When: 12th – 14th July 2024
Where: Park Farm, Compton Verney, Warwickshire, England
ALSO Festival has just revealed full details of more than 100 new events that will take place this July as it returns for its 11th annual outing to the delightful Capability Brown-landscaped surroundings of Park Farm, Compton Verney in Warwickshire this July.
Described as a festival “where ideas run wild”, ALSO brings together an exciting programme that combines ideas, music, and comedy alongside adventures in food, nature, and wellness.
IDEAS: Joining a previously announced line-up of inspirational speakers that includes Philippa Perry, Tim Marshall, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Natalie Haynes, Professor David Tong, and Nels Abbey will be Robin Ince Asks David Tong About Life, the Universe and Everything, a second event with Charles Foster on being at one with the universe, plus the founding director of Cornell University’s Carl Sagan Institute and astrophysicist, Lisa Kaltenegger.
Furthermore, bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud will be there to offer her Fiction Prescriptions and The Art of Mindful Reading as will award-winning author Irenosen Okojie with Curandera, her thrilling, experimental new novel exploring the darker elements of shamanism, desire, betrayal, and friendship across time and dimensions. Psychologist and long-time ALSO collaborator, neuroscientist, Professor Catherine Loveday will be exploring love and memory as well as introducing Jessica Hepburn, the first and only woman on the planet to have completed the ‘Sea, Street, Summit Challenge’.
COMEDY & CABARET: Comedy headliners Sara Pascoe and Adam Kay will be joined at ALSO24 by the celebrated comedy writer Joel Morris discussing his new book Be Funny or Die; star of cult-hit An Evening Without Kate Bush Sarah Louise Young who presents her new choose-your-own-adventure cabaret I am your tribute and rising Welsh- Indian comedian Priya Hall with her new show ‘Is This Okay?’. Also making his only Festival appearance of 2024 (having performed at Glastonbury in 2023), it’s the only fish to ever forget appearing on Britain’s Got Talent: Bobby Goldfinn who will be introducing the ALSO All Stars Talent show.
MUSIC & AUDIO ADVENTURES: Stornoway, Jessica Winter, The Fontanas, Edie Bens, Oscar Browne and Yoshika Colwell will now be joined by the award-winning DJ Smokin Jo headlining The Bunker and jazz-electronic quartet Respair. Join Juliet Russell’s vocal jam, a singing session with London City Voices; learn how to play the authentic Afro-Brazilian rhythms in Tribo’s Samba drumming workshop; or immerse yourself in the ethereal sounds of conch shell music with musician Steve Pretty (Hackney Colliery Band).
WELLNESS: In this restorative programme there will be wild swimming, paddleboarding, SUP yoga & meditation and SAUNA, plus yoga sessions to suit everybody and every schedule from Rasa Fire Yoga with Claire Saunders, Acro Yoga with Kosara Yankova, Scented yoga and meditation with Sarah McCartney to Dynamic Vinyasa Flow with Smokin Jo. Revitalising Soundbaths will take place throughout the weekend from The Soundbath Collective and NUMINITY who also present their Cacao Ceremony deep in the forest where chocolate is paired with meditation. For a moment of calm at night join the festival’s Space Meditation and perhaps start your Journaling journey with Abbie Macfarlane.
EXPERIENCES: Dive into ALSO’s Heavenly Bodies theme with a guided Scent Walk with the leading perfumer Sarah McCartney of indie Perfume House 4160 Tuesdays; Space Walk with cosmologist Roberto Trotta in ALSO’s custom built woodland Orrery; join a Space Meditation session or sign up for a masterclass in Galactic Art with Isabella Mitchell. Get exploring on the Planetary Scavenger Hunt or compete in the festival’s first-ever Space Hopper Championships.
FOOD: Joining ALSO’s executive chef-in-residence James Whetlor, there will also be a sustainable seafood long-table lunch from Winkle Picker, Pirate Rum and Pasty tasting with Dan Abbots. Get your Sunday off to a bubbly start at Bingo Brunch where you can expect brunch baps, banging tunes, bucks fizz and big prizes or join wine expert Jane Rakison for tastings and exploration of sustainable wines.
FAMILY: There is plenty of entertainment for people of all ages including the McLeod Brothers for their The Knights and Wizards Comic Workshop; leading children’s author Andy Stanton welcomes you to The Crazy World of Mr Gum with surreal wordplay, wildly inventive mayhem and very, very bad singing; or everyone’s favourite pantomime dame at Storytime with Mama G. The fantastic Playbox Theatre are back with a variety of musical theatre experiences (The Lion King for ages 5-7, The Little Mermaid 8-10 and The Greatest Showman 11-14) as well as the best bedtime stories abound in their Magic Carpet Storytelling plus Marcel Lucont returns with his smash hit family show Les Enfants Terribles – A Gameshow For Awful Children. There’s Yoga for Teens taught by 18-year-old yoga teacher Olivia Saunders from YogaBright and Wasted with DJ Sam Seven, – the UK’s first under 18’s sustainable club night, aiming to “recycle rave culture” while advocating for actionable measures in response to climate change is coming to ALSO24’s Bunker. And for the first time at ALSO, leading nanny service Mortimer Nannies are on hand so you can enjoy a meal while it’s still hot or hit the late-night dance floors in childfree style.
TICKETS: Tier 2 Weekend Tickets (priced £150 for adults, £70 for children) and Day Tickets (from £22-£70) are available at ALSO 2024 (also-festival.com). Under 5s go free.
