THE Larmer Tree festival opens its doors today for a five day extravaganza with headlining music from Van Morrison, KT Tunstall and Dexys Midnight Runners. The event celebrates all types of culture, from film and comedy to music, art and crafts. For many people, one of the highlights of the North Dorset event is the presence of cinema critic Mark Kermode, who runs a Film Club throughout the festival’s duration.

This year’s films have a time travel theme and include Peggy Sue Got Married, Groundhog Day, Twelve Monkeys, Brigadoon and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Mark will be there to introduce them and provide some fascinating insights into the films and their makers. Mark explained: “We try to come up with a theme that makes sense but that’s also loose enough so you can pretty much put in films in that will appeal to children and to adults, as well as musicals and science fiction.

“We decided that time travel gave us so much scope because it is such a classic movie genre. “You can have films like Brigadoon, about a place that only appears once every 100 years, to Groundhog Day which is pretty much the definitive time travel movie about a man who has to repeat the same thing every day. It is a lovely film, an absolute joy.

“Peggy Sue Got Married was sadly pushed to one side by Back to the Future but it is a wonderful and melancholic film. “The idea that the character played by Katherine Turner can go back and relive her schooldays and make certain decisions again is a brilliant one and she is just brilliant in the role.

“It wasn’t seen by many people when it came out but that is the joy of time travel – you can look back at films, see them again, and wonder why you didn’t go out and see them the first time round.”

Mark is a veteran Larmer Tree visitor, first visiting with his family when his children were small and then performing there with his band before Film Club started around five years ago.

“I’m not very good at those overwhelmingly big festivals, I find the large crowds quite oppressive. “But I love the Larmer Tree and I’m really looking forward to this year – though fingers crossed the weather is likely to be better. “I remember last year doing the links for The Culture Show from the festival and standing in my wellies in really deep mud thinking ‘this really is incredibly wet’.

“It is a wonderfully family orientated festival and I love the fact that kids can run about and that there’s a great mix of music and workshops and comedy.

There is something for all ages, whether it’s music, comedy or craft and that’s what we try and embrace with Film Club.

“The grounds at Larmer are lovely too. They were built to lift the spirits and they do! “It’s a great festival, very friendly with very good toilets and you don’t feel you’re being overwhelmed by a tide of humanity.”

  • Larmer Tree Festival at the Larmer Tree Gardens at Tollard Royal runs from July 17-21. Visit larmeretreefestival.co.uk or call 01725 552300 for full details and tickets.