FESTIVALS aren’t just about music, and if anyone is trying to broaden our horizons in one weekend by combining am enormously diverse collection of hobbies, pursuits and hedonism, then it’s Wilderness.

From kids’ bushcraft weekends to intellectual debates, river swimming to spas, and banquets to cookery classes, Wilderness aims to tick all the boxes and leave you utterly replete on every front.

So here we gather together our favourite alternative Wilderness pastimes for you to enjoy, while our tongues hang out in envy.

  • FOOD: It’s hard to know where to start on the food front because Wilderness has gone overboard on the culinary side by inviting the best, most sumptuous and delightful chefs on the planet to come and cook for you. Whether you take your place at the infamous banquet tables, book in for a cookery class or queue up at the stylish pop-up fish and chip van, every taste bud has been catered for.

St John and J Sheekey have been added to the list of influential London restaurateurs and chefs set to serve up a culinary storm. They will be joining the talents of Yotam Ottolenghi, Russell Norman, Mark Hix and Moro to give festival revellers the chance to tuck into the finest dishes from around the world.

The good folk at St John, led by Fergus Henderson (Michelin-starred legend of the UK gastro scene), return to Wilderness to delight festival-goers with a menu that draws its inspiration from the abundance of good things to be found in a verdant summer garden. The St John Dining Tent will be serving seated feasts alongside breakfast, lunch and dinner to sustain, satisfy and delight hungry wildlings.

Making their festival debut, J Sheekey, renowned for their outstanding seafood, will be creating their very own pop-up fish & chip van in a vintage Airstream caravan.

Visionary restaurateurs, Russell Norman, Mark Hix and Yotam Ottolenghi will each host one of three days of long-table banqueting, in what promises to be one of the most elegantly immersive dining experiences ever staged.

Russell Norman is putting on a multi-course feast of Polpo classics and tasty Venetian sharing plates, all washed down with lashings of Prosecco.

Internationally renowned restaurateur Ottolenghi will be returning for a second year, following a sell-out success in 2012. Ottolenghi will again be serving a multi-course banquet in the sumptuous banqueting tent.

Chef and restaurateur Mark Hix will also make his festival debut at Wilderness, creating mouthwatering dishes based on his passion for quintessentially English dining featuring local produce.

Back by popular demand, Exmouth Market’s famous Moro will once again be cooking up a delicious storm in their Souk dining tent. Thyme Cookery School also return to the festival, giving budding chefs the chance to whip up some delights in their on-site kitchen, plus they’ll be hosting a series of talks and tastings across the weekend.

  • ARTS: Expect breathtaking performances from some of France’s most prolific circus and theatre collectives; Transe Express and Les Pepones will all be venturing into the wild with their high energy animatronics and death defying trapeze and circus performances.

Shakespeare’s Globe, Petersham Playhouse, English National Ballet and Vignette Opera Productions will also be on hand to wow festival-goers with some unique performances set against the beautiful backdrop of Cornbury Park.

  • WELLBEING: The Lakeside Spa was 2012’s most sought after ticket and will be better than ever this year, with wood-fired saunas and hot tubs along with the Secret Sanctuary wellbeing area.

The extended Wellbeing area, which includes the Lakeside Spa and Secret Sanctuary is the ideal retreat. Curated by lifestyle brand TOAST, this hidden haven of Scandinavia will be dressed with hanging lanterns, deckchairs and hammocks for all to relax and enjoy. The Lakeside Spa also offers private swimming in the clear, tranquil lake and a Champagne bar.

The Secret Sanctuary is the perfect place to find harmony during time in the wild. Nestled above the lake in a beautiful meadow, revellers can relax in the area’s central healing herb garden or indulge in massages and beauty treatments using organic products from Jurlique.

A band of healers await in the Healing Zone, with tents offering a host of complementary health treatments to cleanse the mind, body and soul; look out for acupuncture to zero-balancing, reiki to clairvoyants.

The Wellbeing Yurt Village returns with The Restorative Relax & Renew Yurt providing the calm to restore bodies and replenish energy reserves, with programmes including hatha yoga, mum & bump yoga and meditation. The Dynamic Energise & Invigorate Yoga Yurt will feature high-energy styles to get the blood pumping. The Workshop Yurt will offer a programme of talks and workshops from a host of specialists in the field of heath and wellbeing. Whether it’s learning a new skill like massage, or understanding more about how to eat better, the workshops are sure to inspire people to be healthier and happier in both mind and body.

For early risers, The Secret Sanctuary will host sunrise meditations to gently ease guests into wakefulness. Each morning, the Wilderness Stage will also play host to a 10-minute meditation session, recorded especially for Wilderness by Headspace. Inspired by a Victorian Apothecary and with a heady dose of opulence, guests can head to Lost in Beauty who will be offering bespoke beauty experiences in their retro-glam boudoir.

  • INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION: You can also expand your mind at the Wilderness Forum which this year includes a programme of cerebral discussions with The School of Life, The Royal Observatory, Intelligence Squared and The Idler.
  • LATE NIGHT PARTIES: The much lauded late-night parties are also returning and will see festival heavyweights Secret Garden Party and party purveyors Rumpus, taking over the Secret Valley when the sun goes down alongside The Box, The Correspondents, Crazy P and Psychemagik.
  • FAMILY: The family offering is expanding to include a host of workshops and performances, including The House of Fairy Tales, Unicorn Theatre, Charles Dickens Museum and Hullabalo Arts. From 5pm on Saturday, the Bushcraft Company will host a kids’ only survival sleepover in the heart of the ancient forest. Staying under canvas in a secret camp, children will learn survival skills from lighting fires and building shelters to catching crayfish. They will be back with their parents on Sunday morning, giving the grown-ups an evening to explore the festival’s late night line-up.
  • BE THERE: Adult weekend camping tickets cost £146.50 (including booking fee). Weekend family and young people’s tickets have sold out. See wildernessfestival.com