spoken-word performances will also be well catered for.

The camping’s pretty standard, but the stalls on offer are anything but. Munching a burger from the Rotary Club, buying an ice cream off the village vicar and quaffing ale poured by cross-dressing bar staff – sipping extortionately priced Carling this most definitely is not.

Ticket price: A straight £70.

Accommodation: Camping.

Site opening: 9am, Saturday 25th July; Entry to the camping field on Friday 24th July by special arrangement only for those travelling from a long way away.

Capacity: 4,000

Travel: Truck recommend not driving, but using the special festival coach service on offer. Alternatively, you can get buses from Oxford or Didcot Parkway train stations. If you must drive, the site’s west of the B4107 or east of the A338.