Love box Festival isn't just a music festival, It's much more than that…read more It's an escape with all it's beery, sweaty glory. In the midsummer Victoria Park played host to a crowd of beery, sweaty, joyous, feeling the love group of people, coming to take in hours upon hours of great music performed live by some of the greatest artists and DJ''s around. A sweltering dustbowl of Victoria park was full of vivid colours, four stage, fun fair, food Stalls, merchandise. As we groove to the first tent heavy dancing and beats session was to tantalising to miss. Once that was finished, we tucked into a delicious Ostrich burger. Then stroll toward the fairground rides and after recovering from the rides and my organs had settled down from the ordeal we dancing our way into another tent where we bump into random people and started up a dancing frenzy and left.... hehehe....! Bopped over to the Main Stage in between, were Alunageogre D,anglo and Plan. B performed. Overall magnificent.

Pretty decent weekend offering in surprisingly lovely surroundings of Victoria Park, Hackney, East…read moreLondon. It pretty easy to get here (if you know the way from the station!!), just 20 minutes from Camden Road on the overground service, and only 1 pound! We had lots of fun on Saturday watching Manu Chao, Groove Armada, Lethal Bizzle, and possible Wiley! Can't give it 5 stars because of the really stupidly long bar queues, but the rest of the setup is pretty pleasant, and the atmosphere is chilled, no trouble at all.

Where to start with this classic event? Well ..... it runs over the three day August Bank Holiday…read moreweekend every year and is held at The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells' pedestrianised Georgian precinct. It's organised by a guy called Paul Dunton whose support for local musicians is close to obsessive. He runs two gigs a week at The Grey Lady already and then has this event where local bands play original music for free to maybe 1000 people all weekend. I mean 12 or so hours a day of organised free music in a beautiful location - what a civic superstar!!!! He even gets use of the bandstand! The result is a happy crowd of dancing, drinking, eating people packing out the Pantiles and stuffing every retailers tills with Bank Holiday cash, all listening to a diet of non cover version songs by their peers. IT IS FANTASTIC!!! The last couple of years they've even given out free compilation CDs of the various artists. Yes, free!!! I cannot recommend you attend enough. My favourite combo? Easy. Origami Dinosaur. Funky/rocky/kooky excellence. You MUST make time to come along.

I went here last year, not expecting to actually be living on Waldershare estate this year which in…read moreturn has definately helped out as me and the missus would be having an argument on who was driving home this weekend, but it is actually on saturday and sunday this weekend, 26th and 27th July. I had such a great time last year and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Saturday night was without a doubt a great night with the live bands and i hope they are just as good this year! Definately worth going to! It is £6 entry but it is all for a good cause and definately a good time. The Beer tent is also huge and the prices are definately good. £3 a pint. I thought that was extremely reasonable as the pub up the road is more expensive than that. Also the guy who is running the beer tent, actually showed me and the missus around the back of the bar a few weeks ago when he did the Quexpo country fair. The cooling system is amazing and you are definately getting good beer/cider.

pagan festival.2+3 August.free.live bands,real ales + ciders stalls story telling tent.eastbourne…read moregiants.pagan drummers morris dancers.well worth a day trip to eastbourne.

Chocolate truffles Chocolate bars…read moreChocolate churros Chocolate cake Chocolake fudge Chocolate bread Chocolate pastries Chocolate fountain Chocolate cocktails Chocolate pancakes & chocolate making kits With all of the above, it's no wonder the recent Chocolate Festival in Brighton was such a success. Alongside dozens of food stalls selling chocolate related products, there was chocolate demonstrations and masterclasses. My favourite bit however, had to be eating all the free samples and discovering wonderful new chocolatiers like William Curley and Damien Allsop. Keep your eyes peeled to the website to check out when the next festival will be.

Even before I started working on the Ealing Summer events, I loved them. You can bring your own…read morepicnic, your own drinks (no glass bottles please though - put your wine/champagne in a plastic bottle!) and most of the events are only £1, so its great for a cheap day out. Me and my friends have spent many a summer's day sprawled out on a blanket listening the music and sunbathing. Oh, and when you run out of your own food and drink, there's plenty of stalls to buy from too!

Not sure if it's sad to admit this but the Jazz Festival is one of the highlights of the year for…read moreme. Yes it's lazy, I live a 3 minute walk away, but hey I grab some folding chairs,make up copious amounts of pimms and laze in the park for 3-4 nights with friends getting squiffy and letting the music and ambience wash over me - what's not to like ? Been going for 20years or so now,and already booked in friends again for 2009..bring it on !

HANDS DOWN, Notting Hill Carnival was considered the best festival in the world. Preparation for…read moreCarnival is imminent, the award-tour going to Shaggy for his marvelous rendition of positive alchemy and alternative, until further notice. This year, like every other year, remains fast-and-furious with celebrity acts, past and present, returning to the world stage. There will be no stopping as the procession continues through West London and out into the suburbs of England. Alongside the love and support I get from family and the community, I also get a lot of love from Carnival. The black community in addition to oversea carnival goers create a homecoming atmosphere for me always. Thanks again to everyone who joined me over the years and who will continue to join me in helping make carnival that more - it is a special weekend for everyone and a special way to celebrate tradition and culture forever.

I heard a variety of things ranging from Eugh to Awesome and 'you'll get robbed/stabbed' to…read more'everyone is incredibly friendly'. So happy I went. In my opinion it's a must do at least once. It's apparently the largest street festival in Europe and it certainly feels like it. There's some sort of parade route, and every float is filled with sights and sounds (people dressed colourfully and without fail, excellent sound systems). A tonne of people kind of just wander along the parade route (I'm not even sure if there's one route or multiple) and just take it all in. Beyond that, there's a lot going on on pretty much every side street in the area. An abundance of food, people just chilling and drinking/smoking (NHC has a reputation for reefer and it's not unwarranted. There's the unmistakable scent pretty much everywhere at the festival), and a lot of areas set up with sound systems and people dancing. We bought drinks from various corner shops at prices of varying ridiculousness (one store was charging £4 for a GnT and £12 for a pack of Marlboro Ice Blast. Another was charging a more bearable £3 for the same GnTs). There were actually a fair number of porta loos set up, and the queues for them were reasonable. Phones of course don't work, and in the process of looking for a friend, I lost everyone I came with. Fortunately I managed to locate said friend and we still had a blast. Also, leaving the festival area was kind of confusing due to the crowds and road closures but there were police stationed everywhere and they were extremely helpful. As far as the you'll get robbed/stabbed bits, there's no doubt that you need to keep a close watch on your belongings as given the sheer amount of people, there's bound to be an opportunistic few. That aside, also given the sheer numbers and the tightness, there are a few idiots in a hurry who occasionally push or shove, and you can see tempers flare. I didn't actually see any fights break out but while dancing at one of the areas, heard the MC telling a group to break it up so evidently scuffles occur. Bottom line - don't be deterred and just go and have a blast! The vast majority of people there are incredibly friendly and overall it's just the sort of environment with incredible energy and positive vibes. Still felt good from it for a few days after.

Held the last weekend every August, the Brunswick Square Festival has been going strong since the…read more1970s. Started by local residents, it has grown from a bit of a village fete into a micro-festival. Local businesses set up temporary bars and hot and cold food stands whilst there's usually farmers / traders selling fresh organic vegetables, fruit, herbs, plants and produce. To create a festival feeling, there's a stage at the bottom of the square with live music from local bands playing everything from rock, pop and hip hop to dub. There's also dancers and about two dozen stalls selling everything from secondhand furniture, clothes, books, records and bric-a-brac. Last year, there was even a spiritual tent where people could enjoy massages and reiki. The whole event is free and locals are encouraged to take their own blankets, sit on the grass and make an afternoon of it.

I lived in Brunswick Square for 3 months and didn't hear about this festival, until one Saturday I…read morewalked out and the entire square had been converted into a fun little festival. If you're within walking distance, it's a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon; there's music, fun things to buy, fun things to eat, and a lot of interesting people to meet!