Larmer Tree Festival

Larmer Tree Festival
Kate Rusby at the Larmer Tree Festival 2008
Genre	predominantly acoustic folk, world music, reggae, roots and blues
Dates	over five days in July
Location(s)	Larmer Tree Gardens, near Tollard Royal, on the Wiltshire-Dorset border, England, UK
Years active	1991 - present day
Founded by	James Shepard
Website
http://www.larmertreefestival.co.uk

The Larmer Tree Festival is a five-day music and arts festival held annually at the Larmer Tree Gardens near Tollard Royal on the Wiltshire-Dorset border in England. Described as "One of the most family-friendly festivals around", it is also noted for its "stunning location ... and outstanding eclectic line-up." In October 2008 the Larmer Tree Festival won the Family Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards.

The festival is held in the Larmer Tree Gardens, Victorian pleasure grounds founded by Augustus Pitt Rivers and described as having "an enchanted and tranquil atmosphere". The Larmer Tree itself was an ancient landmark tree on the ancient boundary between Wiltshire and Dorset. The tree was possibly an ancient Wych elm (Ulmus glabra) under which King John (1167–1216) and his entourage were reputed to have met when they were out hunting. The festival takes place in a setting of lawns and carefully tended gardens, dotted with Indian pavilions and Roman temples, with free-roaming peacocks and macaws.

The inspiration for the festival came in 1990 when James Shepard came across the Larmer Tree Gardens while out jogging one day in Cranborne Chase. The first festival was held in 1990 and was a one-day event, featuring jazz and blues music, with about 200 attenders. The next festivals were two-day affairs, held over a weekend, with co-director Julia Safe joining the festival team in 1993. In 1995 the festival was extended to include the Friday night, and on-site camping was introduced.

The festival is now a five-day event licensed for 5,000 people. The organisers state that "numbers are still strictly limited to protect the intimate atmosphere cherished by devotees." Tickets for the event have sold out months in advance every year since 1995.

Shepard and Safe's company J & J Events Ltd. produces the festival. Shepard and Safe have rejected several major sponsorship deals as they are keen to protect their original concept. The ensuing independence and lack of sponsors' interference has allowed the small team of staff to develop the festival along its own unique lines.