THOUSANDS of people will descend on Charlbury over the weekend for the county’s only free music festival.

The town’s Riverside Festival, which takes place tomorrow and Sunday, is now in its 14th year.

The line-up includes several of Oxford’s most popular bands, including Little Fish, Smilex, The Epstein, and A Silent Film.

Organiser Andy Pickard: “I’m very pleased with the line-up and I think it’s the best one we’ve had.

“We have got at least four Glastonbury bands and all the others should be playing at Glastonbury.”

The event costs between £17,000 and £20,000 to put on, raised through grants, donations and money collected at the event.

New for this year will be an extended children’s area, complete with tipis and workshops spread across the two days.

Mr Pickard said: “We call it a festival but it’s a real community event. It has the ethos of a true free festival, it’s something you can take the family to without having to worry about spending pots of money.”

The event takes place at the Mill Field, in Mill Lane, which is off Dyers Hill, the road which links the town centre with the railway station.

Gates open at 1pm on Saturday with music starting at 2pm and running until 10pm. The event runs, between 11am and 8pm on Sunday.