SADDLE up to be in with a chance of winning a pair of weekend tickets to the 13th Wychwood Festival at Cheltenham racecourse.

Swindon Advertiser readers have the chance of scooping this prize to see OMD headline on the Saturday night at the family-friendly festival which runs from Friday, June 2, to Sunday, June 4.

A varied mix of music is on offer, alongside attractions such as the Kids’ Literature Festival with Steve Cole reading from his Young Bond book, Tamsyn Murray with her Tanglewood series and Gareth P Jones with his Pet Detectors series among others. There will be more than 100 workshops including one with artist and illustrator Gemma Hastilow.

Katy Ashworth, from CBeebies, will be heading up the children’s entertainment.

The festival is for all ages and includes BBC R a d i o 6 Music’s resident poet, Murray Lachland Young, and in the Big Top Professor Elemental will perform his neo-Victorian blend of hip-hop comedy.

On Friday the 1980s punk band The Buzzcocks will be headlining the festival with Saturday welcoming the electro pop of OMD and Sunday playing out with the folk rock of The Levellers.

During the post punk era of the 1970s Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys began going back to the fu- ture with some elect r o n i c sound - i n g v i b e s released f r o m t h e i r synthesizers, which they had crammed into the back room of Paul’s mum’s home.

Their creations became the soundscapes best known as the compositions from Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark — OMD. There were many strings to the bows of the musicians and Andy also became known for his songwriting with girl popsters Atomic Kitten.

But it was the experimentation with synthesizers that spawned electro, trance and synth rock of the 1980s, with OMD as the pioneers forging the path with hits such as Electricity, Enola Gay, If You Leave and seminal albums Architecture and Morality, Dazzle Ships and Junk Culture.

Today the band are still at the forefront of adventure and taking musical risks and they will be joined at the festival by such names as Billy Bragg and The Strypes.

Formed in 1976, The Buzzcocks have produced nine studio albums and hit songs such as Ever Fallen In Love; What Do I Get?; and Harmony In My Head, keeping the punk vibe alive during the last 40 years.

The Levellers, who recently embarked on a UK tour to support the re-release of their platinum-selling 1991 album Levelling The Land, will be strutting the folk stuff and singing hit singles such as One Way, 15 Years and Far From Home and Battle Of The Beanfield.

The Wychwood Music Festival was launched in 2005 by a group of festival fans wanting to create an intimate and thrilling weekend festival experience. The campsite sits beneath the Prestbury Hills, complete with areas for caravan, campervans and luxury camping.

For those not lucky enough to win the weekend pass, tickets are from £150.50. For more details call 01993 772 580 email: info@wychwoodfestival.com or r visit http://wychwoodfestival.com.

  • For entry form to win a piar of tickets to Wychwood Festival buy a copy of the Swindon Advertiser Thursday, March 30 editition.