Oxford News
Free music festival is celebrating 30th birthday with top local bands
Last year, about 5,000 music fans headed to Dyers Hill, Charlbury in west Oxfordshire over two days for music, food and beer.
The Riverside Festival is back this weekend for a special anniversary celebration.
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One of the directors of the event last year said they had “some amazing performances” including reformed bands like Rock of Travolta and the Samurai Seven”.
Director Fergus McVey said at the time: “Both had amazing reunions and blew the crowd away.”
The festival started out small and has grown to host about 60 acts during the weekend over five stages.
The Samurai Seven, DB Band, The Standard, Knights of Mentis, The Mighty Redox and Unbelievable Truth are among the bands performing this weekend.
Phil Freizinger, who plays guitar and flute with The Mighty Redox, said the festival was “the highlight of the year for many bands, not just us”.
He added: “We don’t get paid and we don’t expect it – I think we would feel slightly insulted if they paid us.
“Any money the festival does make goes to local good causes. We do get given a few beer tokens along the way.
“The festival is a community event – it’s not on the make and it’s open to everyone – families can come in and relax and stay for as long as they want.
“Riverside has an amazing atmosphere – it’s a miracle and wonder of Oxfordshire music.”
Phil’s band have been recording their seventh album and will be playing some songs from the new release at the festival on Sunday.
The group’s Sweet Zombie Horse musical will also be performed at around 1pm in the fringe tent.
The festival said in a statement: “Of course, people come, love it and bring their friends next year. Bands play and love it and bring more bands next year, and so Riverside – and Charlbury itself – grows organically.
“Our dedication to focussing – for one weekend at least – on the fact you can choose something else is one of the things, like Beer Festival and the Cricket Club, Street Fair and Gigs at The Shed that makes Charlbury different.
“Over it’s 30 years it’s become a cornerstone of Charlbury life bringing joy, excitement and perhaps a tiny touch of minimal mayhem to the Mill Field for 2 days in July.”
Festival organisers added: “For those that don’t know, or have managed to miss one of us banging on about it in the Rose and Crown, Riverside is a free festival, we don’t charge, no one gets paid and everyone helps.
“There are crews of organisers, four crews looking after each stage, a Greenfield crew, a kids’ area team, stewards and bar stewards. Everyone is a volunteer, which is why we can do this for nothing.
“But of course the first among these equals are the bands, entertainers, speakers and crafters who actually make the show. There’s a lot to see; five stages, food stalls, craft demos and this year a lecture tent with some amazing people talking about everything form local ecology to managing international rock tours.
“Riverside is different, we certainly beg, borrow and appeal – but we don’t (and never will) demand. This is entertainment by Charlbury, for Charlbury – but our hinterland is huge.
“With Unbelievable Truth, Samurai 7, Beaker and DB Band showing up to make clear why we’ve been around so long – plus around 40 other up-and-coming bands delivering indie, folk, electronica, rock and, perhaps, some roll throughout the weekend.”
Music fans are being encouraged to bring a wide variety of different flags to this year’s festival.
Riverside is a voluntary festival, meaning that while some commercial obligations get paid, the vast majority of set-up, stewarding and administration is done by volunteers.
Riverside remains free, but due to increased running costs this year – including staging, security, and infrastructure – it needs to raise additional funds.
The festival’s Green Field is now in its 10th year and has consistently expanded year on year, bringing green ideas and crafts to young and old.
To help celebrate the 30th anniversary the festival has added the new addition of the Green Room, where green ideas and interesting stories will be shared with the crowds in a space for green discussion and stories.
There will be a diverse array of topics from solar power and bioacoustics to the future of regenerative farming or how to manage a heavy metal band for 40 years.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid footballer was at the semi final yesterday evening (July 16) and watched as England were agonisingly beaten 2-1 by Argentina.
After Anthony Gordon opened the scoring for the Three Lions in the 55th minute, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez scored in the 85th and Lautaro Martinez hit the winner in the 92nd.
READ MORE: Despair as flawless psychic dog makes England V Argentina prediction
Sir David was at the match at the Atlanta Stadium with his wife Victoria, and both could be seen celebrating England’s opening goal.
The pair have lived in west Oxfordshire for several years, sharing a mansion in the Cotswolds where they keep animals such as chickens.
After the defeat, Becks took to social media to try and rally disheartened England fans after the defeat.
He said: “Heartbreak for us all but memories that inspire and last forever… Thank you to our team, our fans & our country for what you have given us in this World Cup.”
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His wife shared heart emojis in response to his statement as did many other members of the public with the post racking up over 750,000 likes.
Following the defeat to Argentina, Lionel Messi’s men will play Spain in the World Cup final this Sunday.
England will face France in the 3rd/4th Place Play-Off on Saturday.
Winston, a whippet from Oxford, has predicted all of England’s matches correctly so far and has now made its call for this evening’s semi-final.
Shaun, Winston’s owner, said: “This is, perhaps, Winston’s boldest statement to date.
“I’m 30 – I’ve never experienced England playing in a FIFA World Cup final before.
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“His predictions have been true to form throughout the entire tournament, but here’s hoping those psychic powers have now run out.”
Shaun is hoping Winston’s powers have vanished as the psychic pooch has predicted Argentina to win and progress through to the final against Spain, causing despair among the dog’s English fans.
Winston’s predictions have become a fixture of the tournament thanks to a light-hearted campaign by Oxford PR agency Fortitude Communications, in support of The Joey Beauchamp Foundation.
The foundation was set up in memory of former Oxford United footballer Joey Beauchamp, who died by suicide in 2022.
The charity aims to support men’s mental health across Oxfordshire.
Each year, one in four adults and one in 10 children in the UK experience mental illness, with around 165,000 people in Oxfordshire impacted—enough to fill the Kassam Stadium more than 13 times.
READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson issues warning to public ahead of Cotswolds pub event
Shaun said: “Joey’s friends and family want to create a lasting legacy in his honour.
“Mental health challenges can affect any person and can be entirely unforeseen.
“It’s very possible we’ll never know which of our loved ones are handling a particular situation unless we proactively check in.
“So, it’s worthwhile to ignite a conversation not only during this World Cup but beyond the final too.”
The results of the 2026 GP Patient Survey for NHS England were released last week containing data including how easy patients find it to contact their GP as well as reception and administration ratings.
Almost 3 million surveys were distributed by market research agency Ipsos with around 650,000 responses received in England between January and April.
READ MORE: Oxfordshire GP bosses to ‘support improvements’ after NHS survey
The public also gave their views of the ‘overall experience’ of their local GP surgery, ranking them very good, fairly good, neither good nor poor, fairly poor and very poor.
Now, the Oxford Mail has compiled a list of the 20 surgeries that received the highest percentage of very poor votes, with the national average being 4 per cent.
Technically the worst performing GP surgery in Oxfordshire was Luther Street Medical Practice in Oxford with 14 per cent of respondents calling it very poor.
However only 4 per cent of its patients asked filled in the survey with 55 per cent of them in fact giving it the highest grade, above the national average.
Another Oxford-based surgery, Temple Cowley, wasn’t far behind with 13 per cent saying it is very poor.
Around a quarter of those asked filled in the NHS survey for Temple Cowley (more than the national average), with 3 per cent rating it fairly poor and 12 per cent saying it’s neither good nor poor.
Representatives for both Luther Street and Temple Cowley both said there were reasons for their poor performances.
The spokesperson for Luther Street said: “Our patients are a unique and often vulnerable population who, like everyone else, require access to regular GP services and ongoing healthcare support.
“Many also face additional challenges that can make accessing and engaging with healthcare more difficult.”
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for Temple Cowley explained that it serves a community “with significant levels of deprivation”, with demand rising, workforce pressures and growing patient need all impacting its service.
READ MORE: Oxfordshire GP surgeries hit back after ‘disappointing’ low NHS ranking
Also performing badly were Nuffield Health Centre in Witney and Woodlands Medical Centre in Didcot, which both received 10 per cent very poor scores.
At Oak Tree Health Centre in Didcot, 8 per cent of patients thought it was very poor.
Multiple surgeries were on 3 per cent but Bampton, Long Furlong, St Clement’s and Cogges are included because the percentage of people who called them fairly poor was higher.
The full list is here:
LUTHER STREET MEDICAL PRACTICE (Luther Street, Oxford) – 14 per cent
TEMPLE COWLEY HEALTH CENTRE (Temple Rd, Oxford) – 13 per cent
WOODLANDS MEDICAL CENTRE (Woodlands Road, Didcot) – 10 per cent
NUFFIELD HEALTH CENTRE (Woodstock Road, Oxford) – 10 per cent
OAK TREE HEALTH CENTRE (Tyne Avenue, Didcot) – 8 per cent
DIDCOT HEALTH CENTRE PRACTICE (Britwell Road, Didcot) – 7 per cent
DONNINGTON MEDICAL PARTNERSHIP (Henley Avenue, Oxford) – 6 per cent
THE KEY MEDICAL PRACTICE (Exeter Close, Kidlington) – 6 per cent
MARCHAM RD FAMILY HEALTH CENTRE (Marcham Road, Abingdon) – 5 per cent
MONTGOMERY HOUSE SURGERY (Piggy Lane, Bicester) – 5 per cent
NEWBURY STREET PRACTICE (Mably Way, Wantage) – 5 per cent
THE CHARLBURY MEDICAL CENTRE (Enstone Road, Chipping Norton) – 5 per cent
EYNSHAM MEDICAL GROUP (Conduit Lane, Eynsham) – 4 per cent
BEAUMONT ELMS PRACTICE (Beaumont Street, Oxford) – 4 per cent
WINDRUSH MEDICAL PRACTICE (Welch Way, Witney) – 4 per cent
BARTLEMAS SURGERY (Manzil Way, Oxford) – 4 per cent
BAMPTON SURGERY (Landells, Bampton) – 3 per cent (20 per cent said it was fairly poor)
LONG FURLONG MEDICAL CENTRE (Loyd Close, Abingdon) – 3 per cent (11 per cent said it was fairly poor)
ST. CLEMENT’S SURGERY (Temple Street, Oxford) – 3 per cent (9 per cent said it was fairly poor)
COGGES SURGERY (Cogges Hill Road, Witney) – 3 per cent (8 per cent said it was fairly poor)
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