HELD just 30-minutes north of York and having received last year’s Festival of the Year award, Deer Shed Festival returned to Baldersby Park, Topcliffe last weekend for its 14th year and its family-friendly blend of music, comedy, arts and activities.
The organisers delivered beautifully on every level this year with a combination of around 100 bands and artists performing across four stages and comprised of well-known acts, a few acts with the ‘next big thing’ label as well as Yorkshire based bands supporting the proud regional feel.
Over 8,000 people descended on this beautiful site for the entire weekend. Overlooked by a glorious 18th century Georgian mansion, indie icons The Coral, the ever-popular Bombay Bicycle Club, and Mercury-nominated CMAT headlined the main stage across the three nights accompanied by stellar performances from the likes of BC Camplight, Los Bitchos, and Home Counties.
The cultural programme included talks from the Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, award-winning slam poet Vanessa Kisuule, and poet laureate Simon Armitage while the comedy line up showcased The Horne Section, Mark Watson and Shaparak Khorsandi, all which drew large crowds.
The family-owned Deer Shed Festival is considered ‘special’ by many due to its boutique style, physical surroundings, quality headliners and undiscovered artists.
The weekend saw the site transformed into a haven for children to play and explore with entertainment from Rubik’s cube workshops, retro gaming, bush crafts, tree climbing, kayaking and wrestling as well as the Sports Arena and its skateboarding workshop and nerf guns.
The wellbeing agenda saw wild swimming and sauna sessions in and around the River Swale. The locally produced food and drink and glorious weather adding to what is regarded as one of the kindest and friendliest festivals around. Here are my highlights over the three days:
FRIDAY: Hailing from Halifax, young female singer-songwriter Ellur played her lovely music to a relatively sparse crowd as the festival kicked-off, her early performance enhanced by her late-night Fireside Session played to over 200 campers. Jallen Ngonda impressed with his 1960/70s classical Motown soul-style material whilst LYR, fronted by the Simon Armitage, was excellent with their spoken word against the backdrop of melodic keyboard, acoustic guitar.
SATURDAY: Scottish artist and TikTok sensation Katie Gregson-Macleod opened Main Stage on Saturday as her beautiful vocal and songwriting captured the hearts of the many listeners as they basked in the sunshine. The highlight of the day, and perhaps the weekend, was the Main Stage performance by local band Deadletter. Hailing from Malton (and Driffield and Robin Hood’s Bay), Deadletter has made a stir on both Radio 6 and the indie scene, combining the energy of The Clash with the songwriting abilities of The Stranglers and Arctic Monkeys. They were captivating and exciting, their lead singer blending anger and charisma throughout. The hardworking and humble Bombay Bicycle Club closed the day with their Saturday headline, performing their catchy-indie melodies alongside wonderful storytelling.
SUNDAY: The glorious weather continued for a third successive day as Bess Atwell performed Main Stage with her excellent band and a sound reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac and Sheryl Crow. This was followed by Oxford-based Stornoway who returned to Deer Shed after a ten-year hiatus to perform a strong set which evidenced their rediscovery of a love for songwriting which had been lost along the way. Home Counties were excellent in their performance of quirky pop with its hints of Athlete and Easylife while the highlight of the day was new artist Jacob Alon’s performance in the intimate Wilderwild Stage to a hand full of listeners, his vocal and songwriting drawing comparisons to Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake.
A limited number of Early Bird Tickets for Deer Shed Festival 2025 went on sale this week at Deer Shed - tickets (deershedfestival.com)
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here