Convention are cream of crop

Jul 11 2008 By Steve Johnson

Fairport's Cropredy Convention, Oxfordshire's longest-established music festival, expects to sell out for the second consecutive year.

The organisers are urging fans to book now while there are still tickets left.

Last year's Cropredy sold out more than a week before the gates opened and hundreds of fans who had not pre-booked were unable to get in.

Despite this year's widely-reported slowdown by major festivals, Cropredy tickets are selling very strongly and if the present trend continues the 20 acts will play to a full house.

Now approaching its 30th anniversary, Cropredy is billed as Britain's friendliest music festival. The three-day event, from August 7, is run by the legendary band Fairport Convention who will headline on the Saturday night.

"We are obviously delighted by this year's ticket sales," says Fairport founder-member Simon Nicol. "On the other hand, it is heartbreaking to have to turn people away at the gate.

"So I strongly urge festival-goers to get their skates on and book now because there may not be any tickets for sale on the day."

The festival's resilience to this year's economic slowdown is partly due to fan loyalty, Mr Nicol believes. "Because Cropredy is such a friendly and family-focused event, we get a lot of repeat bookings," he explains.

"Many people come year after year - in fact some of the audience were at the earliest festivals back in the late 1970s.

"We also attract a lot of newcomers each year who having been once usually come again."

Fairport's Cropredy Convention offers three-day (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) tickets, two-day (Friday and Saturday) tickets, and Saturday-only tickets.

There is a discount for tickets ordered before Friday 1 August and prices are £76 (three-day), £66 (Friday-Saturday) and £46 (Saturday-only). Tickets a re available online or by post from the Fairport Convention website www.fairportconvention.com

As well as Fairport Convention, other major acts at Cropredy will include Supergrass, Levellers, Midge Ure and Gaelic folk star Julie Fowlis.