AN ECCENTRIC gathering enjoyed the sold-out Supernormal festival over the weekend as a South Oxfordshire stately home was once again transformed into a quirky wonderland.

The seventh Supernormal festival, at Braziers Park in Ipsden, was far from a conventional festival but went down a treat with thousands of revellers who enjoyed music ranging from psychedelic rock and experimental folk to hard rock and death metal.

The annual event bills itself as "a music and arts festival that consistently ventures beyond the point of sanity in pursuit of the transcendent" – and this year's mix of visual arts, music and drama lived up to that billing.

If nothing else the festival certainly ventured far away from mainstream, commercial festivals with meditation sessions and quirky art installations commanding attention.

The festival's co-director Matilda Strang described it as a "really special happening and a unique experience" and said it was about discovering "something new that you hadn't heard or seen before".

The musical performances proved the main attractions over the weekend with acts including Girl Sweat, The Lowest Form, Adrena Adrena, City Hands, Dwellings, Arvind Ganga, Christos Fanaras, Guttersnipe, JK Flesh, Ashtray Navigations, Knifeworld and MDC (Millions of Dead Corpses), all taking to the various stages.

But across the 85-acre site a mix of acoustic music, punk, art-rock, sound poetry, experimental pop, beats, electronica and noise could be heard.

For those revellers who wanted to generate their own noise - this year's karaoke session was in honour of two music legends who passed away earlier this year.

In-house performers led the way as festival-goers celebrated the lives and careers of David Bowie and Prince – a small but out of place nod to the world of the mainstream.

The Rebel – an artist, musician and poet based in London known for his humorous and provocative wordplay – played out the festival on Sunday night.