Glastonbury Festival
Location: Worthy Farm, Somerset
The daddy of them all! The biggest festival and the one that always gets the best bands. The 2005 festival was headlined by The White Stripes, Coldplay, and Basement Jaxx, with a supporting cast of thousands of acts. As well as the music, Glastonbury has so much more to offer, with dozens of fields, hundreds of attractions, and thousands of people, all having the best time! The only drawback is that the odds of you getting a ticket are pretty slim.
Reading Festival
Location: Richfield Avenue, Reading
Reading festival has been around a long time, with a history rivalled only by Glastonbury. You're much more likely to see more rock and guitar heavy bands at Reading, as well as catching a lot of up and coming bands that you can tell everyone you saw first in the smaller tents. The 2005 headliners are The Pixies, Foo Fighters, and the mighty Iron Maiden!
Leeds Festival
Location: Bramham Park, Leeds
Over the same weekend as the Reading Festival is the Leeds Festival, which features the same line up and makes up the other leg of the Carling Weekend. Leeds is only a few years old, and has had problems with fires and idiots, but is generally every bit as good as it's more established sister festie.
T In The Park
Location: Balado, Nr Kinross, Scotland
T In The Park is the biggest and best festival north of the border, where it attracts big, big acts, all served up with plenty of strong Tennants lager. Headliners for the 2005 festival were Green Day, Foo Fighters and Travis, with an impressive variety of support. 'T' gets bigger every year, and with no Glasto in 2006 it could be the one to keep an eye on. Watch this space......
V Festival
Location: Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and Weston Park, Staffordshire
V Festival is now ten years old, and the line up improves each year. Initially more of a poppy mainstream music festival (and still is, a little), V has blossomed into one of the best festivals in the country. Another festival spread over two venues, the 2005 event has Oasis, Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand as headliners (the only festival where you'll be able to catch any of them).
O2 Wireless Festival
Location: Hyde Park, London
The O2 Wireless festival started in 2005 as a four day event in the middle of London. The bonus? No camping! Yep, you can just go home at the end of the night without fear of getting soaked or robbed overnight. Some may moan that this takes away from the atmosphere of a 'proper' festival, but those who like their creature comforts won't be complaining. The headliners for the 05 event were New Order, Keane, Basement Jaxx, and Kasabian. Time will tell how this new and original festival will endure, but the event seemed to be a huge success.
Nokia Isle Of Wight Festival
Location: Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight
The Nokia Isle of Wight festival restarted only a few years ago, but although it is a small event compared to some of the big hitters, the atmosphere and indeed the acts are right up there with the best. The 2005 event featurd headlining duties from Razorlight, Faithless, Travis, and R.E.M. A nice, relaxed, and good fun festival. Oh, and The Strongbow Rooms. Mmmmm...
Download Festival
Location: Donington Park
The Download Festival is for those who love ROCK and extremely loud METAL! Expect mud, madness and riotous performances from the biggest, brashest, and heaviest acts. The 2005 festival was headlined by Black Sabbath, System Of A Down, and, bizarrely, Feeder, and has now been extended into a three day event. It seems that the organisers have managed to slip in some indie somewhere along the line, perhaps to give the festival a more widespread appeal. Not one to take the nippers to, but with for those who love moshing and screaming, this is your best bet.
Guilfest
Location: Stoke Park, Guilford
One of the smaller, or should I say, growing festivals, Guilfest has evolved from being predominantly folk based to a more mainstream festival. The headliners for the 2005 event are veterans - The Pogues, Status Quo, and the 'modfather' himself, Paul Weller. It's cheaper than most, and has a very diverse range of acts in the line up, so have a look and see if it takes your fancy.
We Love Homelands
Location: The Bowl, Matterley Estate, Nr Winchester
We Love Homelands is a festival for those who love dance music, and caters for pretty much any type of dance music you can imagine. With 5 seperate arena's, as well as a Live Arena and an Outdoor Stage, the line up for the 2005 event included sets from The Streets, Groove Armada, Beck, Roots Manuva, and (give me strength) Babyshambles. For those that prefer a drink rather than some dubious looking pills, We Love... also boasts The Strongbow Rooms and The Bacardi B-Bar.
Get Loaded In The Park
Location: Clapham Common, London
A one day event with a smaller capacity than most, Get Loaded In The Park features has an atmosphere that harks back to the 90's 'Madchester' scene. The line up normally features some well established acts (last year The Happy Mondays were headlining), as well as some exciting up and coming ones. This year the festival welcomes back The Happy Mondays, as well as sets from Fatboy Slim, Armand Van Halen, Paul Oakenfold and The Farm. Also there is a newly intoduced Comedy Stage for those out there who fancy a laugh rather than a dance.
Bestival
Location: Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight's 'other' festival, and the last of the season, Bestival features more than 100 acts over five arenas. The event is predominantly dance based, but has quite a variety, with plenty of attractions to keep the masses happy. The line up for the 2005 event features Royksopp, 2 Many DJ's, Super Furry Animals and The Magic Numbers.
Creamfields
Location: Old Liverpool Airfield, Speke, Merseyside
Another festival devoted to followers of dance music, Creamfields is a one day event held in Merseyside where 40,000 people can enjoy a variety of acts until the early hours of the morning. Headliners for the 2005 event include Basement Jaxx, Paul Van Dyk, 2 Many DJ's, LCD Soundsystem, Faithless and Paul Oakenfold.
More Information
Well, that's the main UK festivals covered. For more information, including latest line ups, as well as all you need to know about the others - Oxegen, Glade, The Wickerman Festival, Global Gathering, Summer Sundae, Bud Rising et al - why not visit one of these sites.
efestivals (www.efestivals.co.uk)- The best source for all the latest festivals news, info, tickets, reviews and photos. An excellent site.
virtual festivals (www.virtualfestivals.com)- Another good site, with more info and features than you can shake a stick at.
If you've found this site useful, have any comments, would like to suggest a festival to be added, or indeed have anything to say at all, please feel free to sign the guestbook, or drop me an email at ukfestivals@hotmail.co.uk. Thanks for dropping by.
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