The stage is set! The Big Tops are up. All we need now is our audience! If you’re travelling to Wickham this weekend we hope the following information is useful.
For Sat Nav use PO17 5HD. Click here for Google Maps.
All our campsites open from 10am Wednesday. Please do not arrive before 10am as we don’t want to clog up the road network for miles around. On arrival at Wickham please follow the signs for ‘Caravans/Motorhomes Camping’, ‘Tented Camping’, ‘Disabled Camping’ and ‘Mixed Camping’ (for people wishing to camp together in both tents and vehicles). The weather forecast for Wednesday is not great and we’ve already had a lot of rain on our fields so it may take a little longer than usual to position everyone on our camping fields. Please bear with us if you have to wait a little while. Our volunteer stewards will do their best to get everyone in as quickly as possible.
Our arena will open for early arrivals from 6pm Wednesday so you can enter and enjoy some food & drink while also finding your way around our Festival site. It’s so much better than in previous years now it’s all grassed! We’ve no concert on the Wednesday evening this year (sorry) but there will be some entertainment including The Magic Teapot and The Digital Funfair, also many food and non-food traders will be open Wednesday as well as our bars. All bars & traders will accept both cards & cash.
On Thursday, the arena will open from 4pm with music on the main stages starting from 6pm. Festival programmes and our magnificent new Festival t-shirts will be on-sale in the entrance marquee, also from the Box Office cabin. Get your t-shirt before they’re all gone – we sold every single one last year.
On Friday, Matthew Bannister of ‘Folk on Foot’ fame is starting his latest walk from Wickham to Folk East in Suffolk. Matthew is raising money for the charity ‘Help Musicians’. You can read more about the walk here. Please join us to cheer Matthew on his way and please put some money in his collection buckets to support a very worthwhile cause.
Also on Friday morning the Wickham History Society are organising their annual History Walks around Wickham village. They’re always super-popular and always sell-out. You can read more about the History Walks and book a place here.
If camping over the weekend, the arena will open for breakfasts from 8am Friday to Sunday. There’s also free Yoga sessions each morning plus Folk Orc music workshops. Full details in our printed programme. Please note mobile phone & laptop charging lockers are available in the main entrance marquee for a small payment.
If just coming for a day, there’s free day parking on our ‘Day Parking’ field off Blind Lane, Wickham PO17 5HD. Just follow the signs. With some rain forecast there is a risk the ground may be a bit muddy but rest assured that in the worst case scenario we have tractors and support vehicles on call to help tow out anyone who gets stuck.
And on the weather… all our stages at Wickham are under cover so you don’t get wet while listening to the music. All our fields except the Day Parking field are now grassed so under-foot conditions are much better than in 2021 and before. We do everything we can to prepare for bad weather but please don’t blame us if it rains – it’s not our fault – thankfully all our Big Tops and tents will keep you dry (unlike at many other festivals).
If you’ve yet to buy tickets, you can still buy online here all weekend or at our Box Office on arrival. Cards & cash accepted.
Lastly, we want you to enjoy yourselves! Wickham is a really friendly Festival. We hope you enjoy your time with us. Please remember that Covid is still out there so please respect other people’s space and if you exhibit any symptoms over the weekend please go to our First Aid Post between our two main stage Big Tops where our medical team will have free testing kits available.
Please have a safe journey to us. We look forward to seeing you.
