Cornbury Park · Charlbury · Oxfordshire · Late July/August · Four days
Wilderness: the festival with a diary
Most festivals you turn up to and wander. Wilderness has banquets cooked by named restaurants, spa and lake sessions, talks and activities, and a great many of them are booked separately and sell out well before the weekend. It is the one festival where you build the schedule before you go.
The banquets, the spa slots and the popular activities go long before the gates open. Arriving with nothing reserved does not ruin the weekend, and it does mean watching other people do the things you had read about.
What needs booking separately
Check the festival's own listings, since the programme changes each year.
Long tables, named chefs
The signature thing, and the first to sell out. Usually a separate charge.
Timed sessions
Wild swimming, saunas and spa slots. Limited numbers and popular.
Across the weekend
Many are free, several are ticketed, and the good ones fill.
Turn up as normal
Which is the one part you do not need to plan.
Kent to Oxfordshire
Round the M25 and out west on the M40. Straightforward until the last few miles of Cotswold lanes.
| Pick-up area | Distance | Each way |
|---|---|---|
| Bromley & Orpington | 102 miles | 2h 5m – 2h 40m |
| Sevenoaks & Tonbridge | 105 miles | 2h 10m – 2h 45m |
| Dartford & Bluewater | 108 miles | 2h 15m – 2h 50m |
| Gravesend & Northfleet | 113 miles | 2h 20m – 2h 55m |
| Maidstone & Aylesford | 120 miles | 2h 25m – 3h 5m |
| Rochester & Chatham | 124 miles | 2h 30m – 3h 10m |
| Canterbury & Ashford | 148 miles | 2h 55m – 3h 40m |
What people actually pack
Wilderness has a reputation for being dressed-up, and that has a practical effect on the vehicle.
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Camping kit for four days | As at any camping festival. It fills a hold |
| Something to wear to a banquet | People do dress for these. It needs to arrive uncreased |
| Swimming things | For the lake and the spa sessions |
| Wellingtons anyway | It is an Oxfordshire field in August. Both are possible |
| Tell us what is coming | So we size for the load rather than the head count |
Planning a Wilderness
Do the reservations first, then book us
The order matters, because the banquets and sessions determine what time you need to be on site on the Thursday or Friday. Once you know your schedule, the transport is straightforward. Booking transport first and then discovering the banquet you wanted was on the Thursday evening is the wrong way round.
It is a dressier festival than most
Not a formal dress code, but a genuine culture of making an effort, particularly for the banquets. That means clothes that need to arrive in reasonable condition rather than compressed into a rucksack, alongside all the usual camping kit. Tell us and we will size the vehicle for both rather than assuming a standard festival load.
Two and a half hours, and then lanes
The run out on the M40 is easy. The last few miles into Cornbury Park are Cotswold lanes carrying festival traffic, which is where the time goes on arrival day. We plan the departure around that rather than around the motorway section, and the fixed fare absorbs whatever the lanes do.
It still rains in Oxfordshire
The photographs of Wilderness are all sunshine and long tables, and the reality of any British field in August includes at least one day of the other thing. Wellingtons and something waterproof belong in the hold regardless of the forecast, and they take up space that needs planning for.
Wilderness questions
Booking ahead and getting there.
What needs booking in advance?
Banquets, spa and lake sessions and many of the popular activities. They are usually a separate charge and sell out well before the gates open. Check the festival's own listings.
Should we book activities before transport?
Yes. Your reservations determine what time you need to be on site, and the transport is straightforward once you know the schedule.
Where is Wilderness held?
Cornbury Park near Charlbury in Oxfordshire, around a hundred to a hundred and fifty miles from Kent, roughly two to three and three quarter hours each way.
Is it a dressy festival?
There is no formal code, but there is a real culture of making an effort, particularly for the banquets. Those clothes need to arrive in reasonable condition, which affects vehicle sizing.
What is the journey like?
Easy on the M25 and M40, then a few miles of Cotswold lanes carrying festival traffic, which is where the time goes on arrival day.
Do we still need wellingtons?
Yes. It is an Oxfordshire field in August and at least one wet day is normal, whatever the photographs suggest.
How does the booking work?
A drop on the Thursday or Friday and a collection on the Monday, priced as one arrangement rather than two journeys.
Is the fare fixed?
Yes, agreed at booking and unaffected by delays on the approach lanes.
Camping festivals and the west
The Cotswolds and beyond.