A festival of "wholesome hedonism" for 30,000 people will return to a wooded site in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds this summer.

The annual Wilderness Festival, which began in 2011, will return this year to the delight of revellers, artists and local traders, after organisers successfully applied for a new premises licence for Cornbury Park, near Charlbury.

Councillors at a West Oxfordshire District Council licensing meeting approved the application on Thursday this week.

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Representative of the applicant, Simon Taylor, told those present about a debrief report which referred to "traffic management" and "noise on the Sunday".

Mr Taylor said: "We will work on our traffic management plan and noise management plan."

Witney Gazette: 'Folk fun' at Wilderness Festival.'Folk fun' at Wilderness Festival.

He said that debriefs from the 2023 festival were "very, very positive" in spite of the areas for improvement highlighted.

Mr Taylor added: "To compare this event with Glastonbury is not helpful." 

The higher noise level allowed at the festival will be 65 decibels, according to organisers, with a lower minimal level of noise permitted after 2am.

Cornbury Park comprises roughly 5,000 acres and was previously a royal hunting estate.

It was the original location for the eponymous Cornbury Music Festival which later left the site for a new home at Great Tew Park, near Enstone. Cornbury Festival has since been wound up, holding its final event two years ago.

Witney Gazette: Wilderness FestivalWilderness Festival. Picture by Tim Hughes

The Wilderness Festival is a camping event aimed at a more mature audience than the likes of Oxfordshire's Truck Festival or nearby Reading. It is described as "a four-day party like no other" and a "weekend of escapism, high jinks, and wholesome hedonism".

It features a range of music - from rock, to dance, folk, jazz, world music, cabaret and brass.

It also encourages participation in wholesome country and craft pursuits, sport, running, swimming, educational workshops, health and healing activities and joint musical and singing groups.

There is also drama, circus, comedy, discussion, and storytelling from famous actors - last year featuring the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Taron Egerton, Jordan Stephens, Dolly Alderton and Sinéad Cusack.

Tickets are available to purchase for the event, which will take place in early August.

Mr Taylor said: "There is not a single objection to this application from the responsible authorities."

He noted the demographic in attendance tended to be an "older audience".

Tickets from wildernessfestival.com