29/07/2026
THE RABBIT HOLE SURVIVED… SOMEHOW,
What can I even say about Alice’s Wicked Tea Party 2026,
I’m still trying to work out if it actually happened or if we all just fell into the same beautifully deranged hallucination for three stupidly glorious days in a field in Dorset.
One minute we were building Wonderland out of scaffolding, timber, bunting and blind optimism,
…the next minute hundreds of Cheshire Cats were wandering through the Rabbit Hole, discovering new music, finding old friends, making new ones, dancing with complete strangers, and proving once again that this strange little gathering we’ve somehow created has become way more than “just a festival.”
Every year the Earth drifts lazily around the Sun, and every year you lot somehow find your way back to this hidden corner of Wareham, Dorset.
It’s become a pilgrimage.
Not for religion, for belonging.
You arrive as strangers, leave as family, and somewhere in between a little bit of magic sneaks in while nobody’s looking.
As the Mad Hatter once wisely never said,
“We’re all wonderfully late for something.”
The artists…
good grief.
Where do you even start.
Every single one of you turned up and treated that stage like it was Wembley. There wasn’t a weak performance the entire weekend. Every set had its own personality, its own heartbeat, its own moment where the crowd collectively realised they’d just discovered their next favourite band.
Watching Mystery Action return, somehow even tighter and more dangerous than last year,
Standing there grinning through Ian Anderson’s Crazyhead and the Headonists as they threw me straight back into my youth,
Seeing Le Bone close out Sunday with glorious pink madness that felt like Cardiacs had gatecrashed a Scissor Sisters rehearsal,
Being completely blown away by The Empty Page and WEBB even though I thought I already knew exactly how good they were…
Honestly… every single band did me proud.
You’ll all be getting your own posts because trying to squeeze you into one thank‑you would be criminal.
Then there’s the people who make this ridiculous dream possible.
The crew,the builders,the decorators,the bar staff,the traders,the caterers,the gate crew,the stewards,the sound engineers, the people who quietly get on with the jobs nobody notices until they don’t happen.
You’re the invisible machiery that keeps Wonderland turning.
Pete… somehow building the Wonderland Bar areA while appearing to exist in three places at once.
Poppy… transforming spaces into magic and once again opening her home to create the Acoustic Stage.
Hayley and the entire bar team… keeping hundreds of thirsty Cheshire Cats hydrated without losing your sanity.
Tom and Max… making every band sound exactly as they deserved.
Darran and Suzzan… bringing Wonderland to life through the stage itself.
Nathan and the gate crew… welcoming everyone with smiles before the madness even began.
Lee Holder and Eris… keeping the Silent Rave alive long after sensible people should’ve been asleep.
And Lee…
thank you for stepping in as compare at the drop of a hat alongside Tim Heywood.
You probably don’t realise it, but you quite literally kept me off my feet.
Or more accurately… you stopped me getting shorter.
And finally…
you. The Cheshire Cats.
Without you, it’s just a field. You are the atmosphere.
You are the laughter drifting through the woods at midnight.
the conversations around the Rabbit Hole, the dancing, the costumes, the hugs between people meeting for the first time and greeting each other like old friends.
Time and tim again you tell me Alice’s Wicked Tea Party is one of the friendliest fun filled festivals you’ve ever been to.
Those aren’t my words.
They’re yours.
And that makes me prouder than anything.
Three days, countless hours, more lifting, building, problem‑solving, laughing and running around than my legs care to remember.
Would I do it all again?
In a heartbeat.
Because every year, for one extraordinary weekend, we prove that music still has the power to build a community unlike anything else.
So here’s the deal.
The first rule of the Rabbit Hole remains unchanged.
YOU TALK ABOUT ALICE'S WICKED TEA PARTY !! like it's your new found religion, spread the word or the Rabbit gets it. No i'm not going to boil it :D
And Next year… bring someone who’s never been.
Introduce one new soul to Wonderland.
Because every single one of us arrived here for the first time once.
Someone opened that door for us.
Now it’s our turn to open it for somebody else.
They may not know it yet,
but they’ll thank you for the rest of their lives.
Until the next turn of the Sun,
we’ll meet again down the Rabbit Hole for Alice’s Wicked Tea Party 2027.
Stay strange,
stay kind,
and never stop chasing the impossible.
Bless & Big Luv,
Snuffers ###
fans
Anderson from Crazyhead & the Headonists Die Kur TheQwarks The Pink Diamond R***e Luxury Stranger El Generico ROOM 11 Stickler Band hell and the emus
V2A The SinicTones - Psycho Surf Noir Rites of Hadda Mystery Action WEBB Barmy Army Blind Cat Hot Pink Sewage Bona Rays Adfeilion The Surge Dog Of Man The Ladyboys Zombie’ites honey Badger
Le Bone The Empty Page Neon Fields BB BlackDog Mr Teatime ( The Scribes ) THE PAPASHANGOS
