Once upon a time this was a small local festival taking place every now and again out back at a…read morepub. Now it's one of the largest folk music festivals in the United Kingdom. It takes place during summer every year, at the beginning of the summer holidays, and is a very family friendly event. This is the ideal festival for those with young children and an aversion to massive crowds, the like you find at Glastonbury. There are many regulars who return year after year, and the festival is becoming ever more popular year after year too. This was the festival that I was taken to as a child. I could probably draw you a map of it down to the last blade of grass. With live music, dancing and a wonderful variety of stalls, this festival can be a little bit of an unforgettable experience. This year the festival takes place from the 22nd-25th of July, and includes acts such as Show of Hands, Bellowhead and many, many others. Quickly, book now!

Cropredy is a beautiful, tiny village near Banbury on the banks of the Cherwell. It is an old…read morevillage, dating from before the English civil war, and it looks it (in the quaint, lovely way, rather than the rundown way!) It has a thriving community, including a school, a church, pubs, a doctor's surgery, general store and other small business appropriate to an English village and a rather spiffing website (http://www.cropredyvillage.info/index.htm) . The website will tell you all about the history of the village (including the civil war battle fought here in 1644 and its mention in the Domesday Book), the age of the properties (from really quite old to not really very old at all), the amenities, and its location (the Cherwell valley, three miles north of Banbury and Junction 11 of the M40 Motorway). Do visit the website for loads of useful information. However, I'd like to give you my impressions. It is one of the friendliest places I have ever been. The local residents are of all ages, and welcome visitors with open arms (and, once a year, they get a rather large influx of visitors, but more on that in a minute). The church warden will gladly show visitors around, and discuss the new bells installed a couple of years ago. The residents will recount the age and history of their homes. There is a cricket club, which is quintessentially English. There are moorings on the river and canal for boats. This is a beautiful village, but you might well ask how I, an ex-pat American living in London has found herself there not once but three times. You might also wonder what I am talking about when I mention the annual influx of visitors. Each year, Cropredy plays host to Fairport Conventions annual...well....convention. This is a fabulous folk festival over a weekend in August. There are many, many things that make this different from other festivals - there is only one stage, for a start, the age range tends to be older, it's folk...but what makes this festival unique is that the village positively welcomes the up-to-30,000 visitors the village plays host to. The boy scouts are on litter duty. Local lads sell programmes. The pubs open for breakfast. The cricket club opens for showers. The residents mind the inconvenience (traffic, parking restrictions, smelly festival goers) not a whit. Fairport Convention allocate a ticket to each of the 750 residents to do with as they please. Everyone is happy. An idyllic English village indeed - and one well worth visiting even if you're not a folk music fan...

So August Bank Holiday folks is the date for this lovely little festival. This was my first time…read morehere, but actually it's only been running for 2 years. Tickets cost £40 for adults, and children are £1. Get them quick as it does sell out. This is a family festival, and my friends kids absolutely loved it, and why wouldn't they...... face painting, and arts and crafts...and even a bouncy castle for them...and best of all this was all free. The site itself was clean and had plenty of space for the tents and to sit outside, but then we are talking about around 1500 people. And there was plenty of entertainment for adults and party goers too...from the 5 stages - with acoustic sounds from the Otters Pocket, chill out at the Lotus Flower,or hit the brilliant Dub tent which had some great Reggae, and Drum n Bass blasting out. When the sound systems shut down at midnight, you then get a chance to head to silent disco...where you can party til 3.30am...and potentially back to the lotus flower after that if you're hoping to catch the sunrise. The vibe was fun and friendly...and they have big ideas for the future so this is definitely one to watch. My only criticism would be that there were too many covers bands...but then this is a learning curve...and I have no doubt this will change in future years. A brilliant little festival, and well worth checking out.

Having not long since turned 18 I thought I would splash out and go with my friends to a music…read morefestival now that I could drive and legal to attend. I have always been a big fan of dance music and having read the stage line ups for the 2008 Gatecrasher festival I was tempted to buy tickets. Tickets were fairly expensive yet by comparing to other festivals for similar things (camping etc) I wasn't being doddled out of too much. Instructions on the website about every detail including maps, directions, what they offered etc were very clear and easy to follow.When we arrived by car we got there about 3 hours after the site opened yet managed to get in and park quite quickly as the staff were very efficient.However I warn you now you have a trek of death to get your camping stuff from the car to the site and find a spot! As the site is so huge it is quite an exhausting stint carrying all your belongings (or what feels like your actual house after a while) in attempt to find somewhere you can put them all away again. Security was very lax compared to how they described it on the website - evidence of this came in numerous forms as you can probably imagine. However there were large amounts of loos (essential if your a lady camper cos we frankly can't manage a bush!) yet I would have gladly donned male parts as to avoid them they were that disgusting!Food availability and essentials such as water and first aid were plentiful and visible wherever you went. Paramedics and police were constantly on standby and patrolling the main site. The fairground was a bog standard travellers set up yet makes a fun evening with your friends as you are all buzzing from the atmosphere. The atmosphere in each tent is fantastic - even if the weather outside is terrible you still end up enjoying yourself (even just by laughing at the ravers in welly boots!) Each act I saw which included Dizzee Rascal, The Prodigy, Pete Tong, Hixxy, Zane Lowe etc all put on an amazing performance and made the weekend for the thousands of festival goers.The only problems that came about was the weather cancelling a few of the live stage acts due to health and safety - although they could of managed this better and planned in case of the inevitable weather. The lack of security meant you had to be on strong guard exactly what was going on around you. I must include in my review: R.I.P to the gentleman who died during the event of natural causes and could not be revived by the paramedics.

This is the best place to view the legendary Severn bore - a large river surge wave, surfed and…read moreadmired by many a happy festival goer. This weekend was my first bore experience - It was dark, there was a crowd of about eighty of us huddled together watching the water, listening out for that particular wooshing rumble...and when it came it was spectacular - eerie, primal, two surfers were riding it with head torches like cyclops beams. The Severn river is special, it has second highest tidal change in the world and this festival, in its second year, was started by Stuart - festival organiser and river lover in celebration of it. Stuart wrote on the festival website: "In travels around the world to other bores I was struck that where ever I went, people celebrated their tides. In China ancient temples are dedicated to the tides and thousands of people line the banks to see the arrival of the 'Black Dragon'. In France, hundreds both surf and watch the 'Mascaret' progress upstream." The Magnificent Severn may be small, but it's perfectly formed. The annual festival takes place on the Severn river. As well as waves there is music - gypsy jazz, folk, rock, kids play area, crepes, warm cider, wood carving, workshops. Amazing value, great fun, sunshine and sunny dispositions, put it in your diary for next year - 10th-12th September

I literally can't wait for this years' Harbour Festival, I only managed to catch bits and pieces of…read moreit last year as I had only just moved to Bristol. This year, 2010, it'll be going down 30th July - 01st August, and do you want to know the best thing about it? It's freeeeeeeee! Amazingly, it's been going for 39 years, and while I wouldn't want to bore you with trivial statistics and facts, what it means is, this weekend has been running for enough years for them to have worked out what works and what doesn't! There will be not one, not two, not three, but eight, yes eight stages with a variety of music for all tastes. It's generally a great weekend, don't miss it!

This much-loved summer festival sees literally hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Bristol…read morefor a weekend of eating, drinking and wishing we owned a boat. Many of my friends come down specifically for this weekend, usually around the end of July, beginning of August. All the boats in the harbour tart themselves up with bunting and the like and there are plenty of food stalls where you can buy everything from candy floss to wheels of cheese! There are plenty of market type stalls if shopping is your thing and all the bars and pubs around the waterfront are jam-packed with people making the most of drinks promotions and the outside seating. A fantastic weekend of entertainment, and it's all for free! Last year I spent it drinking cider and watching VV Brown play on the main stage in a packed Lloyds Amphitheatre and can't wait to do the same this year.

Hay-on-Wye is one of my favourite places to go even when there's no festival gracing us with its…read morepresence. A small village tucked away in the rolling Welsh countryside, filled to the brim with bookshops of all descriptions and twinned with Timbuktu; this is a unique find. But once a year this little town becomes even fuller with excitement and literature. The Hay Festival of Literature and Arts is a mecca for anyone with a love of words and the secrets that can be entangled within them. With writers from all walks, such as Jasper Fforde, Salman Rushdi, Bill Bryson, Martina Cole and Quentin Blake, there really is something for everyone. Each performance, discussion or lecture is individually priced, from £4-£10, and intensive three day courses for £375. This is a week-long festival with an incredibly large selection of activities to take part in. It may well be hard to choose where to go and who to see, but that's about the only problem you'll have should you come to this festival.

Hay literature/literary/book festival (delete as appropriate according to your level of comfort…read morewith intellectualism) is an annual, original, event in a small Welsh town on the edge of the Black Mountains. Set in neatly organised marquees in fields outside the town, it's a big-time publishing love-in, that attracts anorak-wearing book worms, country types called Georgie or Bubbles, earth-mother families and the odd American ex-president. This years event was good for me. I avoided fiction and focussed on behavioural economics, natural capital, craftsmanship and graphic novels. Where can you hear such a varied roster of genres? I came away with ideas for my own work, pleasure and purpose. Just one day at this event will inspire, or do as many more indulgent readers do, and camp out nearby each year with those relatives you don't really like, but are ideally placed for a yearly Maytime visit. I love looking around and seeing a sea of readers, sat in deck chairs, ignoring their friends and just reading. From real, hard bound, books. It's a small, well organised festival with activities and facilities for all, and affordable. If you're a publishing nerd, it's nirvana.

If the regular Carling/Carlsberg/Stella-style options at your local bar are boring your palette,…read moredon't hesitate to head to The Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival, the Campaign For Real Ale's flagship annual three-day drinking fest in Wales. Always rolling out a list of barrelled British ales as long as your arm, with understandable emphasis on Welsh brewers, plus many German beers, every year brings a handful of comedic names - try ordering past example Pheasant Plucker after a couple of pints without accidentally insulting the serving staff. The cider and perry options are plentiful and strong, too. The festivalgoers vary from 14-pint-a-night rugby fan types to stereotypical beardy real ale enthusiasts and though admission is charged that does get you freebies (at the 2010 festival, for example, it was a fiver in with a free beer glass, and under 26s got complimentary beer tokens). The earlier you get there, the better the availability - arrive late on the last day and chances are stocks of most popular drinks will have been drained already. The downsides: the food choices could do with improving, although live entertainment/music will take your mind off any rumbling stomachs. And the venue, Cardiff International Arena, is somewhat grim and lit like a school assembly hall; you'll certainly be left wishing they had an outdoor beer garden. For anybody in doubt over the middling mark: the beer, ciders and perry ranges are as imaginative as such tipples come, it's just the venue makes it more likely that alcohol's depressing qualities will win out if you spend too much time there - and running for 12 hours every day, a serious drinking session is certainly on the cards for those who can last the pace.