Set in the rolling hills of rural Gloucestershire the Nibley Festival a non for profit Festival is a great community event, with plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained.  The initial feeling when arriving on site is that of a village fete with traditional stalls (tombola, bouncy castle, etc), plus lots of workshops to keep the kids amused in the dedicated children’s tent, as well as the design your own bandana area.  

There were two music stages one of which was in the beer tent sponsored by Renishaw. Probably the best location being undercover and bearing in mind the selection of local ales & ciders it had to offer.

The Main stage was situated outside at the bottom of a natural bowl. The timings of the performances was managed to near perfection with no overlaps, and if there were delays in setting up on the main stage, the bands were asked to perform additional tracks much to the delight of the ever more vociferous audience.

Cole Stacey a two piece folk band performed an enjoyable acoustic set on the Renishaw stage. With some jovial banter about the violinist’s jumper they kept the atmosphere light as the rain started to descend.

Next on the main stage was The Christians just as the rain fell with a slab of irony performed a cover of The Beatles classic Here Comes The Sun. Gary Christian the lead singer  had a great rapport with the crowd none more so when having a sing along to  Forgotten Town . Their set culminated with Ideal World and the inevitable Harvest For The World.

If the purpose of music is to make you smile, dance and bounce! Well Thrill Collins are for you. They are to chart music, what Hayseed Dixie is to rock music. 

A three piece Skiffle pop trio (guitar, double bass and Kahon ), covering tracks as varied as the Fools & Horses Theme Tune, to  The Prodigy’s Outta Space, Happy Mondays Step on You (I’m not squeezing your melon man), a brief history of Gangsta Rap all in a country and western style. They had everyone dancing, singing and generally having a really good time.  There playing 2000Trees next weekend so if you going check them out you will not be disappointed.

As the rain started to get heavier Dodgy had to work hard to keep the crowd on side, although Staying out for the Summer was well received.

The Roving Crows played next on the Renishaw stage with a rockier set warming the crowd up before the headliners but due to timings the set was cut short to the disappointment of the crowd. This gave us an opportunity to sample some of the traditional Cornish Pies on offer and chat with some of the stall holders.

Unfortunately due to the extremely heavy rain (where have we heard this before!), the organisers closed the main stage and sadly most of the crowd left early missing the headliners The Selecter.

 But for the die hard fans and crowd who would not be beaten, the organisers rescheduled their set to the undercover Renishaw stage.

Unfortunately being small it did not have the capacity for all who stayed and we left early concerned that we wouldn’t be able to get out of the car park (it’s happened before).

Despite the best efforts of the weather Nibley Festival was hugely enjoyable with some of the friendliest people you could ever wish to meet.  Great entertainment and they did not fall into the food snobbery which seems to be besetting festivals and had real Cornish Pasties.

As you read this review they are already booking their acts for the 2013 Festival if you fancy a family day out in the beautiful Countryside.