Fairport's Cropredy Convention

First, the battle of Cropredy Bridge which took place in 1644 - a turning point in the civil war - and secondly for the annual invasion by 20,000 fans of venerable folk-rock institution Fairport Convention.

Why people at Cropredy still dress in much the same way as they did in 1644 is another question. The leather hat, unnecessary waistcoat and beard combination is a sight that would have Trinny and Susannah in therapy for months.

Fortunately the music offered up by Fairport and their guests makes up for the catastrophic attire donned by the audience.

This year's lineup was as eclectic as ever - the band claim that Cropredy isn't just a folk festival - and featured everything from Status Quo's trad rock to Bellowhead's big band mash-up, taking in reggae and bluegrass along the way. While the weather may have been as frustrating as a French plumber (sun ... shower ... sun ... heavy shower ... sun ... you get the idea) the weekend still saw some excellent performances.

A small tornado ripped through one of the campsites on Thursday evening, uprooting a few tents. Thankfully, no-one was hurt as all present were trying to fathom the enduring popularity of the Quo, who seemed to go down a storm.

Friday saw a superb bluegrass set from the Dixie Bee-Liners. A six -piece US roots ensemble, the Bee-Liners charmed the damp crowd with tales of highways and lost love while lead singer Brandi Hart is clearly a huge talent in the making.

Any man who turns up to a festival in a shiny silver suit is worth his salt and there's none saltier than Jon Boden and the mighty Bellowhead who headlined Friday evening.

Sprinkling their set with well-received tracks from their forthcoming John Leckie-produced third album, the 'head had people jumping up and down in the mud with glee. With material as infectious as London Town and Sloe Gin it was hard not to tap a toe.

Richard Digance opened Saturday in a storm so fierce it was as if some celestial body was trying to tell him something. Not a man to easily take a hint, Digance.

Post downpour, dub reggae band Easy Star All-Stars enjoyed the best of the weekend's sunshine and put it to good use, wowing the crowd with their inventive bass-heavy covers of Floyd and Beatles tunes - perfect for a lazy beery afternoon.

Rick Wakeman on the other hand had the keyboards (approx 100 of them) set to snooze. "Widdle-iddle-iddle-iddle" he went, for about four hours with a wailing singer keeping him company. Grumpy old curry muncher he may be, but this was chicken biry-yawn-i.

Someone should have told Fairport to leave the prog-rock histrionics well alone too.

After a brilliant start to their set where a hilariously bossy Dave Swarbrick barged on stage and demanded an unrehearsed set change (cue fluffing of lines and a flustered Simon Nicol) they decided to wheel out some cast members from Excalibur - a French "Celtic rock opera" that the band has been involved with for a while.

Imagine the Scorpions getting pissed at Enya's house after reading the Hobbit and you won't even get close to how wretched this was.

Eurovision throat-shredder Johnny Logan belted out endless guff about dragons and goblins while some Euro rockers in bandanas squealed their way through hours of sub-teenage mystic bobbins.

Apparently it's very popular in Germany.

The plastic chairs were packed up in their hundreds, the rain began to pour and Meet on the Ledge seemed a very long way away. An excellent festival otherwise, brilliantly organised as ever, but leave out the prog-rock next time please.