Shortly after writing this waffle, Oasis posted an announcement that they wouldn't be playing at any festivals.

​I guess that's a no then?

For anyone still interested, here's the original blog post we wrote about 30 seconds before that announcement.

We love a bit of empty speculation about who might play at the Isle of Wight Festival - and have been making (mostly inaccurate) guesses for several years on our festival page.

So, what about Oasis? Is there any chance they will play at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2025 after announcing a reunion tour? And would you consider it super (sonic) news and finally stop crying your hear out and crack open a bottle of champagne (supernova), or would you just roll with it and say whatever (Ed: alright, we get the idea).

Here's a two sided argument with myself about whether Oasis will play at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2025:

John Giddings always gives a good interview and often says what he actually thinks rather than avoiding questions. 

Back in 2016, he was asked by the Isle of Wight County Press who else he would like to perform at future festivals and he mentioned Oasis, Green Day and The Kinks.

Of course, Green Day came true in 2024 whilst either Noel or Liam Gallagher played at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2018, 2019 and 2021 (see ourhistory of the Isle of Wight Festival for full line-ups).

So, it's not a big leap to suggest that John Giddings might like Oasis to play at the Isle of Wight Festival 2025.

On top of that, we know that the timing is quite convenient. The Oasis reunion tour starts in early July, two weeks before the Isle of Wight Festival.

Several news outlets yesterday wrote off the idea that they would play at Glastonbury (one week before the reunion) but there didn't seem to be a writing off of the Isle of Wight Festival.

Plus, let's not forget the list of acts that the Isle of Wight Festival has treated us to over the last 20 years. That includes Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac and so on (again, it's worth looking through our history of the Isle of Wight Festival if you enjoy a bit of nostalgia). 

In the last three years the big name acts have included Green Day, Muse and Robbie Williams - which are all huge names.

There are - I'm afraid to say - quite a few factors which lead me to think that Oasis won't play at the Isle of Wight Festival 2025.

As much discussed, the Isle of Wight Festival has become a much more affordable festival than most of its rivals. 

Back in 2011, the standard price for the Isle of Wight Festival was £175 and Glastonbury was £195 (£20 difference). In 2024, the Isle of Wight Festival was £269 whilst Glastonbury had shot up to £360 (£89 difference). Plus - Islanders could get tickets for £165 in 2024. In other words, Islanders could get tickets in 2024 for a lower price than the standard price from 13 years earlier.

That is extraordinary when we look at how prices of most things have increased in the last 13 years.

Presumably though it does mean that the Isle of Wight Festival has a smaller budget for acts than it did in 2011. The capacity is about the same and its costs for things like toilets, fences and security must have increased just like the everything else.

And honestly, I don't think Oasis will be doing a special offers.

Another factor, of course, is that the Isle of Wight Festival 2025 might have already booked its headliners.

We have already predicted that the headliners could be announced in late October or early November. This is based on when announcements have been made in previous years rather than any inside information (see our festival guide for more details of why we think this).

That's only two months away, so it seems plausible that acts are already pencilled in to perform. 

I thought I would include this option to save anyone the bother of writing it in the comments.

It's competition time, and we reckon it's our best competition ever (to be fair, we've only done about three in the last eleven years).
 
We are giving away an Away Resorts holiday on the Isle of Wight worth up to £750.
 
The prize is for a three night stay at an Away Resorts holiday park on the Isle of Wight and is for up to six people. The holiday needs to be taken by 31st September 2025 and is valid during all dates except between 17th July and 31st August.
 
You can choose from any of the four Away Resorts parks on the Isle of Wight:

• Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park
• The Bay Colwell
• The Lakes Rookley
• St Helens Coastal Resort

To enter, you need to go to the relevant post on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. You need tag a friend and complete this phrase:
 
"The first thing I would do on the Isle of Wight is..."
 
We will choose one winner at random from all the entries we receive on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok by Sunday 25th August 2024.
 
We will then pass your details to Away Resorts, who will get in touch to arrange your holiday.
 
As with all competitions, we are aware that there is a risk of scammers turning up to ruin the fun. We will try to stop this happening, but please don't click on links that are posted in the comments claiming that you've won. We will announce the winner on the original post on the day after the competition ends and will ask you to send an email to hello (at) isleofwightguru.co.uk.
 
Here are the full terms and conditions:
 
Maximum prize value of £750. Prize must be booked by an adult, over the age of 18. Off-peak periods only (on peak dates are between 17th July and 31st August). Travel, meals, and additional activities are not included. Maximum six people. Guest passes for facilities and entertainment will be included for each member of the booking. Pet friendly and hot tub options available upon request. If the holiday is cancelled less than two weeks prior to the arrival date, then it will not be rescheduled, and the prize will be lost. Applicable to The Bay Colwell, St Helens, The Lakes Rookley or Whitecliff Bay. Full booking T&Cs apply and can be found at www.awayresorts.co.uk/terms-conditions. Subject to availability. Prize must be booked and taken before 31st September 2025.

Here's our comparison of the four Away Resorts on the Isle of Wight, including advice on location and value for money.

This is just a quick reminder that you should never, ever pay full price for the Red Funnel car ferry - thanks to our exclusive 10% discount.

Unlike a lot of Isle of Wight car ferry discounts, this one doesn't have complicated terms and conditions. It's valid for all dates and can be used whether you are starting from Southampton or East Cowes. You don't need to whisper a secret word, stand on one leg or drive a specific model of car to get the discount.

The widget takes you through to the Red Funnel website so you are booking direct with them, not with us. If the widget won't load or doesn't fit on your screen, try this link instead.

Before you book, it's always worth checking that there isn't a better deal around on our main discount ferries guide. 

Thankfully, someone else saw the potential and spent about 18 months and £6m giving it a major refurb (the owners also have links to Sentry Mead in Totland and to Totland Pier).

I've not stayed at The Albion but we were given a tour recently and we were impressed. 

The children came with us, which was a high risk move. I told the younger one to treat it like a school trip and ask questions, whilst also telling them that if they argued or embarrassed us then they wouldn't be getting another ice cream until they were 35 years old. ​

I am not an expert on décor. I can't tell you about Instagram trends or shades of Farrow and Ball modern emulsion.

However, I can tell that I like the subtle décor and parquet flooring at the Albion and can tell you how it has changed.

The bar at the front has shrunk a little and is now The Cabin. The space has been gobbled up by two rather nice rooms. One is called The Library and is basically a guest lounge, with a great view. There's also a little flap you can lift up to see the oldest remaining part of the original Albion. 

Next door is the Music Room, which is a sort of conference or meeting room with a music theme and some Pink Floyd memorabilia on the wall.

I am terrible in meetings and spend most of the time either staring out the window or eating the communal packet of custard creams that have been provocatively placed on the table. If I attended meetings at The Albion I would eat less custard creams and spend more time staring at the view. People would occasionally ask me questions and I would look blank and then bluster my way through it by saying things like 'reach out', 'Q3' and 'roadmap'.

The dining area at The Albion is now called The Rock and is open to guests and non-guests. It has space for 100-120 people, which is pretty big by Isle of Wight standards. That number would require good weather as many of the seats are outside. 

We haven't eaten dinner there yet but we have eaten breakfast on a separate occasion to the tour. ​

We ate breakfast at the Albion about a week before our tour. It cost us £25, which is probably the most expensive breakfast I've ever eaten (I'm the sort of person who finds a discount voucher for every outing). However, I've concluded it was actually good value and I will be back for a second sitting when we get a chance.

Here's my thinking.

If you eat out in the evening at a posh restaurant with a sea view on the Isle of Wight then you will often pay £20-£25 for a main course.

With the breakfast menu at The Albion, I managed to work my way through a four course meal with unlimited filter coffee for the same price.

My starter was a bowl of fruit, which was interesting stuff like fresh pineapple, watermelon and apricots rather than a tin of that fruit cocktail stuff with slimy seconds that some hotels serve in metal bowls.

My second course was yoghurt and granola. I could have added Coco Pops but I was trying to look posh whilst also not filling up before the main event. 

The main course was a full English breakfast with bacon, eggs and so on. This was very nicely done. There were various other options for the main course, but I decided to go for the largest plate possible.

I then had a filter coffee and managed to spill about 20% of it whilst figuring out how to use the milk jug.

Finally, for my newly invented course of a 'breakfast dessert' I had bread and cheese with Danish pastries. 

Mrs Guru may have said "I can't take you anywhere" a couple of times but I was satisfied that I had made the most of the situation. ​

The advantage of this is that you could potentially book all of that floor and have the terrace for yourself and your friends (budget allowing). It would certainly make a good wedding venue as long as Uncle Geoffrey didn't ruin it by sunbathing bare-chested whilst you said your vows. 

Child two piped up at this point with her first (slightly random) question.

​She wanted to know why the beds were so high.

​Our guide generously commented that this was a "good question" and explained that this was due to the deep mattresses. I was relieved to see that child two nodded and accepted this answer.

We were then shown a second room, which was the Victoria Room. This is one of the poshest and biggest rooms at The Albion. The bathroom alone was bigger than some hotel rooms I've stayed in. ​

Child two then piped up again with her second question. 

"Where do babies..."

My heartrate increased. Surely my darling daughter wasn't going to ask our tour guide about the birds and the bees? What would be the relevance on a tour of a posh coastal hotel? Perhaps she had taken my suggestion to ask questions very seriously and was thinking of everything she wanted to know about the world.

Thankfully she continued with a more relevant question. 

"Where do babies...and children play and what can they do when they stay here?"

Our host obliged with a few suggestions of West Wight days out, games at the hotel and smoothies delivered to your door. 

Our guide also gave us a few more details that may be of interest. There are about 40 rooms now at The Albion. They aren't all finished but they plan to close for a few weeks in winter so they can finish them off without guests having to listen to power tools. 

I also asked about the old hotel's swimming pool. From what I could gather, it is unlikely to return as a pool but there are various plans to use the space for something else useful.

We had made it to the end of the tour and neither child had embarrassed us. We rewarded them later in the day with a strawberry milkshake from Dimbola. 

Alright, perhaps the title of this blog is a little provocative. However, child one did describe our cycle round Parkhurst Forest as "the best and worst cycle ride ever".

Personally, I put it somewhere in the middle but that's a less exciting headline.

You want to park at the main Parkhurst Forest car park, which is free. We originally headed to the other side of the forest to attack the loop from a different direction but ended up in someone's driveway (sorry about that).

Let's start with the best route around Parkhurst Forest, as it's a little bit confusing and easy to get lost.

​We dithered between a couple of options. There was one route on Strava, created by some super human who had done a run round the forest. This was a fairly long route but I could at least have followed it on my phone.

There was then a route on the Red Squirrel Trail website. This was a drawing on a PDF, so it was a bit harder to follow but had the advantage of being planned out for a day out with children.

We chose the latter option, in part because the section we planned to do looked a little bit rude, which amused me greatly.

I told Mrs Guru about this amusing shape who told me that it definitely didn't and that I needed to grow up. Decide for yourself here.

We decided to just do the main loop, rather than the spur that joins up with the Red Squirrel Trail on the River Medina (see our full guide to the Red Squirrel Trail if you are looking for a longer family cycle ride).

This route around Parkhurst Forest wasn't marked on signposts, which would have made things a bit easier. I juggled the PDF and Google Maps to make sure we didn't get lost. I have considered turning up at night to install a series of unofficial wooden signs, but I'm not 100% sure if that would be considered community-spirited behaviour or vandalism. 

The route from the Parkhurst Forest car park started with a modest uphill climb. Child two has become used to cycling on tarmacked former railway lines so made an almighty fuss about this tiny gradient. After three stops we had made it about 100m.

We ploughed on and got to a long downhill section on a wide track. The track was bumpy compared to most of the Isle of Wight's cycle tracks.

I enjoyed this greatly on my GT Aggressor with its front suspension. Unfortunately, Mrs Guru was riding a bike that looked like it should be used to pootle around Paris with a baguette sticking out the basket. It was also much too large for her, so she wobbled around and didn't race down at quite the pace I did.

As we approached the half way point the route started to get much narrower. Parts of it were uneven and a little muddy, even though it was August and had barely rained. Of course, it is not a great surprise that a woodland would have uneven tracks and a bit of mud but we weren't really prepared.

We then encountered a tree that had fallen over and blocked the entire path. I heroically lifted the bikes over.

At this point one of the children decided they needed the toilet. This put the idea into the other child's head, who also decided they were 'absolutely desperate'.

We ploughed on again, getting on to the bikes for the wider sections and getting off for the sections which were narrow, muddy and particularly bumpy.

If I had been on a bike ride with THE LADS, then we would have trundled straight through and have ended up with a couple of manly scratches. 

However, with Mrs Guru playing the part of Emily in Paris and the two children still relatively inexperienced on their bikes we had to take it pretty slow. Tension levels raised a little, but thankfully it wasn't particularly hot and the woodland really is rather lovely and peaceful.

Thanks to my outstanding navigation, we made it back to the Parkhurst Forest car park without getting lost and I began loading the bikes back onto the car.

This was the point at which child one declared this adventure to be the best and worst bike ride we had done. 

We concluded that it was a good one for families who want a bit of adventure, but not the best for wobbly cyclists who are still learning. You won't find a toilet, a café or a bike hire place  in Parkhurst Forest - it really is just a nice woodland with tracks.

And how far was this epic bike ride that tested our family to the limits of their cycling ability? According to Strava it was a whopping 2.8 miles and involved 28 minutes of moving.

I think we will leave the Tennyson Trail until they are a bit older.

There are several better alternatives for wobbly and inexperienced cyclists. Our favourites include:

• Freshwater Causeway to Yarmouth (or vice versa)
• Shanklin Lower Hyde Holiday Park to Wroxall
• Cowes to Newport section of the Red Squirrel Trail
• Pedallers Café in Newchurch towards either Sandown or Arreton

See our main cycling guide or our Red Squirrel Trail guide for more details on those routes.

Nodes Point ticks a lot of boxes for anyone looking for an Isle of Wight holiday park, and it features in our guide to 10 of the best.

And so, we bit off their hand (not literally) when Parkdean Resorts invited us to stay at the park recently.

The reason I often recommend Nodes Point is partly because of its location. It leads straight onto the dog-friendly beach at St Helens, which has massive great low tides and views across to the mainland.

I've never thought of St Helens as a sandy beach (try Appley or Sandown for the best sand) but on our numerous walks we did find some pretty sizeable sandy patches.

St Helens beach is certainly a good one for evening strolls, searching for crabs, or playing ball games if you don't mind the slight risk of falling over a pebble. It is also decent for swimming at high tide.

There are three other Parkdean Resorts on the Isle of Wight, but I personally think this one has the best location. Lower Hyde and Landguard are in Shanklin, which is a sandier and busier beach with lots of attractions. However, the parks are about 20 minutes from the kiss-me-quick seafront so an evening stroll is a bit more of an effort.

The other resort is Thorness Bay, which is in a remote part of the Isle of Wight that many Islanders would struggle to point to on a map. You do get a beach next to the park at Thorness Bay, but I personally prefer St Helens (despite witnessing a lovely sunset at Thorness a few years ago).

We were staying in one of the newer St Helen's lodges in a part of the park called Seagrove. I was rather delighted to discover that we had accidentally chosen the closest accommodation to the beach. I may have punched the air, I can't remember exactly.

There are some tents that are even closer but Mrs Guru hasn't yet been convinced of the wonders of camping ("where do they go to the toilet?" she asked me after a couple of days).

Ours was a two bedroom lodge, with two shower rooms and a TV that was bigger than a Subbuteo pitch. The teenage version of me wouldn't have been able to cope with the possibility that I would one day be watching such a vast screen without heading to the cinema.

The LED lights underneath provided ample entertainment for the children (and me) until Mrs Guru pointed out that we should probably unpack.

You can also book caravans, chalets, glamping, camping and touring at Nodes Point. Some of the lodges at Nodes Point come with hot tubs. 

The advantage of a lodge is that they are quite a lot wider than the caravans. Ours had single and king size beds, whereas a lot of caravans tend to have narrower than usual single beds. Generally, lodges are around 20 foot wide, whilst caravans are about 12 to 14 foot wide. I'm not exactly sure why it is always given in imperial measurements, but let's not worry about the small details.

The kitchen had a full size American fridge freezer, which is some step up from a basic undercounter fridge with an iced up freezer section and enough space for two Calippos.

Most importantly of all it had a dishwasher, which I consider to be the one of mankind's most significant achievements, along with walking on the moon and penicillin. 

Nodes Point Holiday Park is on a hill overlooking St Helen's beach and Bembridge Harbour. Our lodge was in a terrific location for walking to the beach, but you get a better view of the sea by being further up the hill (Culver View, Harbour View, Admiral Park, Priory Way on the map on this page).

The entertainment and the swimming pool are towards the top of the site whilst the camping and glamping are further down the hill towards the beach.

The accommodation near the playground, at the very top of the park, tends to be the cheapest as you are further from the beach and only some of them have a 'sea glimpse' (as an estate agent would say). On the plus side, the accommodation at the top is nearer to the swimming pool and restaurant/entertainment venue.

It's a little bit tricky to figure out in advance where the accommodation is on the site, as the names of the caravans and lodges don't match up with the different parts of the park. For example, we stayed in St Helens Lodge, but it was within the Seagrove part of the park.

You might like to read our guide to accommodation grading at Parkdean Resorts to help you make up your mind.

My advice is to look for the 'new on park' badge when you are booking, as you then you get a nice shiny new caravan or lodge. Here's our full guide to finding Parkdean's newest accommodation on the Isle of Wight.

We had booked a food delivery, so I went for a wander to reception. This required a clamber up the hill, which was a good chance to see the views you get from around Nodes Point.

When I finally reached reception, a chirpy chappy told me that he would send Mr Sainsburys down to the right lodge when he turned up. Mrs Guru pointed out that Mr Sainsburys would have just phoned us when they arrived. However, like most dads I enjoy the opportunity to explore on my own for a few minutes under the façade of doing something helpful. 

Whilst near reception I had a quick look at the resorts' main venue, where younger children were being entertained by one of the Parkdean mascots. This was good fun, but I concluded that a grown man watching on his own might look odd, so I decided to return with the children on a different day. 

After tea, the sun started to glimmer through the clouds so we took a wander down to the beach. The tide was low enough to get round to Priory Bay, which is one of my favourite beaches on the Island (my top five changes regularly, but it currently includes Compton Bay, Freshwater Bay, Priory Bay, Whitecliff Bay and Steephill Cove).

On one day at Nodes Point, the Isle of Wight suffered from an almighty deluge of rain. The weather was mostly very good, but this was a day when we saw a big increase in traffic to our rainy day guide.

We headed for the Nodes Point swimming pool. It is free for guests but you are advised to book. We chanced it and turned up and found that there was enough space but they do have a limit on numbers.

​The depth of the pool ranges from 80cm to 120cm, so child one and child two were able to stand up in the whole thing. There is also a four line slide and several paid-for sessions where you can lark around on inflatable things.

Of course, I had a few graceful trips up and down the slide.

Child one and child two loved the swimming and we ended up using the pool four times in a week. One session was a pool party, which was an extra £7 (whereas normal swimming sessions are free). I pushed them up and down the pool on an inflatable llama and they concluded it was one of the highlights of the week. 

If you're staying at Nodes Point, you will mostly want to visit the East Wight. We did end up doing a trip to the Needles, but that is at the other end of the Isle of Wight. Mainlanders can probably cope with the 55 minute journey but Islanders would consider you barmy to attempt such a thing without breaking up the journey with an overnight stay in Newport.

If you want quieter days out and simpler entertainment in close proximity to Nodes Point then you've got quite a few options. Our guide to days out in Bembridge and St Helens, covers a lot of them including crabbing at low tide, visiting the lifeboat station or going for a horse ride along the beach. St Helens is a particularly good beach for paddleboarding and kayaking. We wandered down on a sunny day and spent a good chunk of time falling off a paddleboard.

If you want a bit of a busier beach day out then I would head for Shanklin, which is 20 minutes from Nodes Point. The seafront manages to cram in three minigolf courses, a decent amusement arcade, dozens of flavours of ice cream and a few small fairground rides.

On our week at Nodes Point, we did the following:

• The Needles and Alum Bay, where child two braved her first ever ride on the chairlift
• Horse riding along the beach with Sally's Riding School, which is based at Nodes Point during the summer
• Several trips to St Helens beach, either for a wander, early morning droning, early evening paddleboarding or a swimming trip with 13 bags
• Four trips to the Nodes Point swimming pool, including a pool party (which were paid about £7 extra for)
• A trip to the playground and Puckpool park, followed by a coffee at The Dell café in Appley and walk towards Seaview and Springvale Beach
• Lunch and a swim in Shanklin
• A short walk from Sandown to Hinks Pioneer Café in Lake for an ice cream

This is a good opportunity to say that we found all the staff at Nodes Point Holiday Park to be exceptionally smiley and helpful. 

We didn't have any notable problems to deal with but the reception, swimming pool and restaurant/entertainment staff were all excellent. 

As mentioned earlier, we were given this stay for free by Parkdean Resorts. However, they didn't tell us what to write and this site remains completely independent.