You know, part of me is tempted not to tell you how good truck festival was. Part of me hopes that the word doesn’t get out what a fantastic weekend it is so that next year, it doesn’t sell out instantly before I get chance to get my grubby mitts on some tickets!

This was only my second year at truck, last year some friends took me along, promising me an amazing experience filled with new sounds, great food, friendly people and plenty of beer – they weren’t wrong! Going again this year was no option; truck is definitely the highlight of my festival calendar.

There are so many reasons I love truck so much, firstly, its compactness. I saw the same faces in the crowds all weekend. The walk between the arena and camping barely counted as a walk and hauling my camping stuff from the car park to the camping area took about 5 minutes. It just makes the festival experience so much more pleasant than spending all weekend trekking across fields to get anywhere.

Also, very important to any festival experience – the toilets! At truck there are always plenty, queues are pretty much non-existent except at peak times when you might have to wait 2-3 minutes. The toilets I used were always clean. Truck provides the best toilets out of any festival I’ve been too.

Food and drink is a key ingredient to any great festival. At truck there are plenty of both – the Rotary club do a fine job of the food, always hot, fresh and extremely good value for money - £3.50 for a cheeseburger! The only criticism about the food is the lack of healthier choices, the pasta options were great but it would be nice to see some more salads, perhaps even a noodle bar. Drink was again, fantastic value for money compared to other events – plus a great selection of ales, ciders and perry – the chilled Stowford Press went down particularly well in the sunshine!

On to the music! I saw lots of amazingly talented musicians at truck, most of them I didn’t know beforehand – before I talk about my music highlights, let me first get the only bad bit out of the way. Lemonheads headlined on the Saturday night, I’ve never really been a fan and didn’t enjoy their set – they didn’t seem to have the same vibe that other bands have playing at truck, they lacked energy and presence on stage, a real shame because I knew a lot of people were excited about seeing them.

On to the highlights – Jonquil blow me away with their infectious, addictive, ear tingling good sound, they got everyone singing along, even people like me who didn’t know the words! Their refreshing, original sound made the day for me and I’ve been listening to them non-stop since! Another band to have a similar effect were Kyte, a blend of Sigur Rós, Arcade Fire and a sprinkle of genius they took me on a magical journey full of atmosphere, chills, danger and adventure – I can’t wait to see this band live again!

A perfect compliment to the sunshine – Noah and the Whale, their song ‘5 Years Time’ is my truck song this year, the one that when I look back I remember. This band will go far and rightly so, they bring a really positive, upbeat sound that is so refreshing and different.

My favourite element of truck is the unexpected, I try to avoid looking at the line up and prefer to wonder around and be surprised. The best surprise this year was an impromptu set by Romeo and Angela from the Magic Numbers – they played some of their big hits, acoustically on the Market Stage. Romeo really got the crowd going and comes across as a genuinely nice guy with a real musical talent, Angela’s voice was breathtaking. The performance was something extra special that touched everybody who got to see it. They were also joined by Danny of Danny and the champions of the world to sing their song ‘I Still Believe’ which was incredibly tender and beautiful.

Another unexpected moment was walking past the Market Stage to hear Dodgy doing their hit ‘Good Enough’. It would’ve been nice to have seen their whole set but the tent was packed solid with people having to stand outside to hear them. There were a few other bands that really should’ve been on the main stage and not the smaller stages where many people couldn’t get a good view.

My greatest random discovery from this year’s truck was the very talented, Martin Simpson. In all honesty, had I read a description of his music in advance I might’ve wandered elsewhere but his skill with the guitar was astounding. ‘Never Any Good’ stole the show, a beautiful song with poignant, heartfelt lyrics that made the hairs on my neck stand on end. Martin shows just how great traditional folk music can be; he is definitely somebody I won’t miss the opportunity to see again.

The icing on the cake was Sunday night’s performance by Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly! They put on a true headline show that really got the crowd going as the night drew in. Sam sounded great and was obviously very pleased to be there. His songs shone through and everyone seemed to have an extra punch, like he had gone all guns blazing to put on an extra special show.

If you’ve not been to truck before, then you should definitely check it out – it’s a very relaxed affair, clean, friendly, great facilities and most importantly, a fantastic selection of music. I really can’t wait until next year!

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