Music events in Banburyshire

We list two music events, and most readers will only want one of them. Choose Cropredy for folk rock in a field with thousands of others, and the Early Music Festival for viols, lutes and a free market of instrument makers. Beyond those, music here is mostly in the pubs.

Fairport's Cropredy Convention

Fairport's Cropredy Convention is the one people travel for: three days in the fields beside the village of Cropredy, run by the band Fairport Convention on the second full weekend of August. There is one stage, so you never have to choose between acts, and the arena field slopes down towards it. Chairs stay behind a marked line, and the space in front of the stage is for standing and dancing. The bill is folk rock and whatever else the band enjoys. The organisers call it family friendly, with a children's tent.

Most people camp. Our camping guide goes through the fields, arrival, stickers and the canal, written from the organisers' own pages. If you want a bed, the village's rooms are few, and the Brasenose Arms, which runs its own music fringe that week, has only four. Ask in spring. For the opposite experience, come another weekend, when the village is quiet.

Banbury Early Music Festival

The Banbury Early Music Festival is a weekend of medieval, renaissance and baroque music, on the last full weekend of September since 2024, run by three local specialists with crowdfunding helping to pay for it. In 2026 there were six concerts, including a lutenist marking the 400th anniversary of John Dowland's death, and workshops in choral singing, recorder, historical dance and more, most needing an application ahead.

The easiest way in costs nothing. Instrument and music makers run a free market around the Horse Fair, so you can walk in with no ticket and no knowledge. The festival's mailing list is the first place to hear about dates.

Music in the pubs and the rest of the year

A regular night out is easier to find than these two suggest. The Apothecary Tap in Banbury has bands and comedy, and sells tickets separately for some of them. The Norman Knight at Whichford has run live music on Saturdays, the George and Dragon at Chacombe has live music too, and the Bell at Adderbury holds folk sessions through the year. Check each listing's dates first.

Festivals carry music as well. The Hook Norton beer festival has live music all day, opened in 2026 by the village's brass band, and the Banbury Show has a local stage. Adderbury's Day of Dance brings morris sides and their musicians to the village in late April.

What is missing

We have no classical concert series, jazz club or large indoor venue on the list. Chipping Norton Theatre runs a programme through the year, so look there. The Silverstone concerts belong to the Grand Prix, and need a race ticket or a separate evening one.