Party under the treetops at Timber Festival this summer
Timber Festival announces new additions to this year’s line-up with the very best live music, talks and performance in the heart of the National Forest.
Music including The Orielles, Holy Moly & The Crackers, Billie Marten and Alabaster DePlume, DJ Elizabeth Alker, interactive installations, a light trail inspired by nature, appearances from actor, presenter and author Janet Ellis and writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes, wellbeing sessions, and more
Friday 1 – Sunday 3 July 2022, Feanedock woodland, the National Forest
Tickets at www.timberfestival.org.uk
Timber Festival is returning to the National Forest from Friday 1 - Sunday 3 July for three spectacular days of music, forests, art and ideas. Taking place in the glades of Feanedock woodland near Ashby de la Zouch, Timber is all about celebrating nature and re-examining our relationship with the natural world.
Organisers announced the first additions to the programme in November, which included Penguin Cafe, The Turbans and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, and now even more live music, shows and talks join the line-up.
The Orielles join the eclectic music programme with their 90s-inspired indie tunes, fiery folk-rockers Holy Moly & The Crackers will put on a raucous and feel-good party under the treetops, and acoustic folk singer Billie Marten will play songs from her breath-taking new record Flora Fauna.
They are joined by multi-instrumentalist Alabaster DePlume who releases his anticipated album GOLD – Go Forward in the Courage of Your Love in April. British-Asian clarinettist Arun Ghosh returns to Timber after last year’s performance with sound artist Jason Singh, and this time he’s bringing his band to perform music from their new album Seclused in Light. Hit songwriter Fiona Bevan, who has penned songs with the very best in the business including Ed Sheeran, Kyle Minogue and Lewis Capaldi, will perform songs from her new EP.
Further music acts include songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dominie Hooper, indie rock duo Smoke Fairies, contemporary folk artist Joy Becker, folk and jazz collective Folkatron Sessions, and a special performance from Threaded will bring Deaf and hearing audiences together through music, song and sign language. And BBC Radio 3 DJ Elizabeth Alker will take over The Eyrie Stage, a secluded performance space tucked away in a dappled glade, with her selection of electronic and instrumental artists from the path less travelled.
Festivalgoers can enjoy a whole host of the very best outdoor performances and installations brought to Timber by commissioners Without Walls. Giant plants made from fabric and air reach out to connect with you in Unfurl, a garden like no other created by robotic studio Air Giants. Using dance, circus and theatre on a seven-metre-high hourglass, Joli Vyann’s dance and theatre piece Timeless explores climate change. Look Mum, No Hands! is a tender story about friendship and growing up, told through physical theatre by Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre, and Lives of Clay by The Clay Connection brings stories of women from ancient myths to life through classical Indian dance, original music and half a ton of clay.
And as dusk falls, audiences can walk The Gloaming, a light trail inspired by nature’s greatest spectacles. See sunsets and full moons, glow-worms and gleaming stars. Walk the line between day and night, and emerge back into the festival to revel by moonlight.
BBC Radio 4’s Geoff Bird will host the fourth series of Timber podcast Wilderness Tracks, in which he welcomes a range of guests for a chat about their favourite nature-inspired pieces of music. The latest guests to be announced are actor, presenter and author Janet Ellis MBE, and writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes. They join hip-hop MC and world record breaking beatboxer Testament who was announced late last year.
Timber is known for its varied programme of author talks. Author Karen Lloyd will discuss her book Abundance: Nature in Recovery, and author Lyndsie Bourgon takes us into the underworld of the illegal timber market through her book Tree Thieves. Author Helen Jukes of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings will lead a writing workshop to explore the special place that forests hold in our imaginations. And Dr Sally Bell joins Slow Food in the UK’s series of talks from leading chefs and speakers to share her insights about how food is farmed and how it can impact our health.
Outdoor clothing specialists Patagonia present a special screening of the film They/Them, which follows Lor, a trans climber, into the sandstone canyons of northern Arizona. Ahead of the screening, a panel discussion curated in partnership with All The Elements brings together transgender and non-binary folks creating change in the outdoor sector to discuss how gender identity intersects with sport and outdoor pursuits.
And Leicester Comedy Festival will bring a raft of comedy talent to the Field Notes stage - more details to be announced later in the year.
Timber is all about sharing ideas and challenging our preconceptions about how we live. Festivalgoers can work together to create a brave new world over the course of the weekend in DIY Utopia. Build the physical structures in the Workshop, create a quiet and restorative space in the Sanctuary, share thoughts and music at the Campfire, and play freely in the Playground. DIY Utopia is brought to the festival by Timberplay, specialists in building world class playgrounds.
Audiences looking to unwind will be spoilt for choice with wellbeing activities including meditation, yoga, tai chi, gong baths, forest bathing and mindfulness walks, all in the tranquillity of the trees. Monthly magazine The Simple Things will lead a series of workshops over the weekend, focussing on gentle crafts, wellness and replenishment. And new for this year is a Japanese Tea Ceremony, a traditional way of preparing and drinking matcha tea whilst taking a moment for quiet contemplation.
Bring your pre-loved clothes to the Timber Clothes Swap with a note about their history and exchange them for something new (to you), and head to the Foresters Market for stunning wood products such as carving boards, tables or bowls, created by talented makers from the National Forest.
Tickets are on sale at www.timberfestival.org.uk, from £20 for a child day ticket to £130 for an adult three-day camping ticket. Residents of the National Forest get a huge 25% off all tickets. Festivalgoers looking for a luxurious weekend can opt for boutique camping in spacious bell tents, and those after an adventure can cycle to Timber on a guided bike ride from Birmingham with Red Fox Cycling.
Timber Festival is created by award-winning festival and event producers Wild Rumpus, in partnership with the National Forest Company. Timber was made possible thanks to public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Sarah Bird, Co-Director of Timber Festival, says:
‘I’m so excited to be back in the National Forest for our fourth Timber Festival. We’ve got such an eclectic music line-up this year, from the indie sound of The Orielles to clarinettist Arun Ghosh. I can’t wait to be dancing under the treetops - summer is only round the corner!
I’m also really looking forward to building a new world in DIY Utopia, a nomadic village that we’ll all create together over the weekend. Rethinking and questioning the ways in which we live is what Timber is all about.’
Rowan Cannon, Co-Director of Timber Festival, says:
‘We can’t wait to bring Timber back to Feanedock this summer for another year of celebration and reflection. Feanedock is such a special place and an absolutely beautiful location for the festival. It’s full of secluded glades where you can watch intimate performances, wide open spaces for dancing to live music, and hidden woodlands where you can gather round a cosy campfire and listen to storytellers. It’s like stepping into another world for a weekend.’