THE Larmer Tree Festival, held at the lush Larmer Tree Gardens on the Wiltshire/Dorset border, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

The event, which has sold out for the past 15 years, begins tonight with Jools Holland headlining, ably supported by Newton Faulkner. Tomorrow it’s the turn of bluesman Robert Cray, plus up’n’coming Frank Turner.

Larmer Tree – with six stages, more than 80 artistes, a comedy club and 150 free workshops – really gets going on Friday with Toots and the Maytals, Oysterband, Russell Howard and the legendary DJ Derek spinning the reggae discs.

Saturday’s headliners are French ska outfit Babylon Circus, the excellent Dub Pistols and Cornershop. And on Sunday, it’s the turn of Martha Wainwright, Ade Edmonson’s Bad Shepherds and the Unthanks.

However, it’s often the more unknown performers that can make a festival so special – and there are plenty of those at this intimate venue, holding a maximum of 4,000 people.

For those who attend it is very much the opposite of the giant festivals catering for many thousands of punters Founder and co-director James Shepherd said: “I vowed right from the first day that the festival would be ‘sponsor-free’ and, despite some very tempting offers, we have been true to our word.

“With no outside forces to push us around we are free, with the aid of our brilliant staff, to develop an extraordinary and intimate event of entirely our own creation.

“Our links with local organisations as well as hundreds of volunteers from the local area help us maintain the festival’s original roots and community spirit.”

The first festival was held on a really beautiful Saturday in July 1990. Titled ‘The First Larmer Tree Jazz, Blues & Folk Roots Festival’ and, with Dick Heckstall Smith headlining, it ran from midday until midnight with around 150 people.

Since then it has grown to the present five-day extravaganza, regularly featuring Holland as the opening act. The master keyboard man says: “The Larmer Tree is magical. There’s something about the trees – you can see them growing, the music gets their boogie muscles twitching.”

A firm favourite among regular Larmer Tree visitors is the carnival procession on Sunday afternoon. This year’s theme is ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres’ so expect a bright and bombastic musical march, as adult, children and youth groups sport incredible costumes all made on site!