Wonder Fields Festival 2018

I love checking out different festivals; big or small. When I found out Wonder Fields Festival was located in Devon I knew I needed to attend.  I couldn’t say no to a festival with a line up that included Mungo’s Hifi and David Rodigan and would only be about an hours drive!

Wonder Fields 2018

Location

Wonder Fields Festival is located in the is oh-so- pretty Devon countryside. The Wonder Fields are surrounded by rolling hills and the main stage sits beside a lake. It was about an hour and 20 minutes drive over from North Devon and only about 20 minutes from Exeter/M5.

camping area

Music

For a small festival I thought 6 stages of music was more than ample! There was a real mix of artists from reggae to dubstep, brass bands and more. I particularly enjoyed Tankus and the Henge’s crazy antics. An absolute kick starter for the crowd.

 Not all stages had music on all the time and some didn’t take off until later in the day but there was always somewhere you could go. The Enchanted Forest was probably my favourite area. The sound seemed to keep really well amongst the trees and there’s was always something going on down there. You felt like you were off in another world.  My second favourite stage was the Shire Tavern, a cool pop up pub with a small stage inside that mainly played ska music.  I ended up seeing a couple of  awesome bands here who I hadn’t heard of previously.

The music goes on until at least 2am and then continues on in someone’s tent who you will most likely hear all night. If you want a bit more shut eye try camping in the family/quite camping and bring some ear plugs.

Tip: Remember to either buy the set list on arrival to the box office or take a photo of it at the tourist info as there were no line ups near the stages. 

The Enchanted Forest

Food and Drink

The variety of food was great and definitely provided something for everyone. It was lovely that the  Wonder Fields Festival organisers clearly avoided having any crappy burger vans. The food prices were pretty standard for a festival, but I think the quality was better than most. Pizza(Travelling Pizzeria), burgers(Burger Theory),  salmon burgers(Leap), vegan(Vegan Pyramid),  grilled meats and vegetables(Skewered), ice cream, coffee and donuts all available. I tried the If-fish-could-fly salmon burger from Leap and really enjoyed it. I’d never had one of those before so it was really nice to try something different and fresh. The food queues were never too long.

If-Fish-Could-Fly Salmon Burger £7.50 from Leap

Mixed meat skewer platter with satay sauce £9.50 from Skewered

The amount of booze you can bring in is limited to 3 bottles of wine or 12 ciders/beers per person. Even though this was case, there were surprisingly no waits to order a drink. Drinks prices inside were reasonable. You get get a pint for £4.50 and cocktails rang in at £6.50 but there was only 2 cocktail options and they do not come with ice. There was buy one get one half off from 12:30-1:30 and 5-6.

Extras

Day time activities included a games area, an eco spa, SUP,  and yoga. Note that you do have to pay extra to participate in the eco spa, or SUP yoga but that is standard at most festivals. Glamping is an option, but all the camping is in one massive field. There are a few showers in the camping and the cost is £2.

Overall Vibe

Wonder Fields Festival was super relaxed. The camping isn’t miles from the parking and nothing was ever that busy which made for a very chilled time. There are some families scattered about, but most festival goers seemed to be in their 20s. The daytime music was totally feel good and perfect for the cracking weather we had.

Post Festival

If you need some fuel on your way out of the festival theres an ideal cafe a couple miles away called the Woodleigh Coachhouse. They do a full English for £8.50 which set us up perfectly for the drive home.

See you next year in the Wonder Fields!