Bangkok--30 Apr--Total Quality PR
Summer is festival season in Britain, and there’s no better place to catch your favourite acts than in the company of tens of thousands of screaming fans, in the fun festive vibe of a summer music festival. The crowd, the tents, the sweat, the live, ear-thumping music, what more could you ask for?
Planning on a trip to one of Britain’s music fests? Go online and get tickets, now! Major festivals like Reading and Glastonbury can sell out within minutes, and the many smaller and more intimate festivals have already announced their dates, with the full line-up of artists coming soon, if not already posted on their websites.
Loch Ness is of course famous for its monster, however it also has its own festival — Rock Ness (11-13 June) which takes place near Inverness and close to the famous loch. It was voted ‘Best Music Festival in Scotland’. This year’s headline acts The Strokes, Fatboy Slim, Pendulum, and first ever UK show from Club 75.
At Wakestock (2-4 July), Europe’s largest wakeboard music festival, you get watersports alongside your music. Held this year at Abersoch, Cardigan Bay, in Wales, bands so far announced include The Ting Tings, Eric Prydz, and N-Dubz. This year, Wakestock enters its second decade, proving once and for all that the beach, wakeboarding, and a music festival with a “shorts and bikinis” dresscode, has a home in Europe.
The third week of July is ripe with festivals, so pick if you must! Stoke Park in Guildford, Surrey hosts the family friendly Guilfest, (16-18 July). A weekend of live musical entertainment “coupled with comedy, children?s entertainment, street theatre, theatre tent, art/craft exhibitions, and caterers from around the world providing a variety of meals in a truly festive atmosphere”, this is the place to take your mum AND your little brother. Don’t worry, the music lineup is a definite win for the cool kids, with legendary psychedelic rockers Hawkwind, Orbital, and N-Dubz headlining the festival.
Mum up for more festival fun? The Larmer Tree Festival (14-18 July) is held in the Victorian gardens near Salisbury, Wiltshire. As well as winning the title of Best Family Festival in the UK Festival Awards of 2008, it also won the Best Loos (that’s toilets to you). Headline acts include Toots and the Maytals, Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, and self-proclaimed thubthumpers, Chumbawamba.
The Latitude Festival (15-18 July) in Suffolk, will welcome kids of all ages (that’s from age 0- whenever). Headline acts include Florence and the Machine, Belle and Sebastian, and Vampire Weekend. As well as live music, Latitude also offers poetry, literary events, cabaret/comedy and theatre performances.
The Secret Garden Party (22-25 July) is a hidden gem in Cambridgeshire and this year, they set to outdo themselves with the multisensory experience of the Gorrilaz Sound System, featuring the music of Gorillaz mixed with a full visual display and mad beats by DJ Kofi. This year’s theme will revolve around “reality”. The Garden will be exploring the theories, fantasies, mysteries, legends, visions and illusions that have created a rich world between Fact and Fiction
If you love the sound of a festival, but aren’t so sure about camping, think again! As the name implies, CampBestival (30 July — 1 August) really puts the emphasis on this, with not just one but two separate camping fields, each with its own car park nearby, so you don’t have to carry your kit too far, and each with its own set of showers — with tea and toast while you wait; food stalls etc. The boutique camping site has luxury tipis, yurts, podpads and bellpads, all of which can be hired for the weekend. Self-described as a “a cracking family festival at a castle by the sea”, CampBestival won the Best New Festival award in 2008’s UK Festival Awards, and takes place by Lulworth Castle in Dorset. The line-up includes dance master Calvin Harris, Madness, Friendly Fires, Annie Mac, and Chipmunk.
The biodomes of the famous Eden Project in Cornwall are the backdrop for a series of one day summer festivals in July — this year’s line up features Jack Johnson, Calvin Harris, and Paolo Nutini, among others.
The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (30July — 8 August), remains to be an A-list festival in jazz circles. As the biggest jazz festival in Britain, the festival showcases a host of concerts, club gigs, jam sessions, street parties and events featuring all the styles of jazz and blues. It attracts thousands of jazz aficionados from all over the world with their wide array of performers and fun festival atmosphere.
The Big Chill (5-8 August) has a big castle as a backdrop — Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire. Built in the 19th century in the style of a medieval Welsh-border fortress, the castle is situated within a 5000 acre estate. Plenty of space to bounce around for music lovers and party denizens attending the festival. Tickets go on sale on 31 March.
In Edinburgh, the Mela celebrates the wide diversity of cultures in Scotland. Rooted in South Asian culture, (Mela means ‘gathering’ in Sanskrit) the three-day event has become Scotland’s leading multicultural arts festival, and a major highlight of the Edinburgh summer festival season. To be held this year from 6-8th August, and promises an amazing array of world class talents. Last year’s festival featured a Singapore Arts showcase, headlined by
New Asia.
Opening on the same weekend is The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (6-30 August), the LARGEST ARTS FESTIVAL ON EARTH. And it’s no exaggeration, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, more popularly known as The Fringe, last year showcased 34, 265 performances, with over 1.8million tickets sold. Started in 1947 when eight theatre groups turned up uninvited to the first Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe has since grown to be the massive festival it is now, showcasing a wide array of performances, from the biggest names in showbiz to the performers in the street, and covers all sorts of art forms such as theatre, comedy, children's shows, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, all genres of music, exhibitions, and events.
The Green Man Festival (20-22 August) is an indie-folk music festival held in Wales’ Usk Valley. Headlining this year’s festival are music legends, the Flaming Lips. Featuring folk, indie, psychedelia, and Americana music, the festival also features art installations, literature and film tents, Welsh poetry, art and music, ceilidhs, poetry, theatre, science, comedy, Nature and Nurture massage area, a daily dusk till dawn bonfire, impromptu jamming sessions, and food stalls offering a wide range of cuisine most of which is locally sourced and organic.
Beautiful Days music festival, taking place the same weekend as The Green Man Festival, was the brainchild of folk-punk band, The Levellers, who wanted an old-fashioned festival with a strong sense of community spirit. Acts in this 10,000 capacity mini-Glastonbury at Ottery St Mary in Devon, will include Brit-nominated and multi-platinum selling Newton Faulkner, The Wailers (who, together with Bob Marley, have sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide), and of course, the Levellers.
Creamfields (28-29 August) is the UK’s biggest dance and electronic event. Tickets sell out REALLY fast. This year’s line up include superstar DJs David Guetta, Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto, and Eric Prydz among others. Voted UK’s best dance festival, Creamfields is held in annually in Liverpool, (if you don’t already know, the birthplace of the Beatles).
BRITISH SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVALS
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