The unmissable music festivals in Oxfordshire
Summer is the season of music festivals in Oxfordshire. And 2022 promises some meaningful musical highs to help us all move on from an exceedingly trying couple of years.
From the world’s biggest music icons in open-air theatres to happy hippie vibes in suburban fields, there are plenty of world-class music festivals scheduled to take place across Oxfordshire.
And with loads of tickets rolling over from previously cancelled events, some of these music festivals have already sold out. So if you’re planning on going to any music festivals in Oxfordshire, you’ll need to get booking quickly!
Take a look at our guide to the unmissable music festivals in Oxfordshire in 2023.
KITE Festival 2023
When: 09 to 11 JuneWhere: Kirtlington ParkView event Buy ticketsKITE is a new festival of music and ideas taking place at Kirtlington Park in Kidlington, just north of Oxford city. Think era-defining icons, contemporary stars and emerging talent driving the music scene forward. Think concepts big and small and the spaces to explore them. Follow your nose and treat yourself to some delicious street food. Kirtlington Park is KITE’s home, and it’ll become yours too for the weekend.
Festival lineup includes: Hot Chip / Suede / Candi Staton / Baxter Dury / Sofia Kourtesis / Sarathy Korwar / Mauskovic Dance Band / Decius / Lynks / Raw Silk / David Holmes / Dylan Jones / Max Porter / Miki Berenyi / Alistair Green / Toussaint Douglass / Josh Berry / Shazia Mirza/ Kiri Pritchard McLean
Witney Music Festival 2023 (TBC)
When: 09 & 10 JuneWhere: The Leys, WitneyView eventWitney Music Festival 2023 is a fantastic two-day open-air music festival for all the family in Witney, Oxfordshire. It is the biggest music event in the Witney calendar, drawing in a record-breaking crowd of more than 15,000 in 2019.
Festival lineup includes: TBC
Nocturne Live 2023 at Blenheim Palace
When: 14 to 18 JuneWhere: Blenheim PalaceView event Buy ticketsNocturne Live turns The Great Court at Blenheim Palace into a grand arena with world-class acts and 7,000 seats. It can be an all-day affair with VIP dining in the famous State Rooms, a stroll in the palace’s vast grounds, or a waterside picnic. It can also be an evening gig for those who just want to hear their favourite live music.
Festival lineup includes: Lionel Richie / DJ Pete Tong
Elementary Festival 2023
When: 29 June to 03 JulyWhere: Braziers Park, IpsdenView event Buy ticketsThe UK’s friendliest little festival again offers you the very best in world music, workshops, food and drink, sound journeys, yoga, and dance. Immerse yourself in Elementary… a world of sound!, in the wide-open fields of Braziers Park in the heart of England once again this year.
Battle Proms Picnic Concert 2023 at Blenheim Palace
When: 01 JulyWhere: Blenheim Palace, WoodstockView eventA highlight of the summer social calendar at Blenheim Palace, The Battle Proms is the perfect opportunity to gather friends and family for a spectacular and memorable night out in a stunning setting at the world heritage site. Expect an afternoon of breath-taking displays from the riders of the Battle Proms Napoleonic cavalry and The Red Devils – the British Army and Parachute Regiments official display team.
Festival lineup includes: New English Concert Orchestra
Henley Festival 2023
When: 05 to 09 JulyWhere: Henley-on-ThamesView event Buy ticketsHenley Festival is an exclusive boutique black-tie festival that takes place over five days, celebrating the best of the UK and International music and arts. The festival is a truly unique event. It embraces a vibrant programme from pop to world music, classical to jazz where art and gastronomy share equal billing with music.
Festival lineup includes: TBC
Treehouse Music and Arts Festival
When: 06 to 09 JulyWhere: Marcy Fields, UffingtonView event Buy ticketsTreehouse is a boutique Music & Arts festival centred around the magnificent Treehouse in the heart of Curtis’ Copse in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside near Faringdon. Lose yourself amongst the trees and forget about the chaos for a magical weekend of revelry.
Festival lineup includes: TBC
Truck Festival 2023
When: 21 to 23 JulyWhere: Hill Farm, SteventonView event Buy ticketsTruck Festival 2023 will take place from 21 to 23 July 2023 in the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside. Often described as the Godfather of the small music festivals, the Truck Festival has been featuring some of the biggest and best emerging artists since 1998. The festival takes place at Hill Farm in Steventon, and it is widely regarded as one of the unmissable music festivals in Oxfordshire.
Festival lineup: TBC
Wilderness Festival 2023
When: 03 to 06 AugustWhere: Cornbury Park, CharlburyView event Buy ticketsWilderness festival is the multi-award winning 4-day festival combining live music, contemporary arts and an array of theatre, artisanship, late-night parties, outdoor pursuits and culinary experiences. It’s one festival where genres are redefined, identity is turned on its head, and arts from across the spectrum sit side by side.
Festival lineup includes: The Chemical Brothers / Christine and The Queens / Fatboy Slim / Sugababes / Arlo Parks / Confidence Man / Franc Moody / Joesef / GoGo Penguin / Pip Millett / Flyte / Laurent Garnier / Honey Dijon / Todd Terry / Eats Everything + more
Oxford Piano Festival 2023
When: 29 July to 06 AugustWhere: VariousView event Festival websiteThe Oxford Piano Festival was founded in 1999 by Marios Papadopoulos, renowned pianist and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. Each year, the Festival welcomes piano players and pedagogues, experts and enthusiasts, to some of Oxford’s most historic venues, such as Sir Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre, the Holywell Music Room, and Christ Church Cathedral.
Back by popular demand, the iconic house music brand Café Mambo Ibiza will make a welcome return to Stonor Park & Gardens, Henley On Thames, on Friday 12 August 2022. Thousands of party people will come together for an unforgettable, festival-like experience under the stars as they dance to the cutting-edge tunes dropped from a massive line up of DJ talent.
Festival lineup includes: Danny Howard / Disciples / Riton / Coco Cole / Erik Hagleton
2022 is an exciting year for Waterperry Opera Festival as they celebrate their 5th anniversary with a lively, heartfelt, and visionary eight-day open-air festival, with refreshing new projects and familiar much-loved productions performed across the Waterperry Estate.
Festival lineup includes: Mansfield Park (Dove) and Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev). Headlining the festival are new productions of The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) and Svadba ‘A Wedding’ (Ana Sokolović).
Set in the magnificent gardens of Stonor Park, ‘Stonor Park Proms’ is a spectacular classical concert that will be a night to remember for the whole family. Guest soloists will be joined on stage by the London Gala Orchestra conducted by Stephen Bell.
Festival lineup includes: Wynne Evans / Marisha Wallace / London Gala Orchestra / Jack Lukeman
Over two weeks in October, Oxford Lieder welcomes many of the world’s great singers and pianists to Oxford, and this “extravaganza of song” is now well established as one of the leading festivals of its kind in the world. The festival features around 50 concerts and dozens of other events that allow people to learn and participate.
Festival lineup includes: Kate Royal / Christine Rice / Benjamin Appl / Thomas Oliemans / Patricia Petibon / Christopher Purves / James Gilchrist / Marie-Laure Garnier / Iestyn Davies / Mark Parmore / Werner GuraBirgid Steinberger / Roderick Williams / Camilla Tilling / C & J Pregardien / Dorothe A Roschmann / Carolyn Sampson / Dame Sarah Connolly.
After nearly 20 years, the curtain has come down on the Cornbury Music Festival – an unmissable music festival in the Oxfordshire countryside. The festival, which began life in 2004, was described by the organisers as a one-of-a-kind, lovingly crafted, top-notch, open-air party tailor-made for the whole family, the festival attracted.
Cornbury Music Festival, Fairport Cropredy Convention, Henley Festival, KITE Festival, Nocturne Live, Rewind Festival South, The Big Feastival, Truck Festival, Wilderness FestivalMore from The Oxford Magazine
