The Mock Mayor Outlasts Another One: Farewell Nocturne, Welcome to the Festival Graveyard

After just 10 years of "glorious shows," Nocturne Live has announced it is quitting Blenheim Palace, leaving behind a legacy of global superstars, and over 250,000 aging concert-goers. While we tip our top hats to the departing festival, we can't help but reflect on yet another event biting the dust.

You see, the Old Woodstock Mock Mayor Elections have been staging our own brand of entertainment since 1786 – that's 238 years of (mostly) uninterrupted mayors, processions, and river dunkings. We've lasted longer than a Nokia 6310 battery.

The Survivors' Club

While a new five-day music and arts festival will launch at Blenheim Palace in summer 2026, we offer our new festival neighbors a friendly warning: we've seen empires rise and fall from our perch in Old Woodstock.

Things that couldn't match our staying power:

• The entire Ottoman Empire

• Napoleon's reign (and his comeback tour)

• Blockbuster Video

• MySpace

• And now, Nocturne Live

Local Voices: A Tale of Two Perspectives

We caught up with some Woodstock residents to get their take on the festival changeover.

Margaret Pemberton-Smythe, 67, Daily Telegraph reader and keen gardener: "My husband Derek and I are devastated. Nocturne was a lovely middle-class event. No tents and mud, no young people, just middle of the road, safe music. And that lovely boy, Gary Barlow. I do hope this new "festival" won't have any of that new-fangled rock and roll music." Jasper Fitzwilliam-Jones, 34, recently relocated from Islington with his vintage bicycle and sourdough: "It's fascinating really, from an anthropological perspective. The Mock Mayor represents this beautiful continuity of working-class resistance against hierarchical power structures. We were all discussing this in the VIP section at Nocturne. I'm hoping the new festival will have better vegan options and perhaps some spoken word poetry."

Mock Mayor: Still Standing

While festivals flicker in and out of existence like pop-up quinoa bars, the Mock Mayor Elections persist. We elect our mayor from a beer crate, dunk them in the River Glyme, and sentence local dignitaries to ridiculous punishments in our Mock Court.

The new Blenheim Palace Festival may promise "an eclectic lineup of global superstars, award-winning artists, and emerging talent", but we guarantee curtain ring chains of office, crimson robes made from Witney blankets, and the sort of entertainment you can't get anywhere else.

A Grudging Welcome

We suppose we should welcome the new Blenheim Palace Festival to our neighborhood. Just remember, when your festival is celebrating its bicentennial in 2226, the Mock Mayor will be approaching its 450th birthday. We'll still be here, still dunking mayors, still outlasting everything from quantum computers to whatever replaces TikTok.

After all, empires may crumble, technologies may evolve, and music festivals may come and go – but the Mock Mayor is eternal.

The Old Woodstock Mock Mayor Elections take place annually on the third Saturday in July. No booking required, just turn up and watch democracy in action (sort of). Current Mock Mayor Nick Tonks is available for ceremonial dunking upon request.