WittFest Draws The Crowds

Music lovers were treated to a feast at the annual WittFest organised by The Plough Inn last weekend.

More than a thousand people are estimated to have attended the festival which started on Friday evening, continued on Saturday and drew to a close on Sunday afternoon.  It ended with a grand finale featuring an 18-piece jazz group.

The landlord of The Plough Liam Carberry said: “It was another entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable weekend and community event for music lovers and families.  It was well supported by villagers and by many people who travelled to Long Wittenham.  Our thanks to the musicians who performed free of charge and helped make it a great success and to all those people who supported the event.”

WittFest began in the early 1990s.  The idea of a festival sprang from the Drones Club, a collection of musicians and music lovers who met and continue to meet in the pub on Wednesday nights.  Since those early days the festival has grown in strength and scope and is now established as one of the most popular events in the South Oxfordshire music calendar.

One of the star attractions on Saturday was a locally-based group called Theatre Rejects. The singer and lead guitarist is 15-year-old James Cooper.  The other members of the group are Felix Marsh from Didcot who’s also 15, Ethan Vass (16) who lives in Saxons Heath and Lizzie Beesley (15) from Appleford.

Earlier this year Theatre Rejects came second in the annual Didcot’s Got Talent competition at the Cornerstone.  They write and perform their own music.  The group takes its unusual name from a school drama society in which they perform.

Theatre Rejects: Lizzie Beesley, Felix Marsh, James Cooper & Ethan Vass

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