Festival lovers in Shropshire encouraged to book their summer tickets for Warwickshire ALSO Festival
Big names in the worlds of music, comedy, food, wellness, science and nature are coming together for this year’s award-winning ALSO Festival in Warwickshire in July, with this year’s theme being Love and Horror.
Comedians Dom Joly and Robin Ince, along with world renowned musicians Molotov Jukebox head up the impressive line-up for the UK’s most inspirational summer festival, once again taking place at Compton Verney.
Marking its twelfth year, ALSO25, on the weekend of July 11-13, brings together performers and musicians, best-selling authors, celebrated scientists and experts in a variety of fields to create a much-anticipated ‘magical and immersive experience.’
With 142 events across the three days, ALSO encourages festival goers to let ideas run wild and truly reconnect with nature via a sublime 17th century setting designed by Capability Brown.
With this year’s theme being Love and Horror, festival goers can lose themselves in terrifying tours, weird and wonderful workshops and nail-biting nature antics with activities such as:
- Step into Jane Austen’s shoes on the very grounds she trod, for a guided tour by best selling author Ella Berthoud: a celebration of Austen’s life and work on the 250th anniversary of her birth.
- The Street Tree founder Paul Wood will be doing special guided tree walks
- The unique and ever-popular Bat Walk is back with a night time tour through the ALSO woods.
- Enjoy Treachery: a midnight murder mystery game.
- There will be an electrifying workshop on How to Make a Horror Movie
- Comedy and horror collide in a panel hosted by Joel Morris author of ‘Be Funny Or Die’ and writer for the likes of Paddington, Philomina Cunk and Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe
- BBC 4 regular Athena Kugbleno explores misinformation, asking whether tales of brave knights and fearsome queens are fact or fiction, in her game show for adults and kids based on her acclaimed book ‘History’s Most Epic Fibs’.
Diccon Towns, ALSO Festival CEO and co-founder, said: "ALSO25 throws open its gates this July for you to romp around the most beautiful site in festival-land, exploring our theme of ‘Love and Horror’. Bring your best summer outdoor-living/van-lifing/glamping selves and immerse yourself in a weekend of high camp together under a big summer sky. For, as we’ve always known, to come together to go wild in the wild each summer is what we humans are built to do and a summer festival is an essential part of a year lived well.
“Our site is one of great beauty, designed by Capability Brown in the 1700s and walked upon by Jane Austen before us, no less. ALSO is a hand-built multi-award winning next generation festival: highly immersive, truly experiential, and highly curated - with ideas threading through everything that we do. We make it effortless for our guests to engage with big, life enhancing ideas and live a wild summer weekend in an extraordinary location."
Among those helping Molokov Jukebox set the stellar soundtrack for the summer are Samba drumming workshop Tribo; rapper, actress and singer songwriter Madeleine MINX Dunbar; lead vocal coach on The Voice, Juliet Russell and one of Denmark’s wildest live bands, Smag På Dig Selv (SPDS).
Dishing out the laughs alongside Dom Joly and Robin Ince, will be ALSO festival favourite Rob Deering - who puts comedians on the spot in his live music-based comedy pop quiz - Beat This! TikTok sensation Marcel Lucont is hosting his legendary Cabaret Fantastique, ensuring a night of smart, surreal entertainment.
Hear from neurobiologist and feminist Gina Rippon about female autism. Dr Camilla Pang will explain how thinking like a scientist can help us to step confidently through the minefield of misinformation we face on a daily basis. And writer and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer takes the ‘Soundtrack Of My Life’ slot.
As always, ALSO25 gives festival-goers the opportunity to embark on unique and magical adventures, from learning the practice of eye gazing to guided lake swimming lessons at dawn and dusk; ALSO’s run club will kick off the day with a guided 5K or 10K. Or for a more relaxing start, wellness partners Numinity will ease you into the day with a morning yoga flow class.
While families can choose from a minibeast safari around the picturesque lake or learn how to escape being shipwrecked with a raft building session. Award-winning Warwickshire theatre group, Playbox will be on site with performing arts workshops to inspire budding actors. And due to the popularity last year, the Festival Nannies are back to give parents some free time to enjoy themselves at the event.
When you’ve satisfied your appetite for knowledge, there’s plenty to entice foodies too under the auspices of award-winning resident chef James Whetlor. He is delivering Saturday evening’s Love And Horror Banquet.
For tickets, head to also-festival.com/#tickets
Parking is free but there are also a limited number of car passes available which allow vehicle access to the campsite as well as campervan passes.
