What, where, when, how… 

Witney Music Festival Reconnecting is going LIVE on Windrush Radio, MixCloud, Twitch and YouTube this year!  Join us for a day of great local music on Saturday 12th June. We can’t wait to hear the specially-performed tracks to connect us to the local music scene again, even though we can’t be face-to-face and shoulder-to-shoulder on the Leys quite yet.   

Witney Music Festival Reconnecting! is a collaboration for 2021 between Windrush Radio, Guideposts Trust and Witney Music Festival, bringing together three great champions of community and inclusion in and around Witney. Together we want to give all local music lovers and musicians as close to a festival experience as possible over the airwaves, while raising funds for future festivals. 

Simon Oliver from Windrush Radio will be hosting the live event from 4pm til late, with community members joining throughout the day. As ever, the line-up will cover rock, jazz, folk, choral, hip-hop, indie, gospel, country, classical, dance and more: we’ve got something for everyone. There will be interviews with the artists, and you will be able to join in by getting social online or by phoning in.  

Who… is on the lineup?! 

Having featured great artists such as Republica, The Farm, N-Trance, John Coughlan’s Quo, Bruce Foxton from The Jam, Noasis and Jilted Generation, the festival has some fabulous footage to share and we are very grateful for the support of amazing Bands and Artists helping us to get Witney in the Festival Spirit 2021!

Little Brother Eli / Tilly Valentine / Jewelia / Quartermelon / Lucille and the Lighting Soul Train / Danny Mellin / Genevieve Miles / Sound of Mosa / Zach C-R / Berry Brown and more.

Follow our social media for more line-up announcements as they are confirmed! 

@WitneyMusicFest @WitneyMusicFestival Facebook Event Page

Getting into the Festival Groove 

We are being supported by our local pubs and venues, so be sure to support these great local businesses who are helping to drive the return of the music festival.  Many pubs will be playing the  festival live-stream all day. We will be adding venues to our map to find out where to head …keep checking back as they get updated! 

If you’re not heading to the pub, then create the festival atmosphere at home, take your speaker into the garden or balcony (taking care not to annoy your neighbours – we’ve been there!) or just put up your camping chair or spread out the rug in the living room. Then grab yourself some take-away food and drink from our specially selected Festival Venues and revel in the sounds of Witney and West Oxfordshire’s best musicians, as well as Headliners from further afield!   

Inclusion and Community  

All three of the organisations behind Witney Music Festival Reconnecting! have inclusion and community at their heart. For Witney Music Festival inclusivity is key, with a wide range of music aiming to reach a diverse range of people that has always been free to ensure no barriers are in the way to taking part.  

Windrush Radio are a real hero of the Witney community, working with many local organisations from Witney Pride to the Witney Beer Festival. Particularly over the past year with their daily Covid round-up during the first lock-down, it has drawn the community together at this difficult time. They were excited to start a new partnership with Witney Music Festival in 2019, helping to take the festival to people who couldn’t get there in person by broadcasting live from the festival stage. 

Local charity Guideposts Trust works to ensure that people can be connected to their community and achieve their potential, regardless of circumstances. The Witney-based services support people from the most disadvantaged groups in our society, including children and adults with additional needs and disabilities, people with mental health problems, older people with dementia and other neuro-degenerative conditions, and the families or carers of all these groups. Recently they launched Better Connected, a programme providing connection and activity opportunities for people with learning disabilities or autism.  

A Shared Goal 

Our shared fundraising mission during Witney Music Festival Reconnecting! is to raise £10,000 to help keep the Live event on target for 2022, and to be able to create Witney Music Festival’s first SEND VIP area for the 2022 Festival, where people who need extra space and support can enjoy the music as much as everyone else.   

The first SEND VIP area was originally planned for the 2020 Witney Music Festival. With your help we can make it happen next year, when we are looking forward to having in-person dancing again! 

The funds will be used by all the organisations who contribute to this happening: Witney Music Festival who bring us such an amazing line-up and community experience, Windrush Radio who share it to the wider community over the airwaves, and Guideposts Trust who are experts on the needs of people who would otherwise be excluded. A great, local, collaboration to a common goal. 

Join the excitement and book your free ticket!  

Follow us on social media for line-up announcements as they happen, and book your free ticket to receive email reminders and the festival programme in advance!   

You can also donate when booking your ticket by purchasing Raffle Prize Tickets for the chance to win prizes from local businesses. Or go to one of our local venues selected as a Festival Food and Drink Venue on the day – and we will receive a small donation from the food and drink you buy! 

Get Involved 

If you’re a musician and would like to get involved, contact Derek West on [email protected]  

If you’re a pub or local business and would like to sponsor the event contact Tania Kirby on [email protected]  

With the end of lockdown restrictions just around the corner (we are all hoping!), let’s join together on the airwaves to look to the future of the festival, enjoy some great local music and have a good boogie. We can’t wait! 

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