Not even the tail end of a hurricane could take the edge off the summer’s twin big-hitters last weekend.
Wilderness and Cropredy festivals were hailed by punters, artists and organisers alike as a pair of triumphs.
The liveliest of the pair was undoubtedly the lovely Wilderness, at Cornbury Park, near Charlbury, which surpassed even its own reputation for freewheeling fun, with an eye-bogglingly diverse range of diversions, ranging from Champagne high teas in a Victorian orangerie to late night masked balls deep in the estate’s wooded valley. Weekend guests were rumoured to include Prince Harry and chums.
The big event of the weekend though took place, out of view in Lord and Lady Rotherwick’s secret Walled Garden. There, a hundred or so invited guests — including young British stars Douglas Booth, Holliday Grainger, Sam Reid, Luke and Harry Treadaway, Gemma Chan, Bonnie Wright, Jaime Winstone, Gala Gordon and Tanya Burr, joined the day’s special guest — supermodel Cara Delevingne for a luxury picnic hosted by Mulberry to celebrate the UK launch of the new Mulberry Cara Delevingne Collection.
While Cara laughed and joked with friends atop her own Cara-van, guests munched their way through a bespoke picnic hamper of delights prepared by chef Giles Clark, who works with London’s Young Turks. Treats included roasted cobnuts, dressed crab sandwiches, cream and gooseberry jelly biscuits and pressed cucumber juice flavoured with honey.
Guests joined Cara for pictures at the Cara-van — a vintage Land Rover filled with Mulberry goodie bags containing mini festival essentials. Music came from Cara’s friend Will Heard, who performed an acoustic set, followed by music from DJ Benson.
The real star of the show, however, was Lady Rotherwick herself, who, over the past four years, has helped turn Wilderness into the nation’s most creative, and beautiful, artistic extravaganza.
“This has been a special festival within a festival,” she told us. “It’s been fantastic — and was a Wilderness highlight for everyone who was there.”
She added: “The whole festival has been fun, though. Once again it has been absolutely magical.”
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