North Yorkshire's fantastic Deer Shed shows once again it is simply the 'best indie festival in Britain'

Sleaford Mods showed they could entertain a family audience at what was generally acclaimed as the best Deer Shed Festival so far in beautiful North Yorkshire.

Performing minimalist electro punk from their lengthy back catalogue, from 2013 single Jobseeker to this year’s Demise of Planet X album, the Nottingham duo let the main stage crowd full of swaying arms and kids on shoulders have it both barrels under the summer sky in the fields of Baldersby Park, near Thirsk.

Bracing but witty, such was the brilliant intensity of vocalist Jason Williamson as a stage performer, Sleafords Mods held a crowd that was not their’s from start to finish.

Punk attitude was a bit of a theme for a weekend of outstanding performances which also included Everything Everything, Bill Ryder-Jones, Say She She, Fat Dog and a secret set from female-fronted Panic Shack.

If Brighton-based five-piece psych-rock-jazz outfit Plantoid took their time getting to the point on In The Dock Stage in the most instrumentally captivating of ways, impressive Birmingham funk-punk trio Gans aimed for the sweet spot of groove and thrillingly hammered it to death until band and crowd were going bananas.

It’s the 16th year of this highly-civilised, well organised, family-run and independent event and the programming is always spot-on, whether that’s music, comedy, sport, lifestyle or literature.

The end result is the sort of genuinely lovely atmosphere where people are more likely to be seen reading a book between acts than stuck on their mobile phone.

There are superb talks with Rob Cowen, award-winning author of the acclaimed The North Road, and knowledgeable Guardian reviewer Dave Simpson who is, as usual, the king of wide-ranging chat.

Perhaps, the highlight is Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Andrew Fear in conversation with comedian Stewart Lee in the Buckendz tent with the crowd spilling out.

This year also saw the expansion of the festival’s wellness offerings in the woodland area, with thousands of festival goers taking advantage of the cold plunges, forest bathing, wild swimming and newly-built saunas.

Truly, Deer Shed Festival is a place of well being in every sense.