JOIN FAIRPORT IN A FIELD OF DREAMS

Banbury Guardian - 10th August 1995 (Simon Attwood)

This year's festival promises to keep up the high standards that folk and rock fans expect of Cropredy with the usual quality mix of famous and not-so-famous bands, special surprise guests, great food, plentiful supplies of real ale and the cleanest toilets you are ever likely to find. To a lot of people, going to a festival means standing in never-ending queues for a broken toilet with a few strands of toilet paper clutched tightly to your chest. But at Cropredy, the toilets are everywhere and most of them have plentiful supplies of toilet paper in them, even at the end of the weekend, which i'm sure you will agree, is no mean feat. Once you've got over the shock of finding clean toilets everywhere, another great thing about the festival is the huge range of food available. Whether you want a coronary-inducing fried breakfast or some Japanese vegetarian delights, there are stalls that are right up your culinary cul-de-sac.  Add to that one of the biggest bars you are likely ever to see, staffed every single year by people from the Yorkshire village of Masham, and you've got the ingredients for a perfect festival. But i'm missing one vital component - the music.

As usual there's a classy line-up of names from the world of folk and rock music. Highlights include appearances by Roy Wood and his Big Band, top 60's group Procul Harum, the very wonderful Wild Willy Barrett, Richard Thompson, The Hamsters, Danny Thompson, The Poozies and, of course, a little known band by the name of Fairport Convention. There will also be sets by excellent young folkies Eden Burning, folk double act Huw and Tony Williams, Waulk Electric, The Kathryn Tickell Band and a tribute to the original Fairport singer Sandy Denny featuring a top line-up of musicians including Vikki Clayton, Jerry Donahue and Gerry Conway. You can also expect a lorry-load of surprise guest stars which, in the past, have ranged from the god-like genius of Robert Plant and the bloke who played Eddie Yates in Coronation Street to comedian Billy Connolly and chart crooners Everything But The Girl.

A festival making its own piece of history

The very first Cropredy festival in 1979 looked like it would be the last. It was billed as Fairport Convention's farewell concert and around 4000 tearful fans made the pilgrimage to Cropredy to say goodbye to their favourite group. The tradition of bringing on surprise guest stars started this year when Ralph McTell came on stage to the delight of the fans. Other acts appearing this year included Tanglefoot, fiddler Chris Leslie and two local folk bands called the Rollright Stones and Bag O Nails. At the end of the event, rumours were rife that Fairport were thinking of reforming every year for more Cropredy Festivals. The rumours came true in 1980 when the second festival arrived. Approximately 3000 fans turned up to hear Fairport perform alongside Ralph McTell and Richard and Linda Thompson.

In 1981 the festival moved the the impressive surroundings of Broughton Castle near Banbury and festival-goers were treated to a lively show featuring great performances by ex-Fairporters Dave Swarbrick and Richard Thompson. Special guest this year was Judy Dyble, a former Fairport Singer. Controversy surrounded the 1982 festival in Cropredy when four people had the audacity to take all their clothes off and draw pretty pictures on themselves. The Banbury Guardian was so horrified it printed a picture of the naked folk fans on the front page and carried an in-depth interview with the culprits. Musical highlights included stints by Richard and Linda Thompson, Maddy Prior and special surprise star Jerry Donahue. The 1983 festival attracted 7500 fans and included performances by Vin Garbutt, John Benns, The Albion Band and Eavesdropper.

The festival of 1984 was hailed as the best ever. The reason for this not only lay with the music but with the fact that for the first time the wind and rain stayed away. Fans enjoyed a top line-up including Steeleye Span, The Oyster Band, Whippersnapper and Richard Digance. Rain was a big feature of the 1985 festival which included performances by Neil Innes, Whippersnapper and surprise guest star Billy Connolly. The 1986 festival was hailed as the most successful with 8000 fans turning up to hear music from the likes of Dick Gaughan and the Sutherland Brothers. Surprise guest was the mighty Robert Plant. The year after saw festival numbers increase to a whopping 14000 and the event really took off as the best folk and rock festival around. Richard Thompson was back and there were memorable performances from John Martyn, Gordon Giltrap, Chicken Shack and Ian Anderson and Martin Barre from Jethro Tull.

Wind was a big feature at the 1988 festival and it was nothing to do with the real ale. Part of the stage was damaged by gusts of wind and acts including The Steve Gibbons Band, Sally Barker, June Tabor and the Richard Thompson Band had to perform in a head wind. Organisers said around 15000 people turned up. More than 16000 people went to the 1989 festival and saw chart band All About Eve and the climax blues band. Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel fame, also turned up and sang Come Up And See Me, accompanied by Radio 1 DJ Mike Read on guitar. Garry Brooker of Procul Harum fame, turned up for the 1990 festival and was so impressed he decided to bring the rest of the band back for this year's. The Bootleg Beatles, Vikki Clayton and Blues `N' Trouble also performed. In 1991 Ron Kavana, The Steve Gibbons Band and Freeway Jam were amongst the performers. Special guest was Andy Fairweather-Low.

Robert Plant came back for the 1992 festival and was joined on stage by a diverse selection of acts including All About Eve's Julianne Regan, Four Men And A Dog, Wolfstone and Geoffrey Hughes who played Eddie Yates in Coronation Street. But 1993 was particularly memorable because it was the year The Leningrad Cowboys delighted everyone with their outrageous haircuts, winkle-picker shoes and frenzied rock and roll covers. It was also the year that Roy Wood made a surprise appearance along with Everything But The Girl and Robert Plant. Last year saw Roy Harper, Blodwyn Pig and Man keeping the faithful entertained with more than a few nostalgic moments.