Freddie Whittaker talks to Oli Steadman ahead of this weekend's 2000trees festival

OXFORD bands Stornoway and Gunning For Tamar will represent the city at Gloucestershire’s 2000trees festival this weekend.

The small festival, in Withington, near Cheltenham, has been growing in popularity since its establishment in 2007.

A fairly young and comparatively small festival, 2000trees already has significant pedigree where its line-up is concerned, with former headliners including Art Brut, The King Blues and Frightened Rabbit.

For Stornoway, it’s a chance for the melodic indie-rockers to get back to the country for a bit of good old-fashioned festival fun. Bassist Oli Steadman said: “We're looking forward to some time in the countryside – out of the dark studio and into the grassy meadows. Fingers crossed, the pollen isn’t out to get us like at Glastonbury.”

He said he welcomed the rise of smaller events like 2000trees, and hoped it would signal a change in the UK festival scene. At the moment, Stornoway are taking a break between hectic tours, spending time in the studio to work on new material, and recovering from Glastonbury, where the band performed on the Other Stage.

Oli said: “Each time we go back to Glastonbury we’re feeling more and more a part of the Pilton family – familiar smiles in the crowd reminding us of our previous trips there. “We were so nervous for the Pyramid [in 2011], whereas this time we could relax and enjoy the scenery a lot more.”

2000trees is at Upcote Farm, Withington, from Thursday to Sunday. Other acts include Frank Turner, Mystery Jets, King Charles, Dry The River and InMe. Tickets, costing £72, are available at twothousand treesfestival.co.uk