IT’S the big festival in the small village and it returns for its 48th year on Thursday.

Towersey Festival, near Thame, is well established on the folk music scene and this year is headlined by The South – formerly the Beautiful South – Bellowhead and Nic Jones.

With more than 200 events spread across 12 stages over five days, workers are busily preparing the site in anticipation of welcoming up to 10,000 visitors of all ages.

Aside from the music, there will be a real ale and cider festival and a dedicated children’s festival offering four days of family activities, workshops and performances.

Festival director Joe Heap, whose grandfather set up the event almost 50 years ago, said: “The great thing about Towersey is that it has been going so long that we know we have to offer something for everyone.

“It’s been going for 48 years and we think it’s the oldest independent festival in the country.

“It was started in the village by my grandfather, Denis Manners, to raise funds for the refurbishment of the village hall and it continues to run in that spirit.

“Every year we give money to local organisations in the village and beyond into Thame and Oxfordshire generally. The festival has raised more than £250,000 in the past 10 years.

“The festival opens on Thursday with The South and you buy event tickets for that and all the other acts at our Venue 65, which is so called because the festival began in 1965.

“On Friday night we’ve got Bellowhead, who are real Radio 2 favourites, then on Saturday night we have a fantastic band called Edward II who play a kind of English reggae.

“On Sunday we have a Celtic dance party with Scottish band Peatbog Faeries.

“We like to call it an acoustic music festival with a family feel.

“The great thing is if people want to come along on the day but are a bit scared of festivals like Reading or Leeds then they can get a festival experience ticket for £8. This lets them enter the showground and enjoy the atmosphere and stalls without any of the mud and headline acts of big festivals.”

For more information, visit towerseyfestival.com or call 01629 827016.