The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the world's leading conference and festival for electronic music, announces its first festival names. The 15th edition, taking place from 20 to 23 October, will work with a record number of stages. In total, the event features performances by over 700 artists at 44 different venues. The organization expects 2,500 conference and 100,000 festival visitors.

In the last fifteen years the ADE has become the most important event for electronic music worldwide. The conference attracts around 2,500 conference attendees from around the world. During the last edition over 52 different countries were represented. Festival visitors from all over the world can choose from more than 140 different events at 44 stages in the city of Amsterdam.

"In the past fifteen years ADE has proved that the Netherlands and Amsterdam in particular offers the best in electronic music. We are proud on the international involvement of the scene and also the fact that this is possible in city like Amsterdam. Now we have more stages this year we can ensure even a better mix of emerging talents and established names. One thing is certain: Amsterdam will be the epicenter of dance music for four days long", says organizer Richard Zijlma.

Amongst others the first confirmed acts are:

Kelis // Armin van Buuren // Sven Väth // Chuckie // Dave Clarke // Sasha // Paul van Dyk // Roger Sanchez // Joris Voorn // Daniel Haaksman // Boys Noize // Dubfire // Richie Hawtin // M.A.N.D.Y. // Riva Star // Adam Beyer // Ida Engberg // Steve Bug // Josh Wink // Markus Schulz // Ferry Corsten // Jeff Mills // Afrojack // Chris Liebing // Goldfish live // Joost van Bellen // Moodymann // Derrick May // Sander Kleinenberg // Boemklatsch // Juan Atkins // Ellen Allien // Dr. Lektroluv // Shinedoe // Don Diablo // Flying Lotus // Monika Kruse // Nick Warren // Karotte // Radio Slave aka The Machine // Ryan Marciano & Sunnery James // Girl Unit // DJ Yellow // Live: Hercules & Love Affair // Live: Tensnake // Boris Werner // Live: Redshape // Dixon // Melon // Sasha Funke // KINK live // Terry Toner // Paul Harris // Lucien Foort // Shermanlogy // Danny Howells // 16 BIT Lolitas // Phonophani // Bart B More //Aeroplane // High Rankin // B.R.U.C.E. live // Willie Wartaal // Bomb The Bass // Matthias Tanzmann // Ekkohaus live // Jesse Rose // San Proper // Michael Mayer // Paul Hazendonk // Leama // Prinz // Green Velvet // Full Intention // Abe Duque live // And.ID (Mobilee, // live, Einzelkind // Wareika //Tom Trago // Estroe // 30 Jalabee Cartel // Mark Pritchard // Ambivalent // Magda // Anrilov // Arram Mantana // Marco Resmann // Social Disco Club // Michel de Hey // Arjuna Schiks // The Advent live // Heiko Laux // Steve Rachmad // Legowelt // Schlachthofbronx // Alex Dee // ONNO // Ben UFO // Magnetic Man live // 2000 and One // Lorenz Rhode live // Jamie Lewis // orn To Funk // Seamus Haji // Gabriele Baldi // Shapeshifter // Klipar // James Holden // Kate Wax live // Ahmet Sendil // Patrick Carrara // Daniel Sanchez // The Shapeshifters // Extrawelt live // Darko Esser // Krause live // Kraak & Smaak // Per QX // Dennis Ferrer // Ramadanman // Golden Bug // Alexander Kowalski // Lauhaus // The Subs live //  Marco Effe // Praslea // Miss Nine // Dimitri // Stephan Bodzin live // Tim Green // Brian Sanhaji // live, Unexist // live, Das Ding // Gomes (NL) and many more.

The Amsterdam Dance Event is organized by The Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, an initiative of Buma Cultuur.

The legendary touring behemoth that is Ozzfest hits the UK with a one-off date at London’s O2 arena on September 18th 2010. Headliner Ozzy Osbourne will be accompanied on the main stage by some of the biggest names in metal, including Korn, Murderdolls, Steel Panther and Skindred. Now, Ozzfest can reveal a further four acts, who will play on the Jagermeister stage.

Headlining Ozzfest’s second stage will be northern gloom kings Paradise Lost. The gothic metal pioneers look forward to once again sharing a stage with Ozzy. Frontman Nick Holmes states:? ?"It’s a great privilege to play at Ozzfest in our home country. We were lucky enough to tour South America with Ozzy in the 90s. It was an amazing experience although I contracted salmonella poisoning from undercooked Fajitas and nearly died. Hopefully we will have more luck this time!"

Anyone familiar with Ozzfest will know it’s not just about bringing the biggest names in metal - nurturing new talent is just as important, which is why this year three of the UK’s hottest up and coming bands will join Paradise Lost on the Jager stage. Jettblack, Revoker and Black Spider take the prestigious spots, and needless to say, all are very excited about the prospect.

Jamie Mathias, lead vocalist/guitarist with recent Roadrunner signings REVOKER states:? ?“It feels amazing to be able to play this year's Ozzfest, and be part of such a great line-up… Everything this year is going so great for the band and this is the perfect opportunity to show the UK what we're made of. We're currently in the studio recording our debut album so it'll be good to get out there and play some of the tracks which will rip your heads off. Don't miss this years Ozzfest!”

Pete “Spider” Spiby from Black Spiders - who were hand picked by Ozzy to support him at his recent Roundhouse show - concurs:? ?"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7..... It's awesome to be asked to play at Ozzfest, an honour in fact. We're still getting over how awesome it was to be chosen by Ozzy, to support him at the Roundhouse. He was on top form, incredibly friendly, funny as f@*k and really encouraging. He gave us some great advice and then showed us how it was done. It was an amazing show, he's still the best. This gonna be one of the very best shows, certainly something for everyone to remember... Heavy Metal is still top of the class!!"

Jettblack drummer Matt Oliver states simply: ?“We're thoroughly excited to be added to the Ozzfest bill. It's an honour to play alongside the Prince of Darkness and we're looking forward to adding our own shade of black to an epic line-up!"

Although indoors, the UK leg of Ozzfest 2010 will have everything you expect from a festival, but without the temperamental English weather to contend with. Taking over the whole of the O2, Ozzfest will host a Village Of The Damned outside the main arena, to ensure this is so much more than a one day concert. Alternative clothing, wigs and accessories from the likes of Vortex, Hellwear, Kastaways, Rally Shack and Mosh T-shirts will be available alongside jewellery, skull sticks, beads, bandanas and other apparel stocked by Oceania and Alchenmy Gothic, with the world famous New Rock Boots plying their wears too. Silverhand Jewellryand Body Art Co will also be on site to pierce, paint and scar those who want a longer-lasting memento from Ozzfest.

If that’s not enough, there will be a variety of funfair rides, including dodgems, waltzers and more, plus a host of bars scattered around the site to quench your thirst, including the Jagermeister truck.

After a day of music and mayhem, the truly dedicated are welcome to join the official aftershow celebrations. The Metal Hammer Ozzfest Meltdown will take place at the Indigo2, from 10.30pm - 2am. DJS from Metal Hammer will be blasting out hard rocking anthems to keep the post-fest party going, with Karaoke for the budding performers amongst the crowd. What’s more, the party doesn’t have to end at the o2! There will be free Thames Clipper boats sailing to central London from the o2 for all those who attend the aftershow, with full bar and more loud rock being pumped out until they dock in central London.

Returning for its 24th year - Stratford-Upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, welcomes the biggest biker party in Europe, the Bulldog Bash, to Shakespeare County Raceway from the 12th to the 15th of August.

Nashville Pussy, Blaze Bayley, The Groundhogs, Breed 77, The Hamsters, The Brothers Grimm, Wrathchild, Gentlemen Of Distorted Sound, Imicus, Gypsey Pistoleros, The Glitterati, Godsized & loads more have signed up to play on the two huge music stages at this year's event, marking one of the strongest looking line-ups in the festival's history.

“We really are expecting 2010’s event to be one of the best ever, the site has been improved thanks to investment in on-site infrastructure; and the 24th Bulldog’s got everything for everyone, families included, but most of all, it’s a spectacle that is unique to the UK and the biker community”. Says Bilbo, from the organising team

The Bulldog Bash is widely regarded as the best biker event in Europe. A huge variety of non-musical attractions includes jet cars and rocket propelled bikes hurtling down the drag strip, huge custom bike and car exhibitions, Ken Fox’s world famous ‘Wall of Death’ show, wrestling bouts, a veritable village of stalls selling all kinds of biking and alternative lifestyle kit, and a fairground packed with ludicrous white-knuckle rides. There really is something to entertain everyone!

Custom Show – Arguably the best indoor custom show in Europe, 2000+ sq meters of the finest custom machinery, 26 Trophies up for grabs, including chance for the visitors to vote for Best HAMC bike, £1000's worth of prizes; entries include home built Bandits, Pro Street Harleys, a 2 litre Hardtail chop, a V8 bike and a outrageous one off Wheelchair! (Hell, the class is called Alternative!). Plus the chance to see the bike built by Hawg Haven for Charlie Boorman, the public’s very first sight of the new Cross-Series Cruisers from Victory motorcycles, the Byzantine Racing V-Rod being built for 250mph record breaking attempt, Painting, Pinstriping, Polishing, 300 section back ends, frames for GSXR’s, Billet for Softail’s, and a chance to talk to the guys from Afghan Heroes and get the lowdown on the headline making Wooten Bassett Memorial Run. There is no doubt that 2010’s line-up will push the boundaries of custom style and excellence – a full list of 2009’s winners and classes can be seen on-line.

Dragstrip - RWYB (Run Wot You Brung) Drag racing will be the main attraction for speed freaks, thanks to Shakespeare County Raceway’s superb facilities and drag strip surface that is second to none in Europe. Track times are between 9:30 am to 5:00 pm on Friday and Saturday, 9.30 to 1.00pm on Sunday. All bikes must pass scrutineering; which begins at 8:30am Friday and continues throughout the RWYB sessions. The costs for RWYB are just £10 per day Friday, Saturday and Sunday; giving unlimited runs within the day’s sessions.

For those less inclined to participate in the RWYB, top stunt professionals will be performing exhibition displays all weekend, from formation wheelies and doughnuts, to top fuel dragsters screaming down the strip, funny cars, Nitrous Harleys, Eric Teboul’s hydrogen peroxide-fuelled rocket bike and Sikorsky powered Fireforce Jet Cars, all ensure a non stop weekend of top class drag strip action.

Bulldog 24 features a huge, brand new, outdoor sound stage, along side an all new, non stop, entertainment format in the massive main stage marquee, to keep hardy visitors up until dawn – Entertainment kicks off on Thursday evening at 6pm (See www.bulldogbash.eu for full music listings).

The Heritage Arts Company are returning for their third year to Standon Calling curating festival performances. The creative elves have built a living street that encapsulates the best of popular crime - from Agatha Christie to Conan Doyle to Raymond Chandler to Michael Caine.

Standon HQ have invented a Ponzi scheme bank, and a whole web of crime that sucks in the viewer. They have built a Constabulary, a Private Investigators Darkroom, a Tailor, Baker Street railway station, a bank HQ, a Sweeney Todd Barbershop, and finally, a Gallery.

As part of this years murder mystery game theme Standon Calling will have £5000 worth of art ready to be stolen by festivalgoers on Saturday night!

Alice Llewellyn designs the valuable art; she has given 25 prints of her newest work, a re-interpretation of 5 of the most iconic vinyl record covers ever. Alice's work has just been displayed at Sotheby's and these prints are a limited run, making them very special indeed. Alice's etched prints are of record covers such as The Beatles' Abbey Road. Alice work plays with ideas of forgery, fraud, and a cycle of decay and recycling of images.

Tim Wilson, Director of Heritage Arts Company, says “Being part of a real art theft is going to be a great caper - and the fact that you could walk home with a £200 original print will be electric.  We're revisiting the great tradition of good-natured dishonesty and deception - something that Alice's work absolutely suggests."

A mysterious interview with a certain shadowy figure might allow any one of Standon's thousands of guests to become part of the Robber Gang. We hear that the security for the artwork is going to be particularly relaxed on Saturday night. Even so, the Standon Calling Constabulary will be recruiting too -  the police mob giving chase have just as much to win.

MUSIC LINE-UP CONFIRMED:
ORQUESTA BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB ® FEATURING OMARA PORTUONDO | LIARS | ETIENNE DE CRECY PRESENTS BEATS 'N' CUBES (UK EXCLUSIVE!) | EFTERKLANG | THE MAGIC NUMBERS | METRONOMY BRITISH SEA POWER | JEFFREY LEWIS |GILLES PETERSON | ALICE RUSSELL THESE NEW PURITANS | A HAWK AND A HACKSAW | FUCKED UP | FILTHY DUKES | PANTHA DU PRINCE | EDDY TEMPLE-MORRIS DELOREAN | STEVE MASON | PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND | WILD BIRDS AND PEACEDRUMS (UK EXCLUSIVE!) | GRECO-ROMAN SOUNDSYSTEM | DAVE HASLAM | THE PHANTOM BAND TELEPATHE | THREE TRAPPED TIGERS | FOOL'S GOLD | SLEEPY SUN | AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR... | ESBEN AND THE WITCH | GOLD PANDA | CASIOKIDS | TOM RAVENSCROFT | JOE GIDEON AND THE SHARK | JAGZ KOONER | SUMMER CAMP | ANNA CALVI ERLAND AND THE CARNIVAL | JESCA HOOP | EL GUINCHO | EGYPTIAN HIP HOP | THE RUBY SUNS | FACTORY FLOOR | CLOCK OPERA | GABBY YOUNG AND OTHER ANIMALS | BO NINGEN PLANTS AND ANIMALS | SILVER COLUMNS | NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION | RADIOPROOF | THE MEGAPHONIC THRIFT | LONE WOLF | LULU & THE LAMPSHADES ANTHONY JOSEPH AND THE SPASM BAND | REVERE | DELIRIUM TREMENS | THE RUMOUR SAID FIRE | SWIMMING | SOUND OF RUM | HARRY'S GYM | DRY THE RIVER | WILD PALMS | PICA PICA | WHITE HEAT DJs | MIKE DIVER AND COLIN ROBERTS | THE FABULOUS PENETRATORS | GOD DON'T LIKE IT| TIM FANUCCI | FRAN AND JOSH | STOPMAKINGME | YEARNER BABIES | JAMES DELAY | THE VIOLET MAY | CANTMIXWONTMIXSHOULDNTMIXDONTMIX | MR FOGG | BRENDAN ROGERS | TRISTRAM | SPARROW AND THE WORKSHOP | IRON LUNG QUINTET | KATTWYK | CLEANING WOMEN | ROTTEN HILL GANG | HOOK & THE TWIN | HOOLIGAN NIGHT | MANO DE DIOS | THE AMIGOS | THE GOOD COUNT | MENTAL BLANK

This is where the very best brand new talent from the UK gets its first chance to appear in front of the greatest tastemakers in the country – the audience at Reading and Leeds Festivals. This is the third year both sites have enjoyed this popular stage.

The bands that play are chosen through a combination of the BBC’s countrywide Introducing shows, Leeds promoters Futuresound and festival promoters Festival Republic.  In the past the likes of Everything Everything, General Fiasco, Pulled Apart My Horses and Goldheart Assembly have made their debuts at Reading and Leeds on this stage and gone onto great things.

Several bands have gained their place at the festival through winning highly fought competitions including local boys Kasiuss who bring their intelligent modern rock to the Festival Republic Stage (Saturday 28th Leeds, Sunday 29th Reading).  Kvelertak won their spot via a national TV search in their native Norway and Penguin were worthy champions of the Martin House Children’s Hospice battle of the bands – the Centre Stage competition.

Reading & Leeds also welcome the return of the DANCE TO THE RADIO STAGE which acts as the official warm up for the crowds at Leeds on the Thursday night. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. Chickenhawk, Bear In Heaven, Spectrals and The Neat (another act who started out on the BBC Introducing Stage last year) will kick things off at the greatest rock and roll event of the year.

With all stages now announced (Main, NME/Radio 1, Lock Up/Dance, Festival Republic and Alternative) the countdown begins with less than a month to go. The READING & LEEDS FESTIVAL is held on 27th – 29th August 2010 at Little John’s Farm in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds. Tickets for this event are now sold out.

BBC INTRODUCING STAGE

Friday 27th August at Reading Festival / Sunday 29th August at Leeds Festival

LITTLE FISH // ARCS AND TRAUMA // END OF LEVEL BADDIE // MR FOGG // STAGECOACH // THE MIGHTY STEF // SKETCHES // WILDER // WE’RE ONLY AFRAID OF NYC // G.A.N.G. // AMYS GHOST // OUR FOLD // WOT GORILLA

Saturday 28th August at Reading Festival / Friday 27th August at Leeds Festival

THE LAW // SHOCKPARADE // MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK // LOVE ENDS DISASTER // MIDI MIDIS // THE INVASION OF // MY FOREVER // LADY FORTUNE // ROATING LESLIE // PENGUIN // SOUL CIRCUS // CLUB SMITH

Sunday 29th August at Reading Festival / Saturday 28th August at Leeds Festival

GALLOPS // REDTRACK // LAFARO // EXIT INTERNATIONAL // REAPER IN SICILY // THE BRILLIANT THINGS // NERVES // PEERS // RUNAROUND KIDS // KVERLERTAK // BLACKLISTERS

With just a few days to go until Field Day gets underway, the festival is thrilled to announce which stages its vast array of exhilarating talent will be appearing on.  Combining unparalleled, cutting edge music with rustic charm, Field Day has gained an unrivalled reputation as the finest day out in the capital and its 2010 line up is undoubtedly the best yet.  Featuring an exclusive headline slot from Grammy award winning, Gallic indie pop sensations Phoenix, a highly anticipated set from legendary post-punks The Fall, a rare outing for Super Furries frontman Gruff Rhys new project and DJ sets from the mighty Simian Mobile Disco, Andrew Weatherall, Matthew Herbert and Moderat amongst myriad musical mavericks, Field Day is the festival of choice for discerning music lovers.

Generous helpings of fun are also the order of the day at Field Day in the perennially popular Village Mentality area, helping the true spirit of the village fair live on in one leafy corner of Hackney.  The fantastic mix of traditional side stalls and activities inspired by country pastimes and wholesome fete games are an annual pilgrimage for those of a playful disposition so take some time out from aural stimulation and participate in sack racing, tug o’ war, splat the rat!, vegetable roulette, meringueton, egg and spoon races, peruse the fashion swap shop or enjoy a well earned pint in the real ale tent, just the thing to get you in the right frame of mind for the evenings musical merriment.

Field Day is famed for its commitment to championing exciting new talent with The XX playing to 500 people in one of its smallest tents last year and Florence and the Machine opening the event in 2007, its inaugural year.  In 2010 Field Day has teamed up with XOYO to provide a platform for new artist so head there to discover your new favourite bands.

Brought to you by London’s most daring promoters Eat Your Own Ears, Bugged Out, Bloggers Delight and Adventures In The Beetroot Field, Field Day’s stage by stage breakdown is as follows. 

Eat Your Own Ears

The Invisible dj Set // The Fall // Steve Mason // Ramadanman // Phoenix // Lightspeed Champion // Hypnotic Brass Ensemble // Holly Miranda // Gilles Peterson DJ set // Erland And The Carnival // Caribou // Bethan Elfyn And The Vinyl Vendettas dj set // Anna Calvi // Andrew Weatherall dj set

Adventures In The Beetroot Field in association with Last. FM

These New Puritans // The Kissaway Trail // Our Girls DJ's  // Now Wave DJ's // No Age // Matthew Herbert One Show // Last FM DJ's // Is Tropical // Egyptian Hip Hop // Chapel Club // Cate Le Bon // Atlas Sound

XOYO / Lock Tavern

Yuck live // Walls live // Von Haze live // Toro Y Moi live // Sunday Girl live // Sexbeat // Prizes live // No Pain In Pop // Mim (Black Cab Sessions) // Leather Boy // Hounds of Hate live // Factory Floor // Don't Die Wondering // Dam Mantle live // Club.The.Mammoth // Babe Shadow


Village Mentality in association with The Quietus

thisaintnodisco dj // Silver Apples // Shula Wigwam DJ's // Runners // Mouse On Mars // Max Tundra // Gruff Rhys vs Tony da Gatorra // Flower- Corsano Duo // Esben and the Witch // Double Denim // Beth Jeans Houghton // Archie Bronson Outfit // Amiina

Bugged Out in association with Full Circle and Dummy

The Golden Filter - live // Tensnake - live // Rory Phillips // Moderat - live // Memory Tapes -live // Joker & MC Nomad // James Holden // Fake Blood // Chilly Gonzales - live // Carte Blanche  - DJ Mehdi & Riton

BLOGGER'S

Pantha Du Prince live // Off Modern djs // Off Modern djs // Night Slugs (L-Vis 1990 & Bok Bok b2b) // Mount Kimbie live // Hudson Mohawke live // Gold Panda live // Feeding Time djs // FACT djs // Deadly Rhythm djs // DaM FunK live // Blogger's Delight (Casper C, NikNikNik & Skull Juice b2b)

Keep your eyes peeled for up to date information and for the latest news visit – www.fielddayfestivals.com

Already bursting at the seams with the best musical talent around, the Underage festival has found a little extra room to add a DJ set from one of the nation’s most loved TV personalities and a performance from one of the country’s best live bands.

Mat Horne is best known for his roles in Gavin and Stacey and Catherine Tate but his musical credentials are of the highest order and he is a regular festival attendee as well as appearing on cutting edge radio stations such as BBC 6 Music and XFM. His DJ sets mix classic and contemporary indie, electro and dance so expect a roadblock at the main stage when Mat takes to the decks.

Having just released their eponymous debut album, Pulled Apart By Horses bring their incendiary live set to Victoria Park. Acclaimed in all quarters as one of the best live bands in UK their brilliantly unpredictable, smarty-pants, art-metal, hoarse hardcore is devoured by young fans up and down the UK and they are capable of turning any crowd into an emotional mess. 

The nebulous collective that is FNORD (Late Of The Pier / Durr) will be hosting a get-together in the diminutive confines of an unnamed tent somewhere on site at Underage Festival. Seek them out and ye shall find the likes of Connan Moccasin and Hot Horizons playing live, and from the fingers of FNORD (Late Of The Pier / Durr) and friends some special "personal collections" DJ sets in between

With performances for MIA, Annie Mac, Tinie Tempah, Crystal Castles, Ellie Goulding and many more cutting edge artists the Underage festival continues to be the world’s greatest dedicated teenage event and the full stage by stage breakdown is announced as follows.

TANGO STAGE
MIA // The Courteeners // Sub Focus Dj Set // Tinie Tempah // Xample & Lomax dj set // Hadouken! // Chiddy Bang // Los Campesinos! // Darwin Deez // Lightspeed Champion // CONVERSE STAGE // ANNIE MAC PRESENTS // Annie Mac DJ SET // Tinchy Stryder // Donaeo // Caspa featuring MC Rod Azlan // Jakwob DJ SET // Rye Rye // Martelo // Greenmoney // Twizzle // Fugative // Gold Panda // Devlin

YOUTH MUSIC STAGE
Crystal Castles // Everything Everything // Rox // Daisy Dares You // General Fiasco // Is Tropical

TOPMAN STAGE
Ellie Goulding // Professor Green // New Young Pony Club // Late Of The Pier Sound System // Chapel Club // Stornoway // Erik Hassle // Egyptian Hip Hop // Pulled Apart By Horses

COMMUNITY MUSIC STAGE
Unicorn Kid // Tinashe // Gold Future Joy Machine // Tantrums // Scorcher // Akala // Shiva // Ghetts & House Of Talent Roadshow // Ghost You Echo // Naga MC // Sleepless Beauty // Mammoth Sounds

RED BULL BEDROOM JAM
Family Force Five // Don Broco // Morning Parade // Talay // Heights // Hearts Under Fire // Sacred Betrayal // No Mean City // Stand Up Guy // This is Divine // Never Means Maybe // You and what Army,

The sun is shining and with just a few sleeps to go until we open the gates of Lulworth Castle over the weekend of July 30th, 31st and August 1st for another fun-filled Camp Bestival jamboree, you really are going to have to be quick off the mark to make sure you can join us, as there are literally just a few hundred tickets left. And you wouldn't want to miss out on an amazing weekend of music, comedy, theatre, art and kids entertainment galore at the family festival of the year.

We are super pleased to announce that folk firebrand Seth Lakeman will be making the short trip from Devon to Dorset to unleash his fiddle-powered rock n reels. Mercury nominated for his second album 'Kitty Jay' and with his brand new album 'Hearts And Minds' racing in to the Top Ten in this week's midweek charts, Seth looks set to be celebrating another hit album with the Camp B faithful. And the excitement doesn't stop there, as undisputed legends The Jolly Boys will also be making a very welcome appearance. One of Jamaica's most enduring and well respected acts, The Jolly Boys are the world's finest exponents of Mento and have been active since the mid-fifties, influencing the pantheon of ska and reggae greats that followed in their wake. With their infectious Mento versions of modern classics ready to rock the party, The Jolly Boys will be one of the best live acts you'll catch all year.

With a bill that already includes Friendly Fires, Madness, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Calvin Harris, Chipmunk, The Fall, Bill Bragg, Annie Mac, DJ Yoda, Mr Scruff, William Orbit, comedy from Tim Minchin, Jim Jefferies, Rufus Hound, Andrew Maxwell and Marcus Brigstocke and over 100 free things for kids to do, including performances from Mr Tumble, The Gruffalo (live), the brand new Freestyle Sports Park, Fairy Tale Fancy Dress and Jousting displays there's never a dull moment. And to make sure you don't miss out on all the fun you can now buy Camp Bestival's very own mobile app to keep you up to date with everything happening on site.

The app has the following features:
- Full set times for all the key stages*
- An interactive Festival Map
- Breaking news - before, during and after the event
- A personal itinerary option to ensure you don't miss anything you want to see over the weekend
- Exclusive photos and videos
- Useful festival information to keep you up to speed with all that is happening on site including
- And there will even be money saving offers appearing on the app as we get closer to the festival.

Rob da Bank has said: "There's so much going on at this year's Camp Bestival including brilliant new additions Seth Lakeman and The Jolly Boys, you'll need to be App-ed up and armed with all the latest info so you can cram in all the family favourites ... and ensure some adult time off too!!"

There's plenty of brand new diversions to keep you entertained including Singstar's brand new Cocktails and Dreams area where you can kick off your flip-flops, grab a cocktail and sing along to your favourite tunes. Unwind in one of the plush private SingStar booths or become a headliner yourself on the Cocktails & Dreams stage.  With party games, kid's show time and prizes to be won, there's plenty to keep your little SingStars entertained too!  After the sun sets the party really kicks off. Hosted by the original party starters, The Cuban Brothers, special guests will be Carol Decker from T'Pau, The Original Bucks Fizz and Peter Frank Raooowsht who will be keeping things going well into the night.

If you want to hire a buggy made for festival environments for your weekend¹s adventuring then Maclaren have a selection of carriers and buggies to borrow for free! Buggys are limited so you¹ll have to be quick! Plus they're running some buggy workouts to boot so check out their stand. And make sure you seek out Tom Tom's Fairy Tale Explorer for tips on how to find the hidden treasures on site. They'll be making several recommendations during the weekend so make sure you keep checking back.

As usual all the latest info is at www.campbestival.net

The line-up is now finalized and this year's SPIRIT of Burgas will feature over 100 acts across 7 stages, showcasing the best local and regional artists alongside top international acts including; Andy C & MC GQ, Apollo 440, DJ Shadow, Everlast, Gorillaz Sound System , (DVJ), Grandmaster Flash, Serj Tankian, The Prodigy (pictured) and Unkle. And what better location to experience it than Burgas city beach, with stunning views of the Black Sea coastline, stretching over 20km.  No mud, rain or cold - its sun, sea and sand all the way!

Main Stage:

Recognized as one the most authoritative groups of all time, The Prodigy will headline on the opening night of the festival on Friday 13th August with support from electro-ambient-rock pioneers Apollo 440 and top Bulgarian indie/electronic band Gravity Co. As a supporter of the Drum'n'Bass scene, SPIRIT of Burgas again joins forces with H.M.S.U. bringing you the best beats after midnight with DJ Andy C & MC GQ supported by local stars Acidtrip, Konspirator and Mocks.

The highlight of Saturday 14th August will be Unkle's exclusive live performance, preceded by Everlast - the former frontman of House of Pain and Grammy winner and local band Ostava. After midnight DJ Shadow will wow the crowd with his unique audio visual show, with Solardip, Chaves and DJ Lite playing till dawn.

The festival finale on Sunday 15th August plays host to the multi-sensory show of the Gorillaz Sound System (DVJ). D2 from Bulgaria will start the evening followed by social and political activist Serj Tankian from System of the Down fame, with Hip Hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash putting the crowd in full on party mode with a with a Kaleidoscopic mash-up of contagious hip hop rhythms followed by Noukat DJ Set.

Jack Daniel`s Rock Stage:

Supporting the festival rock scene Jack Daniel's this year will again make their mark on the warm sands of Burgas. On Friday night there will be performances from Bicheto, Vendetta, Last Hope, A-Moral, Sickflag and D.S.O.L. On Saturday Wickeda, Svetlyo & The Legends, Otriad 13, Kartzer, Booze Brothers and Default will take to the stage and  the finale on Sunday will see performances from British star O`Kasan and Italian band Bandity, with support from Vrani Volosa and Smallman with more to be announced.

?? ????? Stage:

This is the sound of the Underground where the first chords will be played on Friday 13th August by Ogi23, followed by the Independent, Doctors Gogo Band, Ambient Anarchist, Sub Zero Farm, Q-Check and La Muchedumbre. The fun will continue on Saturday 14th August with Oratnitsa, Samba band, DJ Dharba and Chumerna Orchestra. The final night on Sunday 15th will host Abortion, New flowers, Kokosha glava, Erection, All Inc. and Review band.

GO Dutch:?"

The rise and rise of Dutch electronic music" this is what top UK dance music magazine Mixmag wrote in a full article about upcoming Dutch talent. There is much more to Holland than the world's biggest trance artists and this year GO Dutch stage will showcase the best new Techno DJ's. Kicking things off on Friday 13th with be David Labiej, Lauhaus (a.k.a Polder) and Tony Boogs who will lift up the spirits and no bad omens could possibly stop them. Saturday 14th will be hosted by Robert Powlson and Efdé (Live) and last but definitely not least, Anonym (Live) and Esther Duijn from the Soulrock label, will take to the decks on Sunday 15th August.  Besides this all three nights will be warmed up by the hottest Bulgarian DJ's in the scene... stay tuned for more announcements.

ZioN LionZ Reggae Stage:?Zion LionZ hosts are in the camp of Caribbean music and culture and will play Reggae and Ragga till the sunrise. Their guests are Africandro, ZionLionz, Melody Roots, SenI, Jahmmy Youth and Zafyah on Friday, Invoke, Dopotamix Soundpista, JaGWaR (live), Ragga One feat. Zigg, ZionLionz and Melody Roots and the final night will feature Daft Dub, aGWaR, Skiller ZionLionz and King BDJ.

Jazz & Blues stage:

The best in jazz & Blues can also be heard at the festival with Smuglers Collective, Ruth feat Steve Hartley and Loud Jazz Band from Norway kicking things off on Friday night. Saturday will feature B.A. Project, Dizzaster 4, Martin Denev feat Vanessa Freeman & Colonel Red and Dirty Purchase, with Hi Time, Acoustic Trio 3000 and Mama's Bad Boys & Friends performing on Sunday with more to be announced.

And if that wasn't enough the surprise of SPIRIT of Burgas will be this year's disco scene Performer's Arena.

SPIRIT of Burgas is a young festival with only two-year history, but for the time of its existence it has showed that in Bulgaria can host its own large scale event, with not only a wide range of musical styles, but also bringing people different together in one place.

What will bring together hundreds of guests at the SPIRIT of Burgas, irrespective of all the scenes are selected, the brand is Beck's - the main partner of the event. German number one brand of beer will be an indispensable 'headliner' of the hottest music and emotions during the three festival nights. Some fans will have the chance to witness the show by winning tickets for SPIRIT of Burgas from Beck's. The expectation of meeting the artists will be heated up by each award. You can find detailed information how to win the award at: www.becks.bg

Latitude Festival is proud to reveal that the winner of the first Latitude Contemporary Art Award is Graeme Miller for his visually stunning Moth Theatre installation which was announced at the ceremony on Saturday 17th July at 4pm in the Lavish Lounge, in the beautiful setting of Henham Park Estate on Suffolk’s Sunrise Coast.

Miller received the prize of £10,000 after the LCA judges – Founder and Creator of Latitude Festival and Managing Director of Festival Republic Melvin Benn, broadcaster, journalist and Radio 4's World At One presenter Martha Kearney and Young British Artist Gavin Turk – took an onsite tour of the exhibits of all participating artists.

The piece, which can only be seen at night, is “theatre for moths, by moths.” It uses video feedback triggering monochrome pattern from the shadows of insects, which are drawn to the bright lights within the installation at dusk.

Miller said: “By night the moths are drawn from the woods by the bright lights of a miniature theatre whose stage is saturated with the irresistible pleasure of ultra-violet illumination. They settle to bask in the limelight of a white screen – drawn to a kind of shared stardom of silhouetted insects. In this world the human observer is a guest. What they are drawn to is the intense bluish radiance and in the quiet auditorium of the trees they can eavesdrop on this unwitting performance.”

Graeme Miller is a London-based theatre maker, performer, composer and artist. On winning the prize, Miller was overjoyed and commented how he would now begin the process of creating his installation piece for Latitude 2011.

Melvin Benn has always intended contemporary art to be an integral part of Latitude Festival. Speaking on Saturday he said: “It was always my intention that contemporary art would be a key element of the programme at Latitude and that art would be given the same platform as the music, theatre, literature and poetry.  We have always had spectacular works displayed throughout the site and In The Woods and this year, working with the team involved in the LCA, has given me the confidence to take art at Latitude to a new level. I’m really thrilled Graeme Miller’s installation was chosen as the winner and I look forward to seeing what his next piece will be for Latitude 2011.”

The LCA comprises Melvin Benn, Independent arts writer Louise Gray, Tate Modern curator Ben Borthwick, curator/deputy editor of ‘The Wire’ Anne Hilde-Neset and Managing Director of Lavish Ami Jade Cadillac.

This weekend it was time for The Big Chill. As a Chill-virgin I was super excited to experience all the random things on offer, so I packed up my baby wipes and pop tarts (new festival essential) and went on my way to the hills of Herefordshire. The only way I can describe the few days I've just experienced is a mouldy jam sandwich... two disastrous ends with a sweet and fruity centre. I hope you're sitting comfortably because there's a minor rant coming on...

The Big Chill prides itself on being a festival that focuses on the environment, minimising the impact of such a massive event by promoting the use of public transport to minimise the festival's carbon footprint, as well as promoting recycling and its motto of 'leave no trace'. So because of the pressure to use public transport to get to the event I trotted over to London Paddington to get the train out to Great Malvern. It was bloody typical that some stupid group of yobbos had vandalised the line so it took us two tubes, five trains and a coach to get to the campsite. You can imagine the mood we were in when we finally got there!

This foul mood was about to get even fouler when we discovered the campsite we were in was the complete opposite end to where we'd been dropped off, there was no shuttle bus going that way, taxis were banned and would be fined if they dropped you off, and wait for it... it was a six mile hike up a hilly A-road with no pavements. Yep, you read that right... SIX MILES! This was the most ridiculous thing I have ever experienced in all my years of festival-ing, sending two girls on their own (remember what happened at Latitude?) on a six mile hike through hilly roads with no sign posts and directions of "keep going til you hit a t-junction then shake a right." Great. So off we trotted (I say trotted I mean slogged it in the rain carrying our backpacks, trollies and tents,) into the wilderness until the point where we were almost in tears and ready to turn round and go home... until a man in a van, who we have nicknamed Jesus, came from behind a hilly road like an angel from heaven and took us the rest of the way. If he hadn't have appeared this is where my review would have stopped!

So we were finally at the campsite, wet, exhausted, fed up but still ready for a fun weekend. After setting out at 7.30am we were finally there some eight hours later, the only way of getting through the pain and blisters being to drink our weight in cider. That's a lot of cider. Once we got inside the arena we weren’t sure if we were just drunk or if there really was a tree with eyes, a giant duck on the pond, an igloo and flashing giant baubles. Everything was surreal, but a hellovalorra fun.

There is so much going on at The Big Chill that up until about 6pm it's not even about the music. Some of the stages don't even start playing until 3pm, so there's plenty of time to get creative making necklaces or peg ladies, chill out with a movie or Burlesque show, have a pot of tea down by the lake or even have a boogie in the open-air disco with changing-colour pillars. There's literally something for everyone, whether you want to learn how to graffiti, sing along to Kate Bush tribute act Fake Bush, take part in a music quiz, rock out with rockeoke or watch some hippedy-hop dancing.

The Big Chill is like a mini Glastonbury - every little detail thought of, every experience designed to make you think or do something different from the norm. I didn't go this year, but apparently they've even taken a lot of inspiration from instillations at this year's festival. Even the food and drink isn't your run-of-the-mill festival gumph - bagels, gorgeous Chinese, a tea and toast van, smoothies... mmmmm. I ate a lot.

The music on offer is inevitably a chilled offering, mixed with popsters singing their classics. Covers were the topic of the weekend, with everyone who was anyone covering someone else's tunes. Kelis mixed her 'Milkshake' with a helping of Madonna's 'Holiday', Newton Faulkner rocked out to Bohemian Rhapsody, Paloma Faith channelled Etta James, Plan B sang some hippedy-hop song that I'm not down with the kids enough to know what it is, and even Lily Allen invited special guest Professor Green to sing with her on 'Just be good to me'. One of the things I loved about Big Chill was the fact that everyone was so chilled that you could easily get right down the front of the stages without any pushing and shoving. Everyone was relaxed and wanted to enjoy the music, meaning there wasn’t a mosh pit in sight (apart from when commanded by the act themselves!)

On Sunday night the giant egg tower (literally a massive wooden tower with an egg on top) was set alight amongst a firework extravaganza to mark the end of the weekend. But seeing as this happened just before Lily Allen's set, most of the festival didn’t get to see it - a wasted opportunity to inject even further amazement into the festival goers.

So the actual festival part of the weekend was a really great experience. We had a fab time, got to do a lot of random things, experience a lot of bizarre shows (a guy with no arms in sparkly hotpants presenting naked ladies?) and even danced into the early hours at the silent disco. But everything else just seemed to fall short. Even though wherever you look there are signs encouraging you to 'leave no trace' there are the fewest bins I've ever seen at a festival site - by midday they were already overflowing, meaning for the rest of the day the rubbish was piling up into something that was reminiscent of a shanty town. There were no signposts, no information and certainly no help if you should so need it.

After our trauma getting to the festival we spent two days worrying about how we were going to get back. To our extreme excitement, so much so we took a picture, we found a sign saying there would be a shuttle bus from our campsite to the main shuttle stop on Monday morning.... hurrah! We did a little dance, sang a little song, hi-fived and took pictures of ourselves with the sign just to prove it was real in the morning. Oh how we were deceived. Monday morning we got up and trotted across to the 'pick up point' where we sat for an hour waiting with ten other people for the shuttle bus. Finally we gave in and went to find out information about when it would be coming... there was no shuttle bus, never had been. WTF?! Why put up a sign saying there was one?! (And just to clarify, this wasn't a joke as we spent ten minutes talking to the information girl who put it up.) So, by this stage the rage was creeping up again... we were in no way going to walk another six miles back to the pick-up-point. Seeing as our numbers were larger than they'd been on the way up we decided we were going to barge our way through the arena and refuse to walk around the hilly hills of Herefordshire again. When we finally got to the shuttle bus there was another huge queue (understandably) and another at the station - only one train an hour back into London. Bloody brilliant. So after another eight hour journey I was finally home and practically fell into bed head-first to recover.

My advice if you're considering going to The Big Chill? Ignore their advice and drive. Unless you are prepared for a massive hike, the longest journey you could possibly imagine and unhelpful information points, get in your car, pollute the environment and listen to your tunes on the way. Be prepared for a total lack of information, random things happening all over the place at bizarre times and being frustrated beyond your life. But if you can get past this, you'll have an amazing time. Just don’t expect to be chilled by the end of it!

10 years ago a bunch of friends got together to celebrate the Birthday of a chap called Alex Trenchard – it was such a good party that they did the same the following year and the one after that and the one after that. In fact so good were these parties that they have been repeated a further 9 times and last weekend saw the 10th anniversary of what is now known as Standon Calling – one of the UK’s best independent festivals.

Murder on the Standon Express, which was the theme of this year’s event has been causing a stir for months and this eagerly awaited festival did not disappoint. Not one little bit.

Fancy dress may not be everyone’s cup of tea and frankly it can become a little tiresome but given the murder/mystery theme we could barely wait to don our Tweed capes and deerstalkers - nor, it seemed, could anyone else. On Saturday the site was awash with the likes of the Dead Presidents, Magnum pi, Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum, various cops in all kinds of get up, Shaggy & Fred and their mystery gang, and a whole bunch of Crime Scene investigators complete with paper boiler-suits. Infact the lengths that some people had gone to in order to look the part was incredible. 

It wasn’t just the paying public that had made the effort though – attention to detail throughout the site was staggering, including an entire town had been built out of MDF and crafted with love. My particular favourite was the recreation of Baker Street tube station, complete with rats and  “No way out” signs – oh and blood too, lots of blood.

The atmosphere was super chilled and there was a real sense of community amongst the festival-goers. The weather was good (Ahem!) for the most part and the booze and scram was varied, decent and reasonably priced, so no complaints there…

With festival prices rising year on year and with audiences exposed to ever more brands and sponsors it is a credit to Standon Calling that they managed to keep the cost to an affordable rate and without selling out to advertisers. Refreshing to say the least.

Ah yes, and then there was the music – it wouldn’t be a festival without music, right? Well not in our eyes anyway. For the size of the festival, Standon Calling had an amazing line up that had already been lorded by the likes of the Guardian and the NME earlier in the year.  There were so many great performances that picking one or two would serve as a great injustice to all that performed over the weekend. Suffice to say that Cleaning Women were amazing (if a little scary), The Liars were wicked and Buena Vista Social Club were simply perfect.

Such a great festival – something here that all festival organisers can learn from. Looking forward to next year already…. I wonder what the theme will be.

Bravo Standon Calling and Happy Birthday Alex :o)

The Relentless Boardmasters is billed as Europe’s ultimate extreme sports and music festival and whilst I haven’t attended any other extreme sport/music combos it certainly made an impression.

Bardmasters 2010 had a strong line-up with festival favourites such as Leftfield, Gallows, Chase and Status and Plan B as well as international acts including the ever impressive Seasick Steve. On top of this little lot there were plenty more wicked acts on the bill across three main stages. With my music taste rooted in rock and punk I found myself constantly torn between the Vans Stage and the Relentless stage, however, thanks to some good planning with stage times it was fairly easy to run between the two without missing a great deal. In spite of this there was still a feeling that I had missed bands I would have liked to have seen, but that’s no complaint, rather a reflection of the number of great acts on show. The highlight of my weekend, musically, had to be Gallows who headlined the Relentless stage on Friday. The way they completely controlled the crowd, including instigating a giant circle pit and a human pyramid, and threw themselves into their blistering performance was incredible.

Whilst the organisers did a great job of signing some really good and diverse acts, it was a shame to see the smaller stages half empty throughout the day for some top-notch bands and only filling up for the headliners. This, coupled with the consistently huge crowd on the main stage left an impression that, while there was plenty of great new, underground music on offer, it could have been any number of the big UK festivals.

Boardmaster’s unique selling point has always been the beach and surfing side to it, and this year was no exception. As a five star ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) world qualifying series event, the surfers on display are some of the best in the business and in spite of the somewhat miserable weather it was a great opportunity to see these guys doing what they do best. There were also plenty of other events including skate and BMX competitions and displays over both the Fistral Beach and Watergate Bay sites, giving yet more opportunities to escape the noise for a few hours. Outside of the festival proper there was also a chance to hit one of the many local beaches, hire a board and go surfing for a few hours, or simply sit in the wind and moan about the weather – we are British after all!

Video by Danny Cook

The festival possibly suffered from trying to offer too much. This is exaggerated due to the reasonable distance between the two sites and the time it took to get between them. This meant you would have to plump for either Watergate or Fistral and then stick with it for the day, particularly if you were drinking and driving wasn’t an option. To be fair there was a bus service available but, to be traveling back and forth all day was not ideal and this was a shame as it left an apparently diverse festival rather disjointed.

Another slight problem was the camping on offer. Weekend ticket holders had the option of purchasing camping on a first come first served basis, but the limited number of tickets left many having to seek alternative, and very over priced, accommodation. While an improvement on previous years, where no official camping was on offer, it would be good to see universal camping in years to come. I didn’t get an opportunity to see the official campsite although from what I heard it did sound like a pretty decent facility. Whilst the travel was an inconvenience perhaps the biggest flaw of the lack of dedicated festival camping was having to mix with Jo Public. Newquay has become a Mecca for Stag and Hen party’s and this meant that festival revelers often had to deal with some less than pleasant neighbours. We all know that festivals have a dark side to them but there is a general common respect between festival-goers which was not followed by other campers. Again, there was nothing the festival organisers could do about this as they had no involvement with these facilities but surely dedicated camping for all attendees would address this issue.

Moving on to what the festival did provide, they were all pretty good. There was a decent mix of food and drink on offer including pizza, burgers, and other standard festival fare with the drinks being a mix of beers, ciders and spirits and all reasonably priced. However, you did sometimes feel as if you were walking round a field of billboards, with the Pimm’s Bus, the Jagermeister truck and others all culprits. I appreciate that it’s this that pays for the festival in part, and quite a few of them did offer some interesting entertainment, but it would have been nice to see more independent local fare on offer.

So, all in all Boardmasters was a good festival and, with a few tweaks here and there it could become great. All that’s needed is to really make it feel like a festival, by bringing all the things on offer together into a more complete package. That said the festival has a great deal to offer and if you like what you see then it’s still well worth the price of admission and definitely one to head to.

“And now ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure: Syban and her own, personal rendition of Swan Lake. Those of a sensitive disposition...please look away now.”

Cue Syban (pictured above), the human pin cushion sliding feathers attached to needles through the skin on her arms and through her cheeks, wiping the blood away as she goes - whilst on a pair of ballet pointe shoes.

Welcome to Field Day 2010 folks!

The Boom Boom tent, which set the vibe for the entire day also featured Kitty Kitty Bang Bang - a semi-naked woman eating fire - and Frank Sanazi, the bastard lovechild of Hitler and Frank Sinatra (not one for the easily offended!). This independent festival is one of the very best and has a wonderfully chilled-out, arty and slightly alternative atmosphere.

Set in Hackney’s Victoria Park the festival has a distinctly East London feel to it. Field Dayers themselves seem to be a mish-mash of 20 and 30-somethings (with the exception of a few hardcore Fall fans) from all walks of life and it seems that most people go for the festival itself rather than just for the music. It all makes for a crowd of cool, beautiful people. Perfect location for a spot of people watching. My personal favorite was a young lady wearing black and white harlequin leggings, a ripped t-shirt, side ponytail and 80’s sunglasses that I would LOVED to have owned when I was 14. Actually I’d be quite happy to own them now.

The rest of the audience were wearing underwear as outerwear (I thought that was in fashion last summer?), see-through baby doll dresses, full-on leopard skin body suits (I would like to remind you all that this is NOT a themed/fancy dress festival.) and ‘pimp’ shorts with dollar signs emblazoned on the butt. Oh, and sunglasses – the festival was awash with sunglasses. I felt distinctly overdressed, and underdressed all at the same time. Despite the exuberance of the fashionistas there was a definite feeling that no one really gave a damn what you wore and that just added to the relaxed atmosphere.

This year, for the first time ever, the festival had not sold out and apparently tickets could be bought on the gate for just £15, this meant that the site was fairly uncrowded. The arena itself is actually quite small which makes it easy to find your way around and getting from stage to stage can be done in about 7 minutes flat – Glastonbury this ain’t! Programmes (actually they were just laminated lanyard things) were a ridiculous £5 but if that was a little much you could have just gone to the main notice board and jotted all the times down… like I did.

Unfortunately the sound was a problem this year - very hit and miss, from band to band, not necessarily stage to stage. The Fall performed on the Chew Your Own Ears stage and it was difficult hearing anything that Mark E. Smith was singing or shouting. Giles Peterson’s DJ set gave me a pleasant, contrasting surprise as his live brass/horn section was loud, clear and funky…. also nicely semi-naked and sweaty... ahem! Sadly Caribou, who played immediately after GP and whom I was particularly looking forward to, sounded as if they were playing underwater. Shouts of ‘TURN IT UP’ were heard clearly throughout the audience. Such a shame. The Archie Bronson Outfit on the Village Mentality stage had a huge problem with getting his vocals heard and Memory Tapes, while sounding very good on the Bugged Out stage, lost any stage presence they might have had by being in such a large arena. Judging by the lively crowds that turned up for Phoenix and Moderat, the sound had finally been sorted out - .just a pity it took until 9pm to do it! The audience seemed to be enjoying it anyway.

Strange as it may seem, one of the highlights of the day was the food - it really was fantastic. As you can imagine from the kind of festival Field Day is, much of it was organic with a great veggie range. Early on I was told about the Arancini Risotto Ball wraps, and when I felt the urge I partook in one of their garlic wraps. Two words folks...UTTERLY DELICIOUS! At just £4 they were a meal in themselves and kept you going throughout the afternoon without having to snack on the ‘slightly’ more fast food alternatives. The usual fast food, so common at most festivals was scarce though, with Vine St Market and Peppermint Bars catering for the majority of the Festival. The stalls were clean, with fresh produce, and there was literally something there to suit everyone’s taste buds, including an Australian BBQ that served crocodile and kangaroo steaks, and Beas’s of Bloomsbury serving some scrumptious cupcakes to have with a cup of coffee, or beer, or cider, or Pimms etc… Everything just seemed that little bit more wholesome - even the pizza.

All in all, Field Day is still a bit rough around the edges, and with a 2 hour journey home, it does put a bit of a damper on things. I live just a few miles away in North East London and after walking, tubing, busing, then walking again (driving is out of the question due the chronic lack of parking) I wonder if it will ever attract that many people from outside of the area.

But if you want to check out the beautiful people (in fact...that catchy little Suede ditty is quite apt), experience a lovely chilled-out summer, local-vibe, cabaret, and eat some fantastic food, then Field Day is the festival for you. Take some mates, a picnic blanket and enjoy a great day out. If you happen to catch some bands that you can actually hear - then that is just an added bonus.

When I was asked to review the Secret Garden Party, I found myself in a bit of a metaphysical conundrum. Take the word, for example - review - as in, to view something again. How does one review an entity like SGP? To view it again would mean to get some kind of sense or semblance from what was viewed in the first place. And what was viewed, was skewed, and all that was skewed, lewd, and sometimes rude, was viewed, hued, imbued, reviewed and ultimately extrude...ed. But, like, dude...you have no idea. Not being patronising, I mean, you literally have no idea. I had no idea. Neither did the 20,000-odd other people who stepped onto those picturesque Cambridgeshire pastures.

First of all, being a regular to the festival I felt comfortable in the fact that I knew where everything was. Er, no. Last year the festival was noticeably bigger, some complained it was too big and lacked the intimacy that many felt was part and parcel of the SGP atmosphere. Presumably in a bid to regain that intimacy, which they indeed did, and whilst catering for an even larger crowd, those mental organisers decided to shift everything sort of clockwise, or left, I couldn't work it out. Suffice to say everything looked pretty much the same, but wasn't. I didn't have a clue where I was going. It was great.

This was all bolstered by the theme of the festival, if ever theme were needed, of "Fact or Fiction".

Now, such a concept practically underwrites all SGPs, so to enforce it as an overall theme is like telling somebody to go down to the bottom of the rabbit hole, and start digging. Incidentally on that note a female friend and myself chose to contribute by dressing as the Mad Hatter and Alice. Respectively. Gents, for those thinking of a similar fancy dress approach let me tell you, you can get away with a lot in a £7 blue dress from Tesco, a blonde wig and a couple of pink balloons (the trick is to not over-expand, you don't want to look silly). Just counterbalance with some overcompensating man-stuff, get your swagger on, spit and chop down the occasional tree.

Anyway, as costumes go I was in good company. I saw Sonic, and Mario. I saw what looked like the cast of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, riding a pink Suzuki jeep with a rocket attached to it. I saw...a saw... with several ominous-looking doctors attached to it. I saw grannies. I saw babies - real ones, and a 30-year-old one carrying a sign saying 'Enjoy Yourself'. I saw horses. Racing. In different directions. I saw a steam train with burlesque dancers as its garland. I saw a tank. I saw a blimp.

In fact Good Ship SGP, and last year Castle SGP, has now been upgraded to airship status. An impeccable level of detail went into creating the famous centrepiece of the festival. The large Zeppelin-like stage sat as an island in the central lake, playing host to some impressive DJs and parties. The blimp was burnt in ritual and spectacular manner on the Saturday evening, accompanied by a fireworks display that had clearly had a lot of work put into it, and the release of thousands of coloured balloons and Chinese lanterns that was quite simply mesmerising.

Blimp aside, a plethora of intricate sculptures, cardboard mazes, the obligatory sofa made of sand, ubiquitous random pianos, and one church organ on top of a staircase could be found dotted about the place. A special mention should go to the Heath Robinson-esque model on top of the mound, an elaborate and cartoonish series of pipes and ladles. I'm going to say it was drinks maker, I'm not actually sure. I think there was a bar there and I'm pretty sure that was cocktails it was dispensing. May explain the memory lapse, or was I not meant to drink that?

The Collo-silly-um, the original stadium of mudsports, gets bigger and sillier every year. Still, as it was at its birth, a circle of bay hails. An enormous one, however, decorated such that Maximus himself would be proud, as it accommodates a vast audience all baying for mud.

Music-wise, headliners were Gorillaz SoundSystem - note, not the Gorillaz - an amalgamation of Gorillaz tracks remixed live by DJs with visual displays incorporating their trademark animations. New girl making chart waves Eliza Doolittle made an excellently-pitched appearance, and another chart success Marina & The Diamonds brought a little glam and vocal energy to the main stage. There was also a very rare performance from Mercury Rev. A fantastic and varied set was put on by beatboxer Killa Kela, and the ever-brilliant Freestylers brought their mix of drum & bass, breakbeat and dubstep accompanied by some blistering MCing. Add to that the blissful reggae sounds of Horace Andy; however, the reggae crown, and perhaps crowning moment of the festival belonged to David Rodigan. The only white DJ to command ubiquitous respect in Jamaica capped the event with a history lesson in music that went from classic reggae, through old school jungle, to dubstep. All around the resounding sentiment was that we had witnessed something special.

Otherwise, the festival was choc-full of incredible bands. Moving from tent to tent one could transcend all genres, and the sheer nature of the festival almost commanded that each one brought their music, and just that little bit extra. Particularly notable performances came in the form of two styles of gypsy punk, Chancery Blame and The Gadjo Club came out looking like the Mexican Day of the Dead with a wonderfully dark and entertaining set, ending with one of the best versions of "I'm the King of the Swingers" you'll ever hear, and Death Ray Trebuchay set the stage alight with their unique blend of gypsy rock, the crowd hopelessly engaged into the bands huge energy.

Chai Wallahs hosted the amazing Yes Sir Boss and their special guest, Joss Stone - a truly memorable moment. Take a look at the video to see what I mean:

SGP darlings Lazy Habits made their always-welcome mark in proceedings early on with fantastic live brass-led hip hop, and other alternative hip hop duo The Correspondents, also festival regulars, lit up the crowd with their incredible swing-influenced tunes.

The festival is truly beautiful, at all times. Sunny weather brings out the costumes and painted faces, shimmering golds and vibrant colours, the little details you'd never know were there until you really looked. Glo-painted ghettoblasters growing from a rosebush, for example. Come dusk and then night, the lights come up against a purple and red sky, strobes dance across the skies, each tree is lit with a different hue, and the dance tents come alive as lasers sneak through the crowds like the spines of a sea urchin. Every conceivable detail is seen to, and messed with. It is a place that plays on every sense. But more than that it is a place to simply let go, and equally, have a go. It teases every child from within and crushes all inhibition. The only real complaint was an ill-thought queueing system upon entry, which left many standing around for hours; however, once in, all that trouble was kept exiled in the outside world. What happens inside SGP, can only happen in SGP.

In short, I went down that rabbit hole. I kept digging. I struck gold. I really love this place.

As a former Galloway boy I was intrigued to make it to this year’s Wickerman to see just how it had somehow transformed itself from a hippie party for the locals to one of Britain’s favourite alternative weekends. Such anticipation was well founded, it proved to be a triumphant 9th Wickerman Festival.

Despite growing in size every year, 15,000 revellers this time around, the camp site proved to be really spacious, allowing us to pitch the tent wherever we pleased. However, after finding a prime spot, our need to test the extent to which the site catered for even the most harebrained of operations when we realised that we’d forgotten half the tent. Fortunately, there was a Cosy Camper stall on hand selling a 4-man for 40 quid, not bad considering that if you are in the position where you have to fork out for one, you are likely to be pretty desperate. Although, at the time, "Desperate" wasn't one of the adjectives used to describe the person in charge of tent transit.

Minor set backs aside, the hiss of cider cans signalled the start of a glorious day one, with everyone in high spirits taking full advantage of the scorching heat in the beautiful Galloway countryside. Considering the line-up included The Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene, and 808 State DJ’s, it was little surprise to us that we had camped next to a cheery bunch from Manchester. They turned out to be running the Skiddle Bass dance Bus, the after show destination for anyone who ventured through the night. This is a refreshing change from larger festivals, where it’s commonplace for punters to be immediately ejected from the arena after the final acts finish and left to brave the hit or miss world of the campsite party.

The Charltans look reborn; a now teetotal, highly professional outfit, ripping through the back catalogue with aplomb, much to the delight of the 30 something’s who were there first time round. While Ocean Colour Scene managed to conjure sing-alongs galore, I'm sure there was a surprised look among the crowd who'd forgotten they knew it all so well.

The alternative main acts were pure punk. A mixture of legends, The Buzzcocks and The Undertones, some covers bands (which I avoided) and contemporary acts, some of whom provided the best day time dance-a-longs, especially Doll and the Kicks.

However, it was away from the main stages that the best performance of the weekend came. Django Django headlined the new Scottish talent stage and proved why they’ve been consistently hyped for the last year. They’re really tough to categorise, a bit like a psychedelic Beta Band, but with great pounding tribal drum beats and a dash of electronica. See what I mean? Not long to wait for their debut album and you can have some fun making up your own description.

Overnight, a thick mist dragged itself from the Solway Firth and crawled over the hill to the site. It wasn’t proper rain, more of a damp chill in the air, and the site held up easily.

The forecast defying temperatures had clearly taken many by surprise judging by the bright pink torsos emerging from tents to trudge to the breakfast bar. Porridge was the alternative choice, but it didn’t really match the cornerstone to any successful festival morning, the bacon roll.

Opening with the fantastically appropriate “Will It Ever Stop Raining?” on Saturday evening were Ireland’s much-loved Saw Doctors. Beginning with a smaller audience, the festival stalwarts soon dragged a bedraggled crowd out from the beer tent and into the main arena. More up-tempo tunes converted new fans, while those down the front were treated to a couple of the old classics. Proving themselves romantics at heart, and displaying an admirable loyalty to a faithful following, one song was a repeated dedication first made in 1992. Never could it be said they don’t try to keep people happy…

Earlier that afternoon, they revealed that despite playing festivals all over and touring around the world, Scotland still holds a special place in their hearts. Arriving early to soak up the atmosphere and scope out the competition, they took further inspiration from those 'pure punk' bands performing throughout the day. Unlikely muses these bands might be for the boys from Galway, but  proving successful for their 24th year.

Adjacent to the site you’ll find the festival’s pièce de résistance, the giant willow statue of the Wickerman. Gone is the book wielding figure from 2009, this year he meant business, clutching a giant bow and arrow aimed towards the main stage in a menacing fashion. With gates opened to venture for a walk around the figure, you can really appreciate the workmanship involved in creating something of such a scale. Access was denied as the main event began at sunset, the burning of the Wickerman.

It was an awe-inspiring site, 40 foot flames to a backdrop of dramatic fireworks which sprang in all directions, descending the entire festival into a temporary silent trance, save for the odd ‘oo’s and ahhs’. He managed to stay on his feet too, despite being reduced to a skeleton, triumphantly holding on to the bow at the same time. As the flames began to die down, the crowd snapped back to life when 808 State DJ’s began a rowdy closing party on the main stage.

It’s a testament to the Wickerman team that it continues to be such a success, without any big commercial backing. They admit to having offers for the event to be transformed into the ‘INSERT MULTINATIONAL COMPANY NAME HERE Wickerman’, but this has been resisted. They point out, in the current economic climate, it’s too risky to rely on one source for finance, for the festival to thrive it’s got to do so on its own success. Director, Jamie Gilroy, a local farmer started the Wickerman after joining forces with youth worker Sid Ambrose, who requested use of land to set up a festival. Jamie’s credentials are impressive, it turns out he’s a distant relative of Glastonbury’s own Michael Eavis (if you must know, his father’s godson’s wife is Eavis’ first cousin). When Jamie went to ask for advice he was simply told, “Don’t do it, it’ll take over your life”. Looking what they’ve achieved, I’d speculate Jamie and the team won't be too fussed.

Starting in 2007 to a somewhat faltering start, Field Day has since grown from strength to strength. With an audience of 20,000, it is renowned for showcasing some of the best  international and home-grown, cutting-edge musical talent. Florence and the Machine headlined at its inauguration, and since then Bat For Lashes, Santigold, Mogwai, Laura Marling, Foals, Temper Trap and The XX have hit the stages. Each of whom has since gone on be accepted by the mainstream.

Field Day promoter, Tom Baker of Eat Your Own Ears, said of the 2010 event, "We are delighted to be back now in our fourth year, incredible how time flies; it seems so long ago that Field Day began. I am really excited to have Phoenix headline, a great live band and a band that will get you dancing and singing... The rest of the bill is really shaping up, there are so many great albums out in 2010, it feels like an exciting time for music..."

The line up this year does not disappoint

Eat your own ears Stage
Andrew Weatherall // Anna Calvi // Caribou // Eat Your Own Ears DJs // Erland and the Carnival // Freelance Whales // Hypnotic Brass Ensemble // Lightspeed Champion // Phoenix // Ramadanman // The Fall // The Invisible DJ set // TYhisaintnodisco

Adventures in the Beetroot Field in Association with Last FM Stage
Atlas Sound // Babe Shadow // Chapel Club // Egyptian Hip Hop // Is Tropical // No age // These New Puritans // Yuck

Bugged Out Stage
Carte Blanche (Riton & DJ Mehdi) // Chilly Gonzales // Fake Blood // James Holden Joker + MC Nomad // Memory Tapes // Moderat // Rory Phillips // Simian Mobile Disco // Tensnake // The Golden Filter

Bloggers Delight Stage
Blogger’s Delight (Casper C, Nikniknik, Skull Juice) // Dam Funk & Master Blazter // Gold Panda // Hudson Mohawke // Mount Kimbie // Night Slugs (l-vis 1990 & Bok Bok) // Pantha du Prince

Village Mentality in Association with The Quietus Stage
Amiina (pictured above) // Archie Bronson Outfit // Beth Jeans Houghton // Esben and the Witch Flower–Corsano Duo // Gruff Rhys vs Tony da Gatorra // Max Tundra // Mouse on Mars // Silver Apples // Tamikrest & Dirt Music

If you don’t have quite enough time to catch all those bands in the 12 hour stint that the festival is on for…may we suggest for your listening pleasure: Caribou // Phoenix // Steve Mason (ex-Beta Band) // Memory Tapes // The Invisible // Amiina (backing instrumentalists for Sigur Ros) // No Age // Moderat // Pantha Du Prince // Dam-Funk // Yuck And of course…The Fall

Field Day has neither sponsorship nor branding and has an almost rustic charm to it. This year, London caterers from Venn Street Market (a street market in Clapham Common) will be cooking up a storm for festival-goers.

Field Day 2010 is to take part in the festival 'twinning' scheme, organised by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF). The initiative encourages twinned festivals to swap artists and cross promote each other's events. Field Day was 'twinned' with the Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway.

It also has a strictly that over 18 entry rule, meaning that the crowd tends to consist of music loving adults, there for the music….and the music only. Celebration indeed for the many thousands of festival goers that don't want to be surrounded by children, pushchairs, screaming babies and vomiting teenagers.

There more to this event than just music and food though - the cabaret tent, for example, is bursting with performance art, hula-hooping, burlesque, flapper girls, rock n’rollers and an operetta. There's also a vintage clothes stall, town criers and You can even get your nails done if the mood takes you.

If you're going to Field Day, then expect an East London "Vibe" and if you live in the area you are likely to spend the day bumping into people that you know - not to say that those from outside of the area will feel unwelcome, far from it in fact.

With an eclectic mixture of bands at your disposal, perhaps spend the day thinking about what new acts you can put on your ‘never heard before’ playlist and soak up the (ahem) sunshine. As it is only 12 hours long this also means that you can have the comfort of your own bed at the end of the day - because every now and then folks, let's face it, trying to find your tent in the dark, usually drunk, ain't much fun.

…..and the word on the grapevine is that there are still a few tickets available…..go get em folks! www.fielddayfestivals.com

“Don’t forget, this is all dance music!” So yelled the charismatic MC of Sofrito Soundsystem, seconds before his accompanying DJs revved into a euphoric explosion of beats and colour. Sofrito’s set was, simply put, wondrous, a kaleidoscopic riot of sound awash with neon waves and tropical drums. Taken on its own terms, it was brilliant fun. In context, it does much to dispel the common perception of WOMAD. Namely, that it is the reserve of ageing, bearded  sandal wearing men and pretentious middle class folk.

While that isn’t entirely untrue, it would be remiss of me to not mention the festival’s incredibly wide appeal. In front of every stage, you’ll see people of all ages having the time of their life. Grandparents perform a studied, foot-tapping shuffle (or some rather more flamboyant moves, depending on the lateness of the hour), while toddlers happily boogie atop their parents’ shoulders. They are all united in wide-eyed (or eared) joy.

So then, I had a really great time at WOMAD, in case you didn’t pick that up. Admittedly, I've not been to WOMAD before, but I can easily see myself returning to Charlton Park (or wherever it may move in the future) year after year and returning with fresh, vivid experiences each time. All this from a festival whose line-up was frankly alien to me.

That isn’t exactly a complaint. Though it’s a shame that little "World music" makes it into the mainstream or indie music press, the flipside is that WOMAD is pretty much the only place you get to see these acts. As far as live music goes, it’s not only unique, but exhilarating, and almost infinitely varied.

Softito Soundsystem’s set was a veritable grab-bag of sounds from across the globe, and in that sense it was a microcosm of the entire festival. There were trumpets, ukuleles, turntables, balafons, harmonicas – a whole raft of obscure instruments. Even the more “vanilla” instruments such as the guitar were played in conjunction with any manner of exotic and beautiful sounds. The result is a true sonic wonderland, an aural orgasm.

The wealth and variety of artists at WOMAD is really quite incredible, and very difficult to neatly file into genres (though the festival programme does its best). My personal favourites were… hmm, let me think. There was Little Axe (see video below), a US artist playing sunkissed blues laced with witty polemic (key quote: “if you ain’t pissed off, you haven’t been paying attention!”). Of a similar political bent were Los Angeles-based outfit Ozomatli, blasting out a loud, frenetic mix of hip-hop, latin rock and funk (they were also oddly reminiscent of Rage Against The Machine). Rango, an infectiously energetic group from Sudan, provided a hypnotic set of cathartic percussive rhythms. Barcelona quartet Planeta Lem knocked out loud, fizzy and fun rock ’n’ roll. The last act I saw was Gil Scott-Heron, who was simply incredible. This was the man that paved the way for every Hip-Hop act in the world, from Public Enemy to, um, N-Dubz. Few have a way with words, wit and poetry like this man, and to see him perform in the flesh was a true privilege. And then of course there was Rolf Harris (pictured above) - you've gotta love a bit of Rolf, right? Sadly, there were also a bunch of acts I had enthusiastically circled in my programme, only to miss due to getting something to eat/going to the loo/getting caught up watching someone else/heat fatigue etc...

Ah yes, the weather. There was a brief period around Sunday lunchtime when it was simply too hot, at least for my bleached white skin, but aside from that the weather really couldn’t have been better. There were a fair few dark clouds, and I may have felt a couple of spots of rain, but the only wet ground was underneath the campsite taps. It was a breezy, balmy weekend, perfect weather in which to relax and listen to music.

Simply wandering around the arena is an arresting experience. Sound drifts everywhere, and so on one corner of the site you’ll hear gentle eddies of acoustic guitar, while on the other side pummelling bongos echo from the tents. If you’re after a bit of peace and quiet, however, the “World of Wellbeing” fits the bill nicely. A sedate wooded area cut off from the main arena, it is dotted with massage and homeopathy tents. I don’t go in for that sort of thing, personally, but it’s a calm, picturesque area to walk around in any case. It’s also home to the entertaining and informative “Taste the World” shows and the “Human Library”. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to sample the latter, but it sounded fascinating.

WOMAD doesn’t just stimulate your eyes, ears and minds; it also provides a treat for your taste buds. The variety of food available was quite amazing. Aside from the standard chips, burgers, pies, noodles etc. there were stonebaked pizzas, Goan fish curries, burritos, goulash (!) and… well, the list goes on and on. For someone like me (who could politely be called a “gourmand”) it was cause for great excitement.

While it was a fine way to spend a weekend, it wasn’t without fault. One gripe is that the stage didn’t always suit the artist. Javier Conde, a virtuoso flamenco guitarist, played on the open air Charlie Gillett stage. For a genre based around intricate, subtle guitar work, it was a shame that most of his set was lost to the wind. I couldn’t help but feel there were plenty of louder, more energetic acts that would have been better suited to that stage. However, that was only a minor fault and I don’t wish to end on a negative note.

WOMAD is quite the experience - unique, exciting, and bursting with warmth. No matter your age and background, you’ll find something to love there.

Now let's get this out of the way before we go any further... Yes, Ben and Jerry's Sundae on the Common is run by the Ben and Jerry's of delicious ice cream fame. And, yes, all the ice cream at said festival is free. Yes, FREE! This was enough to get me up early on a Saturday morning and off to Clapham Common in London Town - trust me, it takes a lot to get me up on a Saturday morning. Ben and Jerry's Sundae festival is now in its 3rd year and has been growing faster than a moo-cow that's been pumped with growth hormones.

This was my first trip into the crazy world of air-guitar playing comedy cows and man-sized nuts (ahem) but it definitely wont be my last.

Ben and Jerry's is known for it's quirky style and fair-trade focus, so naturally the first thing you'd see when you walk through the gates is a farm. Yup, proper real life cows, ponies, chickens, goats, bunnies and turkeys. Perfect for the kids, but a lot of fun for the adults too... how often do you get to feed a goat in the middle of London? Next stop was the Helter Skelter where, after a relatively short queue, you could grab a mat and slide to your hearts content. Just be careful of those carpet burns. Fancy a bit of toe-wrestling? This is the place to be; just take off your shoes and stick your feet in an embrace with a stranger. And so it went on... the Sundae festival was pretty damn random, but pretty damn amusing nonetheless.

There was so much to do for kids of all ages (myself included), from cow cookie decorating to sack races, banana wrestling and rock dancing. This is before we even got to the music. More than just a music festival, this was more like a village fete with added extras so everyone could make a day out of it, relax and enjoy the summer. The music almost seemed like background entertainment - there were no mosh pits here, no pushing and shoving to get to the front, no wee throwing idiots that catch you on the back of your head. Even when the headliners, Scouting for Girls and Doves, played their set everyone was very polite, jumping around, singing along, but still plenty of space.

The best thing about all of this was that practically everything was included in the ticket price, which was a mere £15.00. The only things that were added extras included the carousel and cookie decorating, a minimal £1.00 each. Knowing the price of the ticket I expected to get caned for my cash when inside, but Ben and Jerry's are just too good to us. All this and free ice cream? Ok, ok, you want to know more about the free ice cream, right?

All 40 flavours were available throughout the site, with various pop-up ice cream vans and tents serving as much as you could eat. Split out into common themes, with favourites such as Caramel Chew Chew and Cookie Dough having their own dedicated stalls, you could queue up and have your cone of choice. Stinginess was not an option, with the ice cream oompa loompas serving you double scoops and mixing flavours, even giving you four or five at a time so your friends didn't have to queue. Any other brand would be limiting you to X number of scoops, measured out by a weighing machine and only one per customer per visit... none of that here. Roll up, roll up, eat as much as you can handle. Some people managed to eat 15 ice creams, I managed a measly 5. Maybe next time.

There was such a great atmosphere at Ben and Jerry's Sundae festival. Something for everyone, and not just the ice cream. A flock of comedy pantomime cows and their farmer provided the entertainment into the evening, posing for photos, dancing to rock music and one even pretending to be the token 'mad cow'! A couple of bananas danced round the festival playing their music to the masses, every so often running away from the comedy monkey just to remind us there's a story behind every random addition to the day. A polar bear started the hokey-cokey and a pair of man-sized nuts hung around the flavour graveyard of ice-creams deceased. If you fancy a day out with friends or family, filled with ice cream and great entertainment then this is the place to be, Where else will you join in with a pantomime cow playing the air guitar?

Last weekend Henham Park in Southwold, Suffolk was the venue for the fifth Latitude Festival. Latitude, for those of you that don’t know, is a festival that's known for being, as it said on the envelope that my tickets arrived in, “More than just a music festival”. This is certainly true as it has an eclectic mix of poetry, theatre, literary readings, comedy and of course some cracking music.

I have been to the festival religiously for the last three years and I have had a great time at each show. With acts like Florence and the Machine, Vampire Weekend, Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and a last minute appearance from the legendary Tom Jones, this year's gig had arguably the strongest line-up in the event's, relatively short history, seriously I could go on listing the brilliant acts I went to see but I'll spare you the agony.. except to say that Lisse was AMAZING!

In terms of getting into the festival, there were relatively few shortcomings. Though there was a fairly lengthy extra wait outside the entry gates, which meant that despite an early arrival we were still waiting an extra two hours to get in. Later a friend working at the festival told me they were having problems with the strong winds, which may have contributed to the queue to get in. I'm inclined to believe him as trying to put up a 3 man tent in near gale force winds is challenging to say the least. Later on in the weekend the sunrise arena partially collapsed due to the strong winds - still, we wouldn't be British if we didn't moan about the weather, would we.

We eventually won the battle to erect our tent (it only took a few hours!) and then decided to have a look around the arena to see what was going on and we were surprised to find that Tom Jones would be playing that night, rather than when the festival actually started (the following morning) with the other acts. However we also discovered that he would be playing at the smallest arena in the festival, the woodland stage.

Of the thousands of people at the festival that would, undoubtedly, have wanted to see him perform only around 400 people were allowed into the woodland stage, leaving the rest of us with nothing to do but listen and not look, or alternatively go back to the tents to bitch and discuss the many reasonable explanations the festival organisers would have for sticking one of the most famous performers in the world in the smallest venue at the event. Even though Tom played again on the last day of the festival (this time on the main stage) it was still not free from audience criticism because he didn't play any of his classics, opting instead to playing songs from his new album. Cheers then, Tom. Let's face it, Tom Jones without Sex Bomb is like Glastonbury without Welly boots, it doesn't quite gel.

Though aside from the minor disappointment of Tom Jones, I have practically no reservations about any of the acts and nothing but love for the vast majority. Florence and the Machine in particular attracted possibly the biggest crowd, and for good reason, anyone who's seen Florence live will understand, but for those of you who haven't, it's like nothing you've seen before. The energy and pure electric, infectious joy that permeates the air makes the music, lights and atmosphere truly memorable for everyone, especially those of us brave enough to fight for a space at the front of the thousands of fans.

Another act that stands out for me was the incredible Rodrigo y Gabriella. I had not seen these guys perform before and nor, it seemed, had anyone else in the crowd. How best to describe them - well they are a Mexican acoustic guitar duet that play a kind of music that can only be described as thrash-metal flamenco bastard salsa, I have not before or since heard anything like it.

So all in all, for me it was the best Latitude yet and if you didn't get to go, then you have my sympathy because it was such an awe inspiring, incredible weekend. Trust me, you missed a good one.

I'm convinced that even though Latitude is perhaps leaning towards the more mainstream side of the festival spectrum, it still retains a unique flavour that keeps people coming back year after year. Nothing that isn't Latitude will ever feel like Latitude, but the issue remains, can it keep that flavour? We shall see....

If you were unfortunate enough to catch the Guns n Roses circus at Reading & Leeds this year, don't worry - the people in Dublin share your pain..... and they made their thoughts loud and clear.

Here's to the glorious people of Dublin - we salute you :o)

Off to Global Gathering this weekend?

Want to know what the weather is going to be like?

Check this badboy out:

Michael Fish is a weatherman, a weather man, a weatherman. Michael Fish is a weatherman, a weather man, a weatherman. Michael Fish is a weatherman, a weather man, a weatherman. Michael Fish is a weatherman, a weather man, a weatherman. Michael Fish is a weatherman, a weather man, a weatherman. Michael Fish is a weatherman, a weather man, a weatherman etc......

With just three weeks to go until Kent's bestest festival gets underway, the organisers of Lounge on the Farm have got two amazing free treats in store for you with a free download album featuring some of this year's most exciting acts and a brand new family day ticket on sale where kids go free. With headline performances from Hercules And Love Affair, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas and Toots & The Maytals plus appearances from Courtney Pine, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, DJ Yoda, Tunng, and Frankie & The Heartstrings there's plenty of musical delights to be had but add in comedy from the likes of Phill Jupitus and his Comedy Improv Allstars and Howard Marks, Theatre in the Playhouse in The Meadows, delicious food, local ales and the Little Lounge area for kids and you've got yourself one humdinger of a weekend.

With so much fresh and exciting music on offer at this year's Lounge on the Farm, the team behind the event have put together a free download album with a whopping seventeen tracks from bands playing over the weekend of July 9-11, so you can prime yourself for three-days of non-stop partying. Covering the gamut of styles on offer at the festival, there's something for everyone from the bubblegum jangle of Slow Club's 'Giving Up On Love' and the psychedelic soul of The Phenomenal Handclap Band's 'Baby' to the punk-pop of Hot Club De Paris' 'Free The Pterodactyl' and  the bluegrass grooves of The Barker Band's 'Heavens Bell'. To download your completely free copy of the album head over to http://loungeonthefarm.co.uk/album.htm Simple.

Here's the full track list:
01. Giving Up On  -  Love Slow Club

02. Mowglis Road  -  Gaggle

03. Rebong  -  Dam Mantle

04. Always On  - Silver Columns

05. Pure Magik  -  Onlookers

06. Heart  -  Babeshadow

07. Heavens Bell  - The Barker Band

08. Disco Biscuit  -  Cagedbaby

09. You (Seams Remix)  -  Gold Panda

10. Baby  -  The Phenomenal Handclap Band

11. Possibilities  -  Frankie & The Heartstrings

12. Keep Dreaming Baby  -  Two Wounded Birds

13. Now You Are Pregnant  -  The Wave Pictures

14. Found Love In A Graveyard  -  Veronica Falls

15. Free The Pterodactyl  -  Hot Club De Paris

16. Willow Tree  -  Syd Arthur

Just saw this cheeky little video for East London's fabulous Lovebox.

Situated in the wonderful Victoria Park, Lovebox boasts an impressive lineup which includes - amongst others - Dizzie Rascal, Roxy Music, Grace Jones and Hot Chip.

Check out this wonderful little video and try and count the number of boobs that are on display :o)

If you're in town on between the 16th and 18th of July then this awesome festival is a must.

Sleeping with a member of your family, eating yellow snow, admitting that you like Glee are all things that one should never get involved in.

Another one is washing your hands in somebody else's piss.

If you are going to a festival this summer please don't do what this poor bloke does:

We love our promo videos here in the TFF office and we all get quite excited whenever a new one pops up.

Well this little beauty from Primavera Sound sprang on to our radar this morning and it is quite simply one of the best promo videos that we have ever seen for a festival.

Just take a look - we're certain that you'll agree with us.

(loving the Yeasayer soundtrack too...)

This seems to be the video of the moment - it has been doing the rounds for a couple of weeks now.

We defy you to watch it without tapping your foot or feeling the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

If you get the chance to see Deadmau5 this summer - we sugest you do it.

And here's why....

As the summer music festival season approaches there are a couple of city festivals to kick us off and get us in the party mood. The Camden Crawl starts in London on the 1st-2nd May and then in Brighton there is The Great Escape on 13th-15th May. We will try and give you a few ideas on how to prepare and what to wear to make sure you look the part.

In each case, with venues all over the place you are never going to be too far from somewhere to entertain you.

If you have a few bands in mind that you want to see it is worth doing a little bit of planning to make sure you don’t miss your favourites. Print out a map of the area and mark on the venues and times that your bands are on. The queues for the more popular bands can be quite big so be prepared for a wait. Also remember to take out enough money to last you for the whole day as you won’t want to waste any extra time at the cash point.

Although it has felt like it recently, summer is not quite here yet, so be prepared for all eventualities. You can’t go wrong with a pair of Ray-Bans and a trilby hat to keep the sun off in the queue or soaking up the sun (being optimistic!) in one of the many beer gardens. It also may be worth chucking in a rain poncho or umbrella in case the weather takes a turn for the worst and you are still stuck outside!

The fashion for this season’s festival season seems to very much driven by denim and so expect to see girls in faded denim cut-offs teamed with vest tops and gladiators or a pretty floral dress with fitted denim jacket. The guys too will be sporting denim cut-offs and t-shirts with a trusted pair of Havaianas.  But as with all years it’s all about the accessories, so think hats, scarves and sunglasses! Want to look different? Go vintage.

Each Month Marsh-Mellow brings you product tests, exclusive offers and the inside scoop on what to take with you to a festival.

Ahhh you've gotta love festivals - the vibe, the music, the alcohol and whatever else you can find to totally spin you out....

But what happens when you're so wasted that your own sandals start misbehaving - that's just bad news.

Check out this poor dude at Coachella - his flip-flops aren't just fighting back but they seem to have some kind of magnectic field that actually repels his feet whenever he tries to put them on.

We love a bit of time-lapse photography here at TFF Towers and this little video is no exception - its simply wonderful.

Taken from the Sydney leg of the Future Music Festival it ecompasses 3 stages, 2 big-tops and 1 inflatable tent set up over 5 days.

...and if you want to know what went down at this year's gig - check this sweet little video out:

Anyone fancy coming to Australia for the winter?