Twinwood Festival, Monday, 31 August 2026
It’s the August bank holiday weekend, the time for lovers of all things vintage to take an adventure back in time via Twinwood Festival, a place where you can easily forget what year you are in.
Twinwood Festival describes itself as “the ultimate vintage festival for music, dance and fashion” and this year’s event was extra special as it was their 25th anniversary.
I headed down to RAF Twinwood Farm Airfield in Clapham on bank holiday Monday to check it out, and oh golly, was I impressed.
The festival was definitely a non-stop dance-a-thon for some attendees, and whilst watching musical performances I saw many dances, such as the quickstep, waltz and Charleston, performed with flair by festival-goers.
For those who couldn’t stop their toes from tapping, there were plenty of opportunities to learn new moves, with many dance classes over the weekend, including shim sham, balboa, and lindy hop.
Once I arrived I made my way to The Hangar, one of the many venues at the festival, for a beginners’ jive class.
The dance seemed daunting at first, but the excellent teachers, Andrew and Julie from Hula Boogie, broke it down into simple steps (quite literally!) so that by the end even my dance-hating boyfriend got the swing of it and was twirling me around the dance floor.
We both agreed this was one of the highlights of our day, and I would definitely recommend it as a fun activity for all dance abilities.
If you’re not into dancing, that is not a problem as there is plenty else to do at the festival.
Discovering the history of Twinwood
Various museums were open across the site, including the Fire Station Museum, the Aviation and Home Front Museum, and the brand-new 60s Memories exhibition, which debuted at the 2026 festival and even featured items of clothing previously owned by Marilyn Monroe.
In addition to these museums, there was also the Control Tower Museum, which included an exhibition on WWII bandleader Glenn Miller.
The festival is held at Twinwood on the August bank holiday weekend in his memory, as on 27 August 1944 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed their only outdoor concert at the British base there.
This was also the last place Glenn Miller was seen alive, when his Norseman Aircraft left the site to go to France, but neither Glenn nor the other passengers, Lieutenant Colonel Norman F. Baessell and Flight Officer John R. Morgan, were ever seen again.
It was interesting to see the photographs on display of the Glenn Miller Orchestra performing at Bedford Corn Exchange, and I was trying to see how the venue has changed over the years.
Fabulous fashion
If you are a lover of vintage fashion, then Twinwood Festival is a must-visit.
I spent a lot of day staring at women’s amazing hairdos, questioning just how do they get those victory rolls looking so sleek?!
I spotted many, many fabulous outfits worn by attendees, from vintage Army officer outfits, to 1920’s style suits with a jaunty hat, and of course the classic 1950’s fit and flare dresses.
The festival is a shopper’s delight, as it featured many stalls selling vintage style clothing, shoes and accessories, allowing festival goers to update their wardrobes with their favourite style.
The festival also holds a Mr and Miss Vintage competition every year, which aims to celebrate “the enduring beauty of classic style.”
Submissions are submitted in advance, and finalists are invited to the festival, so if you fancy yourself as a vintage style icon, keep an eye out on the Twinwood Festival website for details on how to apply next year.
The festival is family friendly with Club Marlene hosting a number of events such as kid’s crafts workshops, children’s swindyhop dance classes, and even some puppet shows.
I caught a bit of a Punch and Judy show and was crying with laughter, and I particularly enjoyed the audience participation of buzzing like a bee.
Worried about festival food?
So was I… traditionally, festival food is a bit rubbish, but I can safely say that this wasn’t the case at Twinwood Festival.
There was a range of stalls covering a wide variety of cuisines, but my favourite was the Tea Room in the Century Club, which served delicious cake and tea in a china teacup, for those vintage vibes.
You can’t have a festival without music, and there was plenty of music for all tastes across the weekend.
The Palais hosted the Liberty stage, which was a showcase of 1940s-themed artists over the weekend. Whilst there, I watched Lili Redman, which made me feel like I was in an authentic 1940s nightclub with her showmanship and old-school presence.
Lili performed classic tracks such as Frank Sinatra’s A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square, (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover by Vera Lynn and Moonlight Serenade by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Also performing at The Palais were The Knightingales, a female vocal harmony trio.
Dressed up to 1940s perfection in matching dresses and heels, the girls performed a feel-good set that had the dance floor full.
Their performance of Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) by Benny Goodman had the crowd charlestoning away, but my highlight was their cover of “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” by Louis Jordan which included the flapping your wings dance move and ended with one of the girls doing a chicken squawk.
Over at Moonshine Glade, the vibe was a bit more country, with Eastern Sons of Soil performing hillbilly and country music.
Folk duo Newberry and Verch, indie-folk and Americana band The Dunwells and blues, soul, funk and R’n’B singer and harmonica player The Buster Cornelius completed the lineup on the stage.
The perfect place to wear your vintage cowboy boots and get line dancing – just hold on to your cowboy hat.
Down at the main arena, many attendees set up their camping chairs to watch the last acts of the weekend.
Despite the rain, the ground wasn’t too muddy, but if you were worried about slipping and sliding through the mud instead of swinging and swaying as you danced, then there was a large wooden platform set up for all the dancing divas at the event.
Thank you for the music
The big brass bands were out on Sunday afternoon, and I caught Swing ‘It, a vintage pop and hot jazz band who were even semi-finalists on “Norway’s Got Talent”.
The band performed both covers, such as The Bare Necessities by Bruce Reitherman and Phil Harris, and original material, such as their tracks I’m So Glad and Party Like It’s 1923, which made me feel like I was at a party at Gatsby’s mansion.
In front of me, festival-goers were popping champagne, which was relevant as Swing ‘It bought on stage their frequent collaborator Champagne Charlie, who was decked out in a fabulous floor-length green sequinned jacket for an energetic performance of their track Champagne.
A highlight of Swing ‘It’s set was when they performed their track “King of the Conga” with the aim of starting the longest conga line ever… conga lines were started, and there were several strains of them working their way around the arena.
I’m sure if they all joined up it would have been the longest conga line ever.
Next up on the main stage were The Fabulous Hurricanes, who performed their swinging rock ‘n’ Roll, Motown & old-school R&B set.
The eight-piece band seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the festival-goers. The group are clearly friends and had fun on stage, dancing with each other when they weren’t playing their instrument, and taking the mick out of each other’s outfit choices.
The band’s set included various upbeat tunes made for dancing, such as You’re the One I Want, Twist and Shout, and Shake Your Tail Feather, which ended with frontman Ed bringing the band up to the front of the stage to do the relevant dance moves shouted out in the song.
Their set ended with a cover of Elvis Presley’s track Blue Suede Shoes, and looking around, the crowd seemed to be having the time of their lives, dancing away with big grins on their face.
Closing the festival on the main stage was The Down for the Count Soul Collective, and this was their eleventh appearance at Twinwood Festival.
They opened their set with Dancing in the Street, which had the crowd dancing in front of the stage.
The thirteen-piece band performed an excellent set, demonstrating their ability to play fabulously as a tight-knit group.
The vocal performances were also excellent and soulful, delivering the classics such as Heard it Through the Grapevine, Rescue Me and All Night Long with style and pizzazz – a great way to end the festival weekend.
Be sure to dust off your sharpest suit, shiniest shoes, and jauntiest of hats and get your tickets for Twinwood Festival 2027 for a swinging, soulful and groovy weekend you won’t forget.
Our reviewer and her guest were gifted tickets to the festival to facilitate the review
