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...

The Filipino Barrio Fiesta happens once a year during the summer days in Woodgate Valley's Country…read morePark. They provide a huge stage for karaoke singers, performances and other little treats that will entertain you during your visit to this cultural event. It lasts for a few days in which you can explore around the stools, try some Filipino delicacies, purchase clothing, buy exotic ingredients and just soak up all of the Philippines culture even if you're just passing through as it's open to all members of the public. It's very family friendly as they hire out bouncy castles, miniature rides and all sorts for a great family experience and generally just a far east cultural experience.

WOW!!!! Just got back from our first visit to the Secret Garden Party. Better than Glasto probably…read morebecause the emphasis is on art AND music so there is lots to do. This time loads of good music plus circus skills, sock wrestling, hula hooping, explorers camp, dance, camera obscura, samba lessons, yoga, ferris wheel etc etc etc. Lots of eccentric costumes, very kid friendly. Fantastic atmosphere - very friendly and good natured. No flights, no trouble. Even the toilets were reasonable - much better than other festivals :-) In 2005, The Secret Garden Party won the Best Small Festival prize at the UK Festival Awards. It won the Best Small Festival prize for the second time in 2008. In 2007, it was named 'best British music festival' by Radio 1. We're booking for next year without a doubt :-)

Advertised (on their website) as Europe's biggest tribute and new acts festival, this is the best…read morefestival I have ever been too. Don't be put off by the tribute side of it, I know you can get some pretty bad tributes but at Glastonbudget they make an effort to get the best. I have to admit that I enjoyed watching the Dead hot chillis more than I enjoyed the real act (at Earls court) - they have so much energy, and you actually have a chance to get to the front of the audience. The new acts are also great, they get some great new acts and it is fab to have a chance to see so many! Value for money is fantastic - ticket prices at the moment are just less than £50 for the whole weekend including camping. Another thing the festival prides itself on is keeping food and drink prices reasonable, so prices are similar to those in a pub. They serve a selection of real ales and ciders which were very popular with the lads in our group. The only complaint I have is about the weather - it rained badly on the Sunday 2 years ago!! They did improve things a lot last year by adding two music tents, one in the camp field and one in the main arena, the rain wasn't too bad but at least they were prepared if it had been. This event is getting bigger year after year, I would highly recommend it (and have been to all my friends!!)

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.

went to the 2013 download, it was on my bucket list it was the best camping concert venue i've ever…read morebeen to. the international mixture of people was incedible. met some irish folk that i ended up hanging with for the duration of the awesome show. its 5 days of camping and 3 days of concert. the brits are a wacky lot and it was like a drunken holloween party that just kept going and going , the energizer bunny would have been killed and cooked at this party ! there is a tent city that has everything you could need. beer tent, food tent, comedy club a couple of night clubs (with live music !) camping supply tent, thrift stores and wacky cosume stores. i met alot of really great people that i would like to see again . i couldn't make it to 2014 but i wouldn't miss 2015 for the world. security was a litle stand offish and dickish but they usually are at american venues and the english security didn't disappoint us. They have carnival rides also, just right for a drunken late night fun.

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.

This is truly one of the best folk festivals that you can go so anywhere in the UK. Small, without…read morebeing cramped, and busy without being at all overpowering, year after year this festival has been a highlight of my year. Here you'll find everything you could possibly want in a weekend festival. Ceilidh tents, beer tents, children's activities, camping and caravan grounds, dodgy festival showers, stalls, and stalls and more stalls. The festival takes place on the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August every year, and never disappoints, no matter what the weather (or, indeed, he economic climate too). There is such an air of community here that there is, for me at least, a real sense of homecoming every time I arrive and set up camp. Acts such as Show of Hands, Seth Lakeman, Oysterband, Eliza McCarthy, Kate Rusby and many more are regular patrons ad performers at this event. But there are others from all around the world set to entertain. The highlight of the festival is the final night, when there is a parade of lanterns (made by festival-goers during the weekend) through the grounds and camping to arrive at the outdoor arena to be met with live music and fireworks. For a magical weekend you'll never forget, try Towersey!

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 !