Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2026

As we headed towards our usual rendezvous point in a Banbury layby so that our assembled group could drive in together and set up camp next to one another, there were two niggles on my mind. Would we cope with the heat during this latest heatwave? And would there be an easy Plan B in place if the new-fangled ticket app didn’t work on my phone in the middle of a field with poor mobile reception? The latter proved to be a doddle. Although the ticket app wasn’t loading properly, I gave my order details to a special helpdesk at the wristband exchange and they printed off old-fashioned tickets for me so we could pick up our wristbands. Phew! Cropredy 2026 (Photo credit: Simon Putman) As for the heat. It was bloody hot. Even when I’m abroad laying by a pool I prefer to be ‘sun adjacent’ and avoid direct sunlight by finding myself a large sunshade and, ideally, a big cluster of palm trees to plonk myself under. There were none of those at Cropredy, of course. On the plus side, I think we’ve…