Davefest is returning for a seventh year of music and celebrations.

The festival was started in 2013 by a group of friends, in memory of their mate Dave ‘Barbie’ Lord.

“Dave took his own life in 2012, and his funeral was almost like a festival in itself,” said Felix Flicker, a Junior Research Fellow of Physics at Oxford University. “I think about 300 to 350 people were there.

“We got talking about doing something to remember him. Later that year about 30 of us had a big meeting and in 2013 we held the first Davefest on his birthday.

“Dave was from Gloucester and moved to Oxford to work as a porter at the University, which is where he and I met. We both did martial arts and became good friends.”

Now every year on the weekend of Dave’s birthday, 13th April, hundreds of people gather to celebrate his life and the lives of those they’ve lost.

Prior to Davefest, Felix and the others had never organised an event of the kind.

But he says that the support of those who knew Dave made setting up the festival a doddle, and as it has grown, even those who didn’t know him have lent a helping hand.

“We didn’t really have any experience in doing anything like this beforehand,” he explained.

“A few years ago I was invited to do a physics talk at a festival in Devon called ‘Independence Day’. That was also set up in memory of someone who had died and the organisers told me it was pretty easy to put together.

“We had about 100 people who were coming every year and saying they wanted to help organise, so about two years ago we opened up a Facebook group for planning, and anyone who wanted to get involved could join in.”

The festival is a family friendly music event held at the Lower Lode Inn in Forthampton and is free to attend, with camping spots available.

Felix continued: “Something that we started recently and has become really popular is themed camps, where people dress up and have a theme running through their site.

“We’ve had Camp Tie Dye – where everything is tie dyed. Then we have ones like Carvers Corner with professional wood carvers selling and doing workshops, and we even had some people making pipes and flutes from wood one year.

“Then for music we have bands from the Gloucester and Cheltenham area, but also some who come from places like London, Wales, even Southampton.

This year’s Davefest takes place from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th April, and for Felix it’s a highlight of the year.

He added: “Our philosophy is to continue Dave’s legacy of bringing good people together. At the same time, it is a place to celebrate the lives of all those we’ve lost – not just Dave – and to help each other with getting through our own lives. The festival grows by word of mouth, which gives it a really nice vibe.

“Everyone’s welcome and a lot of people come back every year having made friends through the festival. It’s a nice tribute to Dave.”