This August

Festival director Jo Bartlett wants The Wake Festival to be the kind of festival that people talk about – and that's precisely the reasoning behind the name.

This isn't Wake in any gloomy sense, Jo insists. It is Wake very much in the sense of a celebration of life. And that's what you are going to get this summer as the festival offers its third edition, with Badly Drawn Boy among 17 acts lining up.

The festival takes place in the beautiful woodlands and countryside at Loxwood Meadow (Loxwood, near Billingshurst, RH14 0AL), on the fringes of the South Downs National Park on Saturday, August 29. The Tubs, Radhika, Hero Fisher, Elizabeth Alker, Studio Electrophonique, Joe Wilkes, Justin Robertson and Stuart Bailie are also among those due to play.

Jo and her husband used to run the Green Man Festival together in Wales. They launched The Wake Festival in 2024.

As Jo says: “We have both got full-time jobs but we missed having a festival. Maurice (Bacon, who owns the land and started Loxwood Joust) said that we should start something on his land, and in 2024 we did that. So far it has been just one day. The first one didn't have any camping. We have added camping now. It's around about the 500 number mark but the aim is to grow it to two days next year moving forward. And then just to take it from there. It's quite a small site, and as I say we both have full-time jobs. This is more of a labour of love. We're both musicians ourselves. We have always been in bands. It's a lot of hard work but the feeling when it happens is just incredible. It has always been a great pleasure for me to see the bands I have put on stage and to see people enjoying them.”

As for the name: “A wake is a celebration of life in the pagan/Irish meaning. That means a night of celebration and dancing.”

It also reflects the fact that festivals generally are nearing the end and that a rebirth is necessary: “There are so many festivals. There is a lack of headliners and there is a lack of originality and there is far too much corporate. I am not a fan of the commercialisation of festivals. I think that that bubble has burst. It is for people like us to be the green roots and the rebirth of festivals and that was another reason for calling it The Wake Festival.”

As for the kind of music, Jo says it is broadly in the intimate acoustic summer-night style: “It is more than acoustic but basically it's acoustic, and really good music is good music whatever.”

The full line-up and running order is: The Woodland Stage: Badly Drawn Boy, The Tubs, Radhika, Studio Electrophonique, Hero Fisher, Meet Your Heroes, The Grand Old Echo, Amelia and the Housewives.

The Meadow Stage: in conversation – Elizabeth Alker, Stuart Bailie, Owen Williams, Sam Reid. Five Green Moons – live. DJ set Justin Robertson.

The Crooked Hut Stage: The Grand Old Echo, Jo Bartlett & Neil Haydock, Joe Wilkes.

Children's Area: Modcaf synth workshops, Story Telling, Nature Makers.

“Gates will open at noon, and as in previous years the event will feature, great food, craft beers and bar, the glorious Loxwood Mead, camping and much fun!”

Tickets are adult £40; 7-14 years £15; under 7s free. Camping pitches £25. Free on-site car parking. For full details and more information, visit the festival’s new, revamped website https://thewake.uk/

For tickets, https://www.seetickets.com/event/the-wake/loxwood-meadow/3526768#op1