Lowther Deer Park, Hackthorpe, CA10 2HN…read more Warning this a lengthy review - hope it has some useful information. Just spent a lovely weekend at Kendal Calling. A small (8 thousand) independent festival in a great location on the edge of the Lake District. A great time seemed to be had by all and we left the site on Monday afternoon having drunk deeply at the well (and the bar!) but feeling strangely rested and well fed!! Long drive back to Nunhead but no pain no gain. All credit to the organisers who put together a really beautiful well run site, which was kept on an even keel by a polite but efficient security team who appeared to have some sense of how to keep everyone happy and safe. Music - headliners on the Saturday The Doves played an epic set which was a joy to behold. Calvin Harris and The Coral were less successful. The Badly Drawn Boy played a blinder on the Sunday afternoon and you could feel the collective goose bumps ripple through the crowd when he brought his daughter on for a duet. As ever much of the best stuff was to be found in the smaller tents. Crossiant Neuf hosted the Kaylied tent which had a good rotation of folky, rootsy type acts during the day and a more ska, funk and house vibe in the evening. Ideally located next to the pub!! The Glow tent was the main dance area but on the few occasions I visited seemed a bit dull and lacking in volume. The House Party tent got my vote; properly decked out kitschy front room to chill in during the day and old school house party at night. Dave Haslam's balearic set was highly uplifting and typical of the music policy. A very excited Craig Charles finished the whole thing somewhere around 3 on Monday morning in the Kaylied tent with a good time funk and soul set which had the walls dripping and the crowd raising the roof. Other stuff - plenty of jazz, juggling, karaoke, very amusing and inventive fancy dress, Cumbrian olympics and a bit of theatre, Howard Marks etc, etc. Food and Drink - excellent range of small independent stalls with not a burger van on the whole site. Lovers of Mexican food were particularly well served and the Turkish chicken casserole from Johnny Baghdad was very tasty. Plenty of veggie options too. In general most main dishes were priced around £5-6 and seemed great value coming from London. Plenty of the bog standard festival bars selling Tuborg etc dotted around the site but for beer lovers the place to be was the Holy Quail pub which had an excellent selection of local ale including a Hawkshead Pale which was drinking so well it was gone by Saturday lunchtime. The Hawkshead bitter was a good alternative and was also drinking very well and ran out on the Sunday afternoon. By that time a cheeky vodka and red bull was starting to seem like a good idea anyway!! Camping - it might be small but get there on the Thursday to secure a tasty pitch. Quiet field was lively, friendly and reasonably well spaced out. The main areas were slightly chaotic but seemed to suit those who fancied being up all night. Family area was quiet and worth considering just to be able to get your car on site as it was a long hike to the camping areas. Toilets and showers - must admit I thought the toilets looked inadequate for the crowd but they seemed to be cleaned reasonably often and were still fine on the Monday morning. The thought of freestyling did not seem to enter anyones head. The 6 Eco friendly showers seemed even more inadequate but at £3.50 a go we never queued for more than 10 minutes!! The punters - pretty much all tribes welcome and a very mixed bag with a healthy dose of harmless 17/18 year olds who tended to camp in groups of about 20 and sit around all day and night drinking Fosters. Plenty of 20 to 50's with or without children. All very friendly and many thanks to our neighbours who roasted up a fine joint of lamb for all in the vicinity and passed on a top tip for how to get my car on site on the Monday morning - love those cheeky Northern monkeys.

This is a two day festival in the beautiful location of tittlesworth water. with live music and…read morecrafts this festival is perfect for young children. When the sun sets in a haze over the water it really is somthing else! Its a shame the was no bar but i expect it was becuase it was so close to the water and they couldnt or decided not to get a licence, this maybe added with the family/relaxed atmosphere. This for some made it unique. Alcohol was still alouded on site and music hit on till late. music included hippy scar and a lively big haired punk set. a very little acoustic tent hit out niche tunes behind the hill in the day. A plesant day

Great bike rally, attended by a couple of thousand bikers, some good headline bands over the years…read more 21st anniversary this year (2011). Good facilities provided by the castle ie showers & proper toilets. Organised by MAG NE. I have been for the last 6 years & intend to continue. Safe & family friendly.

Lytham is that kind of festival that attracts second-tier talent. You'll see young artists on their…read moreway up and legends who haven't maintained legendary status who can't fill stadiums anymore. We went because my stepmother is a huge fan of Jonathan Antoine. Luckily for me, the wildly underrated legend Billy Ocean played earlier in the week. Both shows were great. It's really built to be a local festival ... or Brits who have driven in ... having your own chairs and and picnic setup is VERY necessary. Go early to get a good area as people lay out and get comfortable. I also recommend bringing your own food (which many do) as there are limited choices there. There is a lot of soft lawn, so I imagine watching during a rain is unpleasant. We had great weather, so good luck if the rains come!

If only this were annual instead of biennial! Every odd-numbered year, puppets of the world descend…read moreon the little town of Skipton, and it's absolutely worth the journey around the globe. With the programme growing every time in proportion to the festival's reputation, there really is something for everyone - even (and perhaps especially) for people who profess to dislike puppetry. There's such a huge range of artistry and style that it's my personal opinion that not liking puppets is like not liking food; what - ALL food? ALL puppets? That's why this festival is so important: it introduces people to puppetry as an art form, as something beyond seaside Punch & Judy. There are shows for children, shows for all ages, shows you wouldn't dream of taking children to, shadow puppets, glove puppets, rod puppets, foot puppets, hand puppets, puppets that aren't even puppets until someone picks them up and moves them in a certain way... Every single show this year was a total sell-out, but the free side shows and walkabouts in the hub area at the canal basin are worth a look even if you can't get to a show. A real highlight of the weekend is the giant puppet parade. Anyone is welcome to create a puppet at one the workshops before the festival, and the whole community and all the visiting performers march down the High Street, all colours and ribbons and extraordinary movements. The time of year also means that, for the last two festivals, everything has taken place in bright, warm sunshine. There could perhaps be more happening in the hub area once the sun sets - unless you're in the beer tent or one of the marquee venues, you could be forgiven for thinking everything had finished for the day. Some live outdoor music and a couple of after-dark walkabouts would just top everything off perfectly. They're constantly striving to improve on an already majestic weekend, with feedback and suggestion forms handed out to anyone who will take them, so I can't wait to see what they'll accomplish on the back of this year's success. Again, if only this were every year. If only it lasted for longer than a weekend. The organisers manage to pull together a world-class programme every time; roll on 2015, I say!

I have been to Leeds Festival about five times and it's one of my favourite times of the year! The…read morefestival takes part on August bank holiday weekend, with an early entry ticket permitting access to the campsite as early as the Wednesday, and the festival ending on Monday morning. The music is on on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, usually from about midday till 11pm ish. Not only is there music but also comedians and sometimes films are shown. There are also various DJ sets/music tents on an evening as well as different bars-it all varies year on year. The festival area consists of different campsite areas, the carparks, and then the arena itself. There's quite a lot of camping space however if you don't get there that early it can be difficult to get a decent space. The arena contains all the different stages, loads of food vans/counters, bars, and rides. The cost of Leeds Fest goes up every year but it's about £200 now for a weekend of camping and seeing loads of bands and things. It's not bad value but it is creeping up a lot. I love Leeds fest as it's a fun weekend full of music, friends, camping, drinking, and laughing.

An amazing music festival that you should definately go to if you live up North! It's a great…read moreatmosphere and always gets good bands in their line up! It's not that far from Leeds City Centre, but traffic can be well bad so get there early as poss. I saw soooooo many people just chilling out on their bonnets of their cars this year in the queue to get there, but then again that's part of the fun!! It's over £100 for the weekend ticket, can't remember how much more, but it's well worth it! Don't go for just a day unless you HATE camping, because you pay quite a bit more to just go for a day and the music alone is worth staying for!!

I only found out about this because of Facebook,and i'm glad that I did!…read more Apart from the fact that Holmfirth is a really lovely little place,the event itself was really bloody good! Set over 5 zones dotted around the centre the Festival really was a food and drink lovers dream.All of the stall holders were friendly and passionate about their wares and they were all quick off the mark where samples were concerned. We bought a gorgeous chicken dumpling from the Jamaican stall,a beautiful buffalo burger,a stunnungly good veg indian platter and a couple of wicked seek kebabs (All of those eaten at the Festival) To take home we bought,4 pies,some soup,some bread,some cheese,a mars bar crunch and 3 litres of small batch cider. A good Festival and day? You bet it was!!

clearly the best festival in the North of England! Free from the usual over -priced, over-hyped…read morecorruption of other UK festivals, such as Glasto, Beatherder offers laid back barminess and lancashire inspired frolics for a weekend :) Set in the rolling hills of the ribble valley one can feel free and wild, whilst wearing appropriate flat cap and ballgown. It's getting more family orientated now with lots of workshops and creativity going on amongst the ale and cider stomping. "Proper" bands/orchestra's can be seen, musical instruments and all, along with banging, stomping underground dance etc. get yer self downs there innit :) £45 early bird ticket- no excuse! Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpYE4vFIF5I

As soon as the sun starts popping out again after the winter, it's time to think about what music…read morefestivals you'll be going to this year. If you'd like to keep things fairly local, then I can recommend Whatfest as a newly emerging music festival in Cheshire. For such a new festival they bagged a surprisingly high profile line-up last year with the likes of The Bluetones and Dodgy performing. Unfortunately, it was hit pretty hard by the weather, with torrential rain turning the site into a quagmire and affecting walk up attendances on the second day of the festival especially. Those that did make it through the mud were treated to two great stages of music, DJs, food and fairground rides on a glorious site. However, this shouldn't detract from how well this festival was run, the strength of the line up and quality of the sound on the main stage. A new festival that is only going to get better and better in future years. Go check it out in 2010.