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Wilkswood Reggae Festival, Dorset


tjamest
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http://www.dubwood.co.uk/

2nd Wilkswood Reggae Festival organised by local band Dubheart. I went to the first one last year which was a small (400 people) one day event which sold out and was great. This year they have expanded to a 3 day event for up to 2000.

Hopefully the interest will be there to make it a success, but if you fancy a laid back festival on a farm in Dorset i can heartily recommend it.

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Absolutely - One of those weekends where everything just works together. The weather, stunning campsite views, stages set in a rural farmyard, Dubwood Hill to sit on in the sun, good food and drink, three days of reggae music, laid back officials and one of the friendliest crowds ever. 

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14 minutes ago, man next door said:

Any indication as to whether they'd be doing it again?

there's nothing yet on their website or facebook but I can't really see why they wouldn't do it again, as everything about it seemed to work very very well*.

(* apart from, perhaps, some of the vehicles they let into the CV field, as security were then hassling people with unconverted vans and asking them to leave again. The ones I saw that happen to refused, there was bit of a row, then security left them alone.... but security shouldn't have let them in the first place if they shouldn't have been there)

What I don't think they should do is try to grow it beyond the numbers that the shed (the main stage & 2nd stage) can accommodate, as having everyone compact in the one area made the whole thing feel vibrant and alive. If it got more spread out it might start to feel too sparse with the numbers.

The only slightly-negative I can really think of is ... it was a potato-free festival. No chips! I heard a few people complaining that the couldn't satisfy their chip craving.

The food from the jerkshak was a little expensive compared to jerk rice & peas at other fests, but then again it was better too. Beer at £4 a pint more-than covered that, tho.

Do it again, Dubwood! :D

 

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Glad you enjoyed it Neil. 

I think it was as successful as they could have hoped for and very nearly sold out so with a bit of luck it will be back next year.

Like you i think it works really well in that compact area so if they wanted to grow it further they may have to look at another venue or to use other parts of the farm which may make it lose a lot of its charm. (But i am sure that can be said of many festivals which started off tiny and have since become a lot bigger and moved home several times).

MC Tenja definitely said see you next year after Brinsley Forde finished on Sunday evening, but i guess that was 'in the moment' so you can't take much from that.

 

 

 

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Just seen this on the Dubheart  Facebook page, so looking good.

We have just about recovered from the amazing weekend..what can we say, Wilkswood Reggae Festival has been amazing!  Huge thanks to everyone who either came down to support or helped to make this magic happen. We already cannot wait for next year. ONE LOVE 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, tjamest said:

Like you i think it works really well in that compact area so if they wanted to grow it further they may have to look at another venue or to use other parts of the farm which may make it lose a lot of its charm. (But i am sure that can be said of many festivals which started off tiny and have since become a lot bigger and moved home several times).

Thing is, the fests that have grown and grown and grown have a solid audience for what it offers to go with that growth.

That's never likely to be the case with a roots reggae festival - but if it is, it's likely to be because of one particular act so unlikely to happen the same way in a following year.

For me, the reason why it worked so well because it was so compact and brought everyone into the same space to make it feel busy and vibrant at all times, and so make the audience want to be part of that vibrancy. For me, if it was spread out it would lose that vibrancy and as a result also lose some of the audience that weren't taken with big empty spaces.

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11 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

Thing is, the fests that have grown and grown and grown have a solid audience for what it offers to go with that growth.

That's never likely to be the case with a roots reggae festival - but if it is, it's likely to be because of one particular act so unlikely to happen the same way in a following year.

I agree with what you are saying there - so hopefully they will keep it like it is with added chips.

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38 minutes ago, man next door said:

 

...and taking young kids? were there many / any there? presumably, there isn't a lot for them to do , as such?

 

 

There were definitely children around and there was a separate area for them, but i don't know what entertainment etc was laid on for them

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15 minutes ago, tjamest said:

There were definitely children around and there was a separate area for them, but i don't know what entertainment etc was laid on for them

i didn't go into the kids area, but i know they were doing a few things with food (easy cooking for kids, sort of thing, I think).

I'm wondering if imagined it now, but I think I saw a sign saying 'skate ramp' and I definitely I saw someone with a skateboard ... so presumably they had a skate ramp tho i've no idea where (I couldn't see one).

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On 19/07/2017 at 0:22 PM, eFestivals said:

i didn't go into the kids area, but i know they were doing a few things with food (easy cooking for kids, sort of thing, I think).

I'm wondering if imagined it now, but I think I saw a sign saying 'skate ramp' and I definitely I saw someone with a skateboard ... so presumably they had a skate ramp tho i've no idea where (I couldn't see one).

 

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  • 1 month later...

Tickets for next year have just gone on sale, tho with a bit of a hike in price - to £120. They've also added a campervan charge, of £20.

Tho there's some early-birds available, at £80 then £100, if you don't hang about.

I'm in, definitely recommended! :)

https://www.universe.com/embed2/events/wilkswood-reggae-festival-2018-tickets-poole-3CNGF1

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Wow that is a hike.

I think it was £80.00 this year, but unless The Larmer Tree the same weekend has a stella line up i'll be there again and i can definitely second Neil's recommendation if you like a laid back festival in a stunning location.

 

 

 

Edited by tjamest
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8 minutes ago, tjamest said:

I think it was £80.00 this year

yeah, it was ... tho having just bought my early-birds, it was £80 for next year for me. :)

Tho to be fair, they could probably do with a bit more spent on infrastructure (loos, particularly, and probably some trackway cos I'm not sure things would be good getting out in the wet), and they might spend a little more on the bands budget too.

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