THE first thing that strikes you about 2000trees when you walk through its modest gates is the size of the festival.

The site at Upcote Farm, in Withington near Cheltenham, is so small you can walk from one end to the other in about 15 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong - I love the excitement of a big festival - like Glastonbury, where there’s so much going on you’ll never see it all. But the big difference is, apart from a few well-placed headliners, 2000trees is not peddling big names, and if you’re there to discover new things, you don’t have to walk for miles on the off-chance you might see something special.

The site is neat, its four main stage areas nicely spread out to avoid noise pollution, but close enough together to avoid a crush between acts.

Other attractions include the bandstand near The Cave, and the brand new not-so-secret glade in the woods, where music is performed un-amplified until the early hours of the morning. It was in this glade where we saw one of the best gigs of the festival - a very intimate collaboration between gorgeous harmonistas The Cadbury Sisters, the sublime Boat To Row and the versatile Andy Olivieri. In the face of these rising stars of the folk scene, the audience sat in awed, deferential silence.

On the main stages, my highlights were Dry The River and Childhood. At Glastonbury 2011, Dry The River were brilliant, but at 2000Trees, the band’s performance stood head-and-shoulders above those of any of their main stage colleagues. The passion of Peter Liddle’s outstanding, soaring vocals, coupled with the pumping energy of the band’s back and front line make for amazing live viewing, and I suspect one day they will conquer the world.

Childhood, on the Leaf Lounge stage, provided a sublime, warm wall of sound which packed the house, proving that guitar music is still alive and kicking.

As usual, the food stalls were excellent and the cider lethal, and 2000Trees toilets remain the cleanest I’ve ever seen at a festival. The only thing which let the festival down this year was security. In three separate anecdotes, acquaintances revealed they had had belonging stolen from beside them as they slept in their tents. Further investigation revealed my friends weren’t the only ones, and on the final night I got back to my tent to find my things had been moved. I hadn’t been robbed, having left nothing of value behind, but the idea that someone tried is sickening.

I’m sure the organisers have been made well aware of this problem, and I’m certain they will be on top of it next year, because I wouldn’t want one of the UK’s finest small festivals to get a reputation.

2000Trees is small, pleasant, affordable and thoroughly entertaining. I hope to see you all there next year.