Weyfest 2011 tickets

Another great festival

Overall rating: 4.5  

FOCUS were outstanding! Everyone friendly. A few more ladies loos would have been good.

WeyFest 3/Sep/2011

not enough ladies loos;
extras brill,
eg train, Morris Dancers, kids' stuff, stalls, demos, museum ...

Back in Focus for Weyfest

Overall rating: 4.5  

Just when you thought the kids were off back to school, and the summer of music festivals must be over, there was one brief blast of high quality rock in the Surrey heathlands with headliners Mungo Jerry, Focus and Newton Faulkner.
Weyfest is pretty small compared to some of the festivals that make it onto the box but its all about quality not quantity. The setting is idyllic at the Rural Life Centre near Tilford and the atmosphere is relaxed and family friendly. Stormtroopers and Jedi mingle with the audience the Daleks seem to be inhibited by the fear of getting caught in the long grass, they obviously havent been watching Dr. Who lately and realise they can fly. And the music aint bad too
On Saturday Rodney Branigan played two guitars (walking off stage appropriately with a beer in each hand), Anna Phoebe played hot violin (having previously played with Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Roxy Music and being an ex-Bond stuntwoman on Die Another Day), Solstice, Space Ritual (Hawkwind by another name), Robin Trower (solo guitarist but also known from his stint with Procol Harum from A Whiter Shade of Pale onwards) and the orchestral sounding pomp rock spectacle of The Enid.
There were also two other stages on site, highlights of which were the promising Kate Bush soundalike Saori Jo and the wild acid rock of the Groundhogs with Tony McPhee. If youve ever been caught in a time warp like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day youll know what its like to keep reliving your past experiences. Hearing three parts of the earthmoving 1971 Split album was like that for me only I didnt want to escape.
But I had to...because Focus were setting up on the main stage. Remember the yodelling Dutchman Thijs Van Leer and the powerful strumming and lead guitar of Jan Akkerman from Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test of the 1970s? No? The only acceptable excuse is not being born and if thats the case check out Moving Waves. Like Debussys La Mer but it rocks. In any case you probably know their hit Hocus Pocus from the Nike World Cup adverts or from rapper J Coles sample in Blow Up and the game MLB11: The Show.
Since then Jan Akkerman has become a highly respected and influential jazz-rock fusion guitarist (and pretty handy with a lute). Focus meanwhile have been carried forward by the Hammond Organ, Flute and occasionally haphazard vocals of Thijs Van Leer but never really found a decent guitarist. Until now perhaps
Menno Gootjes is the new kid on the block and, for once, he has the technical ability to make the groups melodic guitar lines sing out with renewed clarity and purpose. Whether he has the invention or flair of a Jan Akkerman remains to be seen but he certainly has the potential and the crowd at Weyfest celebrated a new guitar hero and an old Dutch master in perfect harmony.

Weyfest

Overall rating: 5  

What a fantastic little festival.My hubby and I and friends came here this year for the first time and we will certainly be coming back.Lovely friendly people, prices were good, great venue and such a lovely atmosphere.The music was great but we all agreed that the line up for Saturday night should have been different. The Enid are great but what you need at the time they came on is a lively band to get people going. We all felt that the mood was too sombre when they came on at that time.I loved Arthur Brown and Focus were excellent.We will certainly come back next year but please can we have more ladies loos.

Weyfest better than ever!

Overall rating: 5  

Returning for the second time this year,slightly enhanced security and layout for the camping and campervan fields were a vast improvememnt,extra lighting and wide firelanes-brilliant.Particularly enjoyed Robin Trower and Mungo Jerry, amazing lift on Friday night.The sound quality on the main stage
was stunning with Saturday evening certainly the high point.Wishbone Ash also a rare treat.
Weyfesters are the most lovely and friendly crowd
you could possibly be amongst and that goes for all the staff and Stewards as well-can't wait for next year.

Third year at Weyfest

Overall rating: 4  

This was our 3rd year at Weyfest. We have always enjoyed the small venue, easy going and relaxed attitude and the child friendliness of this festival. Once again we had a thoroughly enjoyable visit.

Two moans I am afraid - why on earth where the Charley Farley Sunday Four playing the tiny Rustic stage when the should have been seen on one of the larger stages. A fantastic band that were not shown to their true potential. Please fix this for next year.

Second moan, and a common complaint at all festivals, more toilets are required. It is such a simple thing to get right. To be honest I would prefer more portaloos than a few 'posh' loos. These are just as disgusting as portaloos anyway. The camp site is ridiculously under catered for toilet wise with just 6 loos for each sex for the whole camp site. Needless to say, they were a 'delight' by 10pm on the Friday and I was gagging by Saturday evening. Really nasty. It was a not so bad inside the venue. There was a block of mens urinals, rather strangley set up very close to the kids zone which seems a bit odd to me, which may have relieved the pressure except that they were quite far away from any of the stages.

Blah blah, even I am bored of hearing that more toilets are required. Come on Weyfest, get it right for next year.

First Weyfest

Overall rating: 4  

Music was great with particularly good bands such as Robin Trower, Focus and Newton Faulkner.
Would have liked to see Predatur this year. Perhaps they could be booked for next year.
Good food selection at reasonable prices. Did some great souvenir shopping.
Not enough toilets, it was disgusting.
One really serious complaint.
Some people appear to be using the venue as an excuse to camp out for several days and make as much mess and noise as possible. Having fun until late is expected, but not making as much noise as possible and playing music until 3am with the complete disregard for people around them. Any request for reason is met with agression and intimidation. These people are clearly not part of the festival. I am referring to a group at the far top right hand side of the field from the entrance.
Please could security be a little more vigilant for the sake of those who are there for the music. We were forced to pack up at 4am to get away from them.
Aside from that everyone else was friendly and into the spirit of the event. Thank you very much to the organisers.

weyfest 2011

Overall rating: 5  

2nd year and I was worried that it wouldn't live up to my anticipation after last year, but I needn't have been. This really is one of the friendliest festivals around and once again we met some lovely people. The music was, once more, excellent and right up my strasse. From Focus, Space Ritual, Leatherat and Rodney Brannigan on Saturday to Dr Feelgood, The Blockheads. Wishbone and the wonderful Newton on Sunday. Highlights for me were all of the above as well as the incredible Robin Trower and the hugely entertaining John Otway. In fact the only disappointment for me were The Groundhogs, very sad but they just weren't at the park, really. All in all an absolutely great weekend and I can't wait for next year.

One small gripe

One small gripe. Can't you allow for a little spontaneity from the bands? The almost dictatorial way they were not allowed another song, or were admonished for being 3 minutes over time, was farcical. Why not have one less band over the day on each stage and allow the audience the pleasure of an encore or two? Blimey, I can remember waiting for two and a half hours to see a band at a festival in the past. I know that's not what I'm asking, but just a bit more leeway rather than the looming figure at the side of the stage as the clock ticked down to zero.

A Quick Review...

Overall rating: 5  

Second year at Weyfest - met some great people, enjoyed the relaxed vibe and most of all heard some exceptional bands.
Personal highlights (in no particular order) were Robin Trower; Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash; Dr Feelgood; Leatherat and of course Focus...
New to me and to be investigated: Anna Phoebe; Errol Lynton and (to my surprise) The Christians.
Also enjoyed Solstice; Jackie Lynton; Space Ritual; The Enid and the incomparable John Otway Big Band.
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this a great festival and a fantastic weekend.

Weyfest 2011

Overall rating: 3.5  

I liked the setting and there was a friendly atmosphere.
I went in part to see Mungo Jerry and he did not disappoint.It was good to see the likes of Robin Trower and Wishbone Ash again.Even though there were no original members Dr.Feelgood were well worth seeing also(they were up for it).
Newton Faulkner is not my cup of tea but you can`t have it all ways.
Overall it was good value for money and highly enjoyable.The weather was great for most of it.The availability of shower units would have been an improvement on service provision.

2nd Weyfest

Simply Amazing! The music, as it was last year was fantastic, espeacially the very talented Rodney Branigan, Focus and Newton Faulkner. The food and shopping stalls offered a great variation. Having been to quite a few festivals in recent years, this truely has to be one of the friendliest - including the staff, stewards and security. The campsite was laid out well and we really enjoyed the 'little' acoustic sessions after hours. Without a doubt Weyfest will remain a regular yearly event in our calendars. Many, many thanx to all who helped organise this amazing event.
P.S Only slight complaint - more ladies toilets throughout the venue/campsite.

WEYFEST :) :) :)

Overall rating: 5  

We attend an awful lot of festivals & highly reccomend Weyfest.We had a fantastic first time there & we will definitely be going back next year. The setting was perfectly rustic and authentic, along with being an ideal background for some amazing blues & acoustic bands. The highlight for me was the awesome 'Letherat' with their furious fiddle, manic mandolin and rock guitar. The organisers did a great job & everyone was realy friendly.

Great Weyfest

I had to add my voice to these comments to mention the bands I enjoyed most. LEATHERAT are regulars at this festival and wow what an asset they are - really getting us all in the festival / party spirit. Also THE BLOCKHEADS and DR FEELGOOD had everyone up dancing and clapping - that is the type of music which I go to festivals to see and hear. Whilst The Enid, Focus and Newton Faulkner are tecnically very good at what they do, I don't think their music does much to leave people feeling upbeat and festivally!!
I love this festival overall. the atmoshere and the venue make all the difference and whilst they do seem to struggle with the toilet issue, the organisers do seem to have the knack of making the whole experience very enjoyable and memorable.

Weyfest

Overall rating: 4  

Music was great but it was a shame the bands on Saturday night e.g. The Enid were not more lively. Leatherat or Doctor Feelgood would have gone done much better. We ended up going back to the site to party. Very friendly Fest and consequently lots of young children. Great selection of food stalls, spoilt for choice. Only gripe is that there were not enough toilets and they weren't cleaned from Saturday morning through till about 11.00am on Sunday. This is NOT good enough. The Ladies had empty beer bottles, full nappies, Piss on the floor and No loo roll. I would prefer to spend an extra fiver on ticket price and have a toilet that got cleaned more than once in a weekend.

fantastic event

Overall rating: 4.5  

Wonderfull weekend 2nd year of coming Robin Trower, Focus, Dr Feelgood Annapheobe, Arthur Brown, Errol linton, Jackie lynton,and many others all fantastic, see you next year

Brilliant Weyfest

Overall rating: 5  

Another excellent Weyfest (my 4th with same 3 mates plus a new addition this year who vows to be back next year!). Favourite acts - Otway + Big Band (festival stand out and with that brilliant band, Otway must be worth a punt further up the bill), Wishbone Ash, The Enid, Focus, Robin Trower, the perennially brillient Leatherat, Jackie Lynton, Saori Jo and 4Play (just what the doctor ordered to open up on Sunday - any band who can follow a Grateful Dead number with a Dusty Springfield one and pull it off demands respect!!).

Campsite great (even though can't park near tents), but not enough loos - one portacabin for the whole site was way insufficient and a helluava hike if you are camped at the far side. Maybe another one further into the site next year?

Food outlets very good and reasonably priced.

Bar even better than last year as 2 outlets so much more convenient and absolutely NO QUEUEING!!

Weyfest

enjoyed this small festival, in a lovely setting,
bands were not as varied as last year, peformances by Focus, Dr Feelgood, Leatherat were spot on, think just needed a band like Show of Hands for a some
sing a long type music.
camp site clean and functional.
good variety of food and a great beer tent