Witcombe Festival is an annual music festival held in Brockworth in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, UK over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Previously known as Witcombe Cider Festival the festival dropped the word cider from the title to become Witcombe Festival in spring 2020. As well as music, the three-day festival has it roots deep in cider. The festival consists of four stages and has been headlined by; Basement Jaxx,

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...

John Newman (singer) John William Peter Newman (born 16 June 1990) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is best known for the track " Love Me Again" which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2013 and appeared in ''FI ...

, Annie Mac,

Dizzie Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. Dizze ...

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

, Sigma,

Ella Eyre Ella McMahon (born 1 April 1994), known professionally as Ella Eyre, is a British singer and songwriter. She is known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK number-one single " Waiting All Night" (2013), which won the 2014 Brit Awa ...

, Example,

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

Heather Small Heather Margarita Small (born 20 January 1965) is a British soul singer and former lead vocalist of the band M People. Her subsequent debut solo studio album, ''Proud'', was released in 2000. Career 1987–1998: Hot House and M People Small ...

Lethal Bizzle Maxwell Owusu Ansah (born 14 September 1984), known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is a British rapper from Walthamstow, London, of Ghanaian origin. He emerged in 2002 as a grime MC as part of More Fire Crew, with their grime single "Oi!" ch ...

Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' (2 ...

. The festival is partnered with charity Rugby For Heroes for whom

Nick Knowles Nicholas Simon Augustine Knowles (born 21 September 1962) is an English television presenter, writer and musical artist. He is best known for his presenting roles on the BBC, including game shows ''Who Dares Wins'' (2007–2019), ''Break the Sa ...

is an ambassador.

History

The very first Witcombe Cider Festival took place at Witcombe Cricket club on Saturday 25 August 2012. 200 cider and music fans gathered to enjoy a selection of Gloucestershire ciders and local bands. The festival was headlined by

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...

contestant Kitty Brucknell. * 2013 a new licence was granted at fields at the foot of the cheese rolling hill. The festival featured 19 live acts over the weekend. Saturday 24 August 2013 acts; Juey, Damon T, Prime Position, Little Victories, Hired Guns, The Me! Me! Me's? Check da Cone, Swift Manoeuver, My Design. Sunday 25 August acts 2013 acts; Alec Fullerton, The Black Feathers, Oui Legionnaires, The Vast, Stress Echoes, The Scout Killers, The Lost Gonzos, BBC's The Voice Smith & Jones, Charlie Baxter. As well as 8 local Gloucestershire ciders. * 2014 Festival had over 30 different ciders from the best local brewers. The mainstage featured 20 live acts over the weekend including;

Goldie Lookin Chain Goldie Lookin Chain are a Welsh comedy hip hop group from Newport, south-east Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the "chav" culture and life in Newpo ...

, Sonique,

Scratch Perverts The Scratch Perverts are a collective of turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fad ...

, Duke, Reeps One, Ball-Zee, Matt Bond, Josh Flowers & The Wild, Son of Jack, Normanton Street, Check da Cone, Charlie Baxter, Emi McDade, Blossom Calderone, Ethemia, Smith & Jones, Michigan Avenue, King Solomon. * 2015 Headlined by

on Saturday 29 August 2015 and

on Sunday 30 August 2015. * 2016 The 5th Witcombe Cider Festival. Headlined on Saturday 27 August 2016 by

, supported by

The Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminals ...

and

N-trance N-Trance () are a British electronic music group who were formed by Kevin O'Toole and Dale Longworth in 1991. The group is known for their European hit songs " Set You Free" and " Electronic Pleasure", and their covers of the 1970s disco songs ...

. Sunday 28 August headlined by former

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

dj Judge Jules, supported by Duke and The

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...

tribute band. * 2017 The godfather of

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

headlined Saturday 26 August 2017 and renowned festival headliner Example, headlined Sunday 27 August 2017. * 2018 Saw the festival move to its new site on Brockworth Road, Brockworth, having out grown the previous site on Painswick Road, Brockworth. The festival was headline by

on Saturday 25 August 2018 and supported by

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK (, ), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award, and has received the ASCAP Vangua ...

. Sunday 26 August 2018 was headlined by Sigma and supported by ShifyK3y and DJ Luck & MC Neat. * 2019 Friday night 23 August 2019 was kicked off with a high energy Drum & Bass set from DJ Bison and headlined by Faithless, Saturday 24 August 2019 headlined by

, with support from Sub Focus,

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. Sunday 25 August 2019 was headlined by

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

, supported by legend

David Rodigan David Michael "Ram Jam" Rodigan MBE OD (born 24 June 1951) is a British radio DJ who also performs as a disc jockey. Known for his selections of reggae and dancehall music, he has played on stations including Radio London, Capital 95.8, Ki ...

, DJ Luck & Neat,

General Levy Paul Scott Levy (born 28 April 1971), also known as General Levy, is an English ragga deejay, regularly employed on studio tracks by drum and bass DJs. He is best known for the track "Incredible" which he recorded with M-Beat. A remixed versio ...

, Ex

The Wanted The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band consisting of group members Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes and, until his death in 2022, Tom Parker. The group was formed in 2009 and signed a worldwide contract to ...

front man

Max George Maximillian Albert George (born 6 September 1988) is an English singer, best known as the lead singer of the boy band The Wanted. George started his career as a footballer, playing for Preston North End. After an injury ended his football ca ...

, Preditah. * 2020 lineup is yet to be announced. The Witcombe Festival management team cancelled the 2020 festival due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. * 2021 Friday 27th August headlined by Basement Jaxx supported by DJ Luck & MC Neat,

Artful Dodger (duo) Artful Dodger are a UK garage duo, originally based in the city Southampton, which became famous for its 2-step hits and inaugurated Craig David's professional musical career with his appearance on their 1999 number-two hit " Re-Rewind". T ...

, Louis Capaldi. Saturday 28th August headlined by

supported by DJ EZ,

Andy C Andrew John Clarke (born 7 April 1976) is a British DJ and record producer and is co-founder of RAM Records, a pioneering label in the drum and bass genre. Music career Early years Andy C was a DJ in his own right but gained a strong reputa ...

Joel Corry Joel Corry (born 10 June 1989) is an English DJ, producer and television personality. He came to prominence in 2019 with the release of his single " Sorry", featuring vocals from Hayley May (who was not credited in the official music video), whi ...

. Sunday 29th August headlined by

supported by Annie Mac,

Raye (singer) Rachel Agatha Keen, (born 24 October 1997) known professionally as Raye (stylised in all caps), is a British singer and songwriter. In 2016, she rose to prominence by featuring on the singles; " By Your Side" by Jonas Blue and " You Don't Know ...

Nathan Evans (singer) Nathan Evans (born 19 December 1994) is a Scottish singer from Airdrie, Scotland best known for singing sea shanties. Evans first gained fame in 2020 by posting videos of himself singing sea shanties on social media service TikTok. In 2021, he ...

. The craft stage was introduced this year featuring acoustic acts. The organisers gave away 500 free tickets to NHS staff. Witcombe Festival voted best for dance * 2022 Sean Paul,

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ''Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and w ...

set to headline Witcombe Festival

References

{{reflist Music festivals established in 2012 Music festivals in Gloucestershire