With Truck Festival notching up its 13th year, organiser Robin Bennett tells Tim Hughes why there’s only one place to be this weekend to catch the best new talent.

FOR 363 days a year, Hill Farm is a pretty typical patch of pasture, cereal crops and barns.

But for one weekend, this little pocket of rural solitude is transformed into something altogether more raucous – a sea of 6,000 music-lovers, artists and volunteers getting stuck into the best of pop, rock, indie, punk, folk, country and dance.

The farm is the home of cult music gathering Truck Festival, which has been attracting devotees to its rolling acres on the edge of Steventon, near Didcot, for 13 years.

Starting life as little more than a garden party for friends with guitars, Truck has become one of the UK’s best little festivals.

The faces behind the show are those of brothers Robin and Joe Bennett, who not only pull off the organisation for this multi-faceted fiesta, but spend much of their time playing on its various stages.

The brothers work hard to make each year’s line-up as different as possible, while maintaining its diversity. And they never fail to pull a few surprises out of their straw hats – as evidenced by this year’s headliners: Teenage Fanclub, Mew and members of Mercury Rev.

Other respectable names appearing include Ms Dynamite, Bellowhead (featuring Abingdon squeezebox player John Spiers), Ralfe Band, Blood Red Shoes, Los Campesinos, Darwin Deez, and local heroes Stornoway, Adam from Lab4, the Original Rabbit Foot Spasm band, The Epstein, A Silent Film, Charly Coombes (brother of Supergrass’s Gaz), Matt Sage, Borderville, Little Fish, Mr Shaodow, and Danny and the Champions of the World – which features Joe and Robin in its line-up.

“We have an amazing line-up which we’re delighted with,” says Robin, talking to The Guide from his tour van, while out on the road with “the Champs”.

“Bands know our standards are high, which is why people like Mercury Rev want to be a part of it.

“But it’s not just about big names on the main stage – there’s a lot going on, and as the stages are so close together, you can see a lot together.”

And with 120 bands, there’s a lot to see. So much so that this year, the festival gets under way a day earlier – tomorrow (Friday) night.

“We have a ludicrous number of bands this year,” laughs Robin, pictured right, with brother Chris and Evans Clements. “Truck is jam-packed from dawn-to-dawn! In the beginning we were begging people to play, but now people are breaking down the door to play - so we are starting earlier and finishing later. The music starts at 10am and finishes at 2.30am on Sunday morning – so there’s just time for four hours of sleep and a bacon sandwich, before getting back into it again!

“Oh yeah, and we always put the loudest bands on first as a rule, to get people out of their sleeping bags!”

They’re too modest to brag about it, but the Bennetts have an uncanny ability to book cool bands just before they make it big. So, as well as previously seeing artists of the calibre of Ash, Supergrass, The Lemonheads, Biffy Clyro and Brian Jonestown Massacre on its main stage, this is a festival where Maximo Park, Foals, Young Knives and The XX all played before breaking through.

“People who play at Truck often go on to win awards or headline big festivals a year later,” says Robin. “It is good to be ahead of the game.”

So why do they come? “We’re still a family organisation, and our younger brother Chris is good at booking bands. But as well as keeping lots of space for local acts, we also have slots for artists who apply to us – there will be 12 this year, and some are brilliant – like Miaoux Miaoux and Meursault.

“We have become a miniature Glastonbury, but we’ve also preserved our community involvement. So the Rotary Club continue to serve up burgers and chips and the vicar is still selling his ice creams. Altogether the festival makes £50,000 for charity – which, music aside, makes it worth all that hard work. And that’s why people keep coming back.”

* Robin Bennett chooses his five of the best for Truck 13 Common Prayer – They are a cool New York band who we got to know when Joe and I produced their album in Steventon. They have that Brooklyn sound that people love – with lots of twanging and banging.

Dead Jerichoes – From just down the road in Drayton, they have good songs, lots of energy, and the attitude of The Jam.

Mew – They are a great live band who are tight, noisy and just the right amount of ‘shoe-gaze’.

Bellowhead (below) – an amazing band to see live, they play spectacular gigs and are very different from anything you’ve seen before. We’ve had members Spiers and Boden play at Wood Festival – so it’s great to have the whole band here.

Teenage Fanclub – They keep it simple, being all about melodies guitars and harmonies – with great songs written by three members of the band. And while they’ve been around for a while they never sound dated.

* Truck is this weekend (July 23-25), tickets £80 for adults, 13-17-year-olds £60 and children under 12 free. Day tickets are also available. Go to wegottickets.com