* The latest of next sum-mer’s festivals to reveal their line-up is Fairport’s Cropredy Convention — which most of us still know as just ‘Cropredy’.

The event, still run by Fairport Convention, has made a name for itself in recent years by moving away from folk-rock and embracing some more surprising acts, among them Alice Cooper, Chas & Dave and Steve Hackett of Genesis. That taste for mischief continues in 2015 with a mixed bag of acts encompassing pop, dub and prog-rock as well as folk. They include dub reggae dance act Dreadzone, Norwegian all-girl quartet Katzenjammer, Scottish twins The Proclaimers, Fish from Marillion, Tiree power-folks Skerryvore,Toyah Willcox and Rory Gallagher. The festival runs from August 13-15, with tickets on sale for a limited time until Sunday, to allow you to pick up the perfect Christmas present for the festival-lover in your life. The box office then closes and reopens in February.

Go to fairportconvention.com

* The Proclaimers and Dreadzone also feature in the line-up for Wychwood Festival which is organised by a team in Witney. They will be joined by UB40’s Ali Campbell and band, Ghostpoet, Electric Swing Circus and Rusty Shackle. The event runs from May 29-31. Early bird tickets are available from wychwoodfestival.com Also preparing for fest-ival season are Oxford’s vintage jazz party-starters, The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, who have been snapped up by a string of gatherings including the iconic Isle of Wi ght Festival.

The band will be in action tomorrow for their annual festive Knees Up. The show, at the O2 Academy, will see them blasting through a set of live favourites with plenty of surprises thrown in.

Frontman Stuart Macbeth said: “We’re playing five days before Christmas Eve, so expect a good old fashioned sing-a-long as well as our regular stuff. The atmosphere will be lively, to say the least.”