Bellowhead were everything you needed for a Summer evening at Cornbury

Cornbury Music Festival 2013

Friday 5th to Sunday 7th July 2013
The Great Tew Estate, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 4AH, England MAP
£190 with camping

Daily capacity: 20,000

Last updated: Fri 14th Jun 2013

Bo Bruce was the first act that I watched on the Sunday. She baffles me. I can't quite understand what she is trying to do and seemed like one of those acts which you'd stand and watch because nobody else was really on worth watching. I know it seems harsh but why lie?

Lucy Spraggan was my highlight of Sunday. Having seen her on the X Factor and knowing that yes, she can sing and yes, she writes her own music, I was expecting more of the same but she is fantastic. Spraggan has a fantastic sense of humour and I was hooked. She talked her audience through her set, about her inspiration for songs and she was an absolute delight. Her songs are humorous but powerfully emotional at the same time which I saw in 'Tea & Toast' - a tale of Lucy seeing an elderly couple walking hand in hand until the woman collapsed on the ground. With agreement with my Dad, we both said that if marketed right, Spraggan could be extremely successful but its grabbing that right audience to enable her to go far.

Ben Montague was an artist that I saw my first year of Cornbury and since then I have followed his progress and his music so I was thrilled to see that he would be returning to Cornbury again. A wonderful artist who I sat on a hay-bale and just watched and listened too. Heaven. Having had airtime on Radio 2, Montague's music delighted all with his enchanting voice. He delivered with each song and showed his passion for the music he was playing and the lyrics he was singing.

Stax! are always a highlight with the Cornbury crowd. Uplifting and an easy way to get everybody on their feet. My favourite was when they sang “Higher Love” by Steve Winwood. Stax

Van Morrison, I have been told, can either be incredible or shocking..depending on his mood when on the stage. He seems grumpy but there is no doubt that he can sing but regardless of the 'grumpiness' his fans loved it. Bit strange how he was the original headliner but got swapped...I wonder why. The crowds weren't as large as they had been the evening before for Keane. What I was surprised about however though was I have never seen the festival SO busy! In the two years that I had been previously, the audience this year were clearly a lot, lot bigger which was amazing for the festivals organisers and credit to the venders and the food outlets for their efforts over the scorching weekend.

Bellowhead became the headline for the Sunday and I wont lie. I was dubious. Having not really known who they were and thinking “..headliners...really?..” I judged a book. SHAME ON ME I KNOW. Now, given I was in a strop at this point (who knows) Bellowhead came in, and reluctantly I had to give it to them – what a great way to end the weekend. Fun, charming and entertaining, Bellowhead were everything you needed for a British summer evening and the crowd at Cornbury adored them.

I say it every year, Cornbury is a wonderful individual festival. Everyone is happy, everybody is pleasant and the guys on site are magnificent. While the line-up wasn't as great (to me) as previous years, I had a lot of surprises of the weekend and that's what Cornbury is about and I love it.