Midlands-based Fairport Convention had the best weather of the year for its three-day Cropredy Music Festival. The event, which took place last weekend, is staged annually in the eponymous village near Banbury and was organised as usual by Birmingham-born bass player Dave Pegg and his wife Christine.

The Cropredy show has invented its own unique niche, a cross between a giant village picnic and a retrospective of 1967's 'summer of love'. This year's audience of families, folkies and old hippies sweated goodnaturedly in blazing sunshine enjoying three days of eccentrically eclectic music.

The unsung star of the show was the sound system - home stereo quality in a cow field. This was evident from the word go - Thursday's opening act, Colvin-Quarmby, sounded needle sharp. This four-piece outfit is based in Stratford-Upon-Avon and its ebullient brand of pop surely deserves wider recognition. Next up were Coventry's Meet On The Ledge (named after the Fairport song) then ex-Move bassist Trevor Burton took the stage with his tight 'n' bluesy band to delight the fans with top notch Birmingham R&B. The night ended with revered Geordie five-piece Lindisfarne whose storming set had the crowd singing and dancing in the evening cool.

Highlights on Friday included the first UK performance by youngster Mark Gillespie: backed by a gritty little ensemble, his plangent voice was a magnificent vehicle for an hour of clever and thoughtful songs - a man to watch out for! David Hughes, another superb songwriter, gave a fine performance, his sardonic observational humour being extremely well received. Blue Tapestry (probably the most over-talented 'tribute' act in the world) featured songs by Carole King and Joni Mitchell beautifully sung by folk divas Chris While and Julie Matthews backed by sidesmen from the Fairport/Richard Thompson/Albion Band axis.

Despite such strong competition, Friday's instrumental laurels went to Cornish three-guitars-and-a-drumkit swingers The Bucket Boys. Their bravura playing was augmented with guest spots from Ralph McTell and double bass maestro Danny Thompson. By contast, the set by headliners Procol Harum was statelier and a tad portentous, the faux-operatic quality epitomised by their 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale.

Saturday afternoon had a folkier feel. A highlight was the Tyneside credibilty and superb traditional song from Jed Grimes' band The Hush, featuring the golden voice of Bob Fox. This was followed by rockin' reels and jigs from the excellent Scottish five-piece Old Blind Dogs. Other crowd pleasers included the dazzling guitar virtuosity of Albert Lee and the astounding vocal fireworks of ex-Dr Hook frontman Dennis Lecorriere.

Fairport took the stage shortly after 8pm on Saturday for their customary marathon performance. Their set showcased well over a dozen guest appearances, including legendary fiddler Dave Swarbrick and the elegantly laconic Steve Gibbons, both Brummies. The band played on... in fact, they got through a substantial part of their thirty-five-year back catalogue and the crowd lapped it up. Fairport's stint ended at midnight as the 20,000 strong audience sang along with the festival's traditional anthemic finale, Richard Thompson's song 'Meet On The Ledge'.