Cambridge Rock Festival, the somewhat nomadic four-day rock festival was celebrating its twenty-first year in 2025. I first photographed this event back in 2008 when it took place at Wood Green Animal Shelter in Godmanchester. Over the years it has pitched up at several different venues for a variety of practical reasons.
The fact that it is still going is down to the determination on one man, Dave Roberts, his family, and his army of dedicated volunteers. Each year they pull together and make the event happen, it was good to be back at CRF. Oddly enough, it takes place on the same site that recently hosted Ely Folk Festival three weeks earlier, but in a completely different configuration.
There were, as with Ely Folk, three stages, all covered – Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire in descending size and audience capacity. There the similarities end. Folk Festivals lend themselves to impromptu sessions breaking out in bars and out of the way areas. Less so Rock Festivals, although for all I know there could have been some enthusiastic air-guitar sessions late at night at the campsite?
In almost twenty years of covering festivals, I have learned never to judge a festival by its line-up. The festival experience, for me, is not about seeing big names play live. It is about the atmosphere, the conversations, the moments – all accompanied by all enveloping music. I was there for just two of the four days, I can’t imagine that the laid-back rock vibe was any different on the two days I missed.
One band on the bill piqued my interest. Jayler – a young four-piece band with a combined age of less than eighty, so I was told by the organiser. With so many tribute bands out there playing the classic rock anthems, and there is nothing wrong with that, it is nice to see a young, high energy rock band doing their own thing. They dealt with some technical issues professionally, not letting tech get in the way of performance. If you are an old school rock fan, seek out Jayler, proof – if any were needed – that rock lives on.
Cambridge Rock Festival is one of many dog-friendly festivals. One of the unscripted moments for me was spotting dogs wearing ear defenders. Perfectly sensible and the right thing to do – you would never have gotten our dog to put anything like that on her head!
The Mustangs are well known in blues / rock circles, but their appearance on the Sapphire stage was dogged by a few issues. They had lost their blues harpist, Nigel Feist, to traffic on the M25. But the show must go on, and ever the professionals, it did. With a warning that their set might be interrupted by an out of breath stranger staggering onto the stage, the band just got on with it. But their first few numbers were also dogged by issues with the front of stage monitors. This meant that the band couldn’t hear what they were playing. From where I was standing, front of house, they were nailing it – not bad for an effectively deaf band.
They ad-libbed beautifully without Nigel, inviting a member of the audience to join them on stage who promptly rocked the tent with an excellent rendition of Credence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Proud Mary‘. To be fair, it wasn’t just any ol’ member of the audience but Mandy from Roadhouse. Much to guitarist Adam Norsworthy’s relief, Nigel arrived to finish the set – and it was all worth waiting for.
On Saturday we were in for a surprise with the unscheduled appearance of John Otway. He had got the call about 8pm on Friday evening and immediately agreed to play. Being on his third pint at the time, he had forgotten that he had no instruments with him but borrowed a guitar on-site from a very generous Rich Young and played away in his inimitable style. If you have never seen John Otway play, make sure you do – apart from being an excellent songwriter he is also a highly entertaining performer.
Over the two days I was there, I was entertained by an array of excellent bands. Flipping between the stages I got glimpses of most of the acts. Experience Beck entertained fans of the iconic British guitarist, Tygers of Pan Tang proved that they have lost nothing over the years. The Outlaw Orchestra – probably the smallest orchestra I have ever photographed, made up for what they lacked in numbers by playing a powerful set of tunes.
There were many others who caught my ear, mentioning them all risks this paragraph drifting into my pet hate – a list. I will, however, make mention of Thr3e who are well worth seeking out, playing an excellent mix of blues and rock. And of course, there were The Milk Men an act I fully intend to see again when they play at my local independent venue, The John Peel Centre in October.
The best way to get a feel for this, or indeed any, festival is to experience it yourself. Cambridge Rock Festival is not one of the biggest in the region. It has, however, a loyal following, it is free from commerciality, there is space to breathe and without a doubt features some excellent music every year. It is a place to chill, to meet up with old friends and to make new ones. At less than £200 for a four-day weekend ticket it is possibly one of the most affordable and best value festival tickets in the region – early bird tickets make it even better value.
Cambridge Rock Festival 2026
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