Keep on Trucking

Oh look, Pitchfork's Marc Hogan has - like me - drawn parallels between the spectacular horrorshow that was Fyre and the smaller-scale muddy carnage of Y Not, that (partially) took place in Derbyshire in July. He's gone further, though, and linked to this Oxford Mail article about arguably Oxfordshire's flagship festival Truck in his piece about poorly planned and organised events that have left punters disappointed and angry.

I knew Truck was now being run by Global (also behind Y Not) and that both bashes were extremely unfortunate with the weather conditions - but I wasn't aware that its future looks to be under threat given the disgruntlement of the site owner with this year's festival. Alan Binning has said: "The event has lost its village fete approach. It's gone too commercial and lost its way. There needs to be a serious re-think of approach."

While I wasn't there and so can't corroborate his complaint first-hand, it certainly rings true. That "village fete approach" - catering provided by Didcot Rotary Club (for whom the event has always been a major fundraiser), a sweet stall run by the local vicar - was always a cornerstone of its unique character. Here's hoping it can rediscover that character - though it seems as though Global might need to relinquish control for that to happen. It's already effectively been reborn once, after the disaster of 2011, so hopefully it can rise once again, on a smaller scale and with a much more interesting line-up.