Tim Hughes on the line-up at this weekend’s ‘Astonbury’

A top rapper, a chart-topping pop group and one of the world’s leading DJs unite this weekend to play a festival with a difference – in aid of a small village cricket club.

While most rural cricket clubs are content with a hog roast or raffle, Aston Rowant prefers to do things differently – laying on the kind of entertainment usually only seen in big clubs and music festivals.

So, instead of pub acts and ceilidh bands, the club, near Chinnor, has urban star Wretch 32, melodic pop act The Feeling and dance music icon Jaguar Skills.

Joining them at this weekend’s party – dubbed “Astonbury” in a cheeky nod to the massive Somerset bash – are BBC TV’s The Voice contestants De’Vide and Jade May-Jean Peters, London ska band Imperial Leisure, Swoons, Laura Williams, The MFU, Liza Swart, Haze, The Picture Palace, Casson, DJ Richard Cook and the Jeremiah Brothers – the side project of The Feeling’s Kevin and Ciaran Jeremiah.

This will be the eighth instalment of Astonbury and sees artists following in the footsteps of The Voice’s Tyler James in 2013 and rapper Tinchy Stryder last year.

The festival, which started off as as a humble gig on a cricket field using a farm lorry as a stage, this year moves to a new 5,000-capacity site on the Kingston Estate, at Kingston Blount. For the first time, action will take place over two days with camping encouraged.

Event director Thad Cooper, 27, from Aston Rowant, said: “This is a big step up for us. Previously we’ve held it in a barn but this year we are taking it outside and for two days – which is amazing. It also means the barn can be used for the harvest, which is as it should be.

“We now have a very big stage, which is exciting, and it’s a very beautiful site in the foothills of the Chilterns, surrounded by lovely old trees. It is going to look great.

“I can’t wait to see the festival taking place,” he added.

The festival is an important fundraiser for the cricket club, which has a thriving youth section and is home to the national disability first XI.

Thad said it also presented a great opportunity for local bands and artists to show off their skills. “Despite being able to land top global acts, Astonbury has stayed true to its roots,” he says.

“We continue to provide a fantastic opportunity for local talent to showcase their material to larger crowds on a professional platform. This is a local success story that is now really maturing into a serious festival.”

And what do the more conservative older club members make of hip-hop stars – and their fans – descending on their cricket club?

“Some people here have been playing since I was in a pram,” says Thad, laughing. “They may not be fans of Wretch 32 but they know we are just trying to make the club better and support us.

“The whole point is to raise money for the club, and Astonbury is one of the reasons we have such a strong youth section. It means we have good pitches and nets and lots of people want to play for us.

Herald Series:

  • Jaguar Skills performs in a mask to hide his identity

“We also have The Feeling playing, so they have something to enjoy before we get to rave the night away on Saturday.”

Wretch 32 – real name Jermaine Scott Sinclair – is a leading light of the East London “grime” scene, scoring three top-five singles his from debut album Black and White and picking up a million sales.

The Feeling are also no strangers to the charts – their albums Join With Us and Twelve Stops and Home reaching number one and two, respectively.

They have also scored four top-10 singles – Sewn, Fill My Little World, Never Be Lonely, and I Thought It Was Over.

Dance, hip-hop and dubstep DJ Jaguar Skills is a cult artist who keeps his identity a secret by performing in a Ninja mask. But he is also known for his deft turntable techniques in mixing samples.

How did Thad and his team of volunteers manage to assemble such an impressive line-up? “We do have good contacts,” he says. “But it’s no great mystery. You’ve just go through a booking agency and be prepared to pay.”

The Feeling, Jeremiah Brothers and Jaguar Skills will perform on Friday night, while Wretch 32 will be one of the many acts on Saturday.

Weekend tickets are £32 for adults, £28 under-18s and free to under-12s, or £20 for a day, and are available from astonbury.net.