Best UK and Irish Festivals Part I

Zoo Thousand and Eight
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, Kent
Fri July 4-Sun July 6
Weekend Ticket: £99
Brand new this year, Zoo Thousand and Eight takes place, appropriately, in a wild animal park near the Kent coast. Boasting a capacity of 20,000 and featuring more than a hundred live acts over the weekend, with the chance to wander off and look at some monkeys, elephants and lions if you get a bit bored. Indie, dance and alternative music are all well covered here.
Headliners: Mark Ronson, The Cribs, Athlete
Spoonfed Recommends: Does It Offend You Yeah?, Lupen Crook, Kid Harpoon, Frank Turner, Late Of The Pier
Best For: Animal Lovers

Wild In The Country
Knebworth
Saturday 5th July 13:00pm Saturday-06:00am Sunday
1 day £59/58.50
Topping last year’s effort must have been hard but this year WITC has the best electronic line-up at any UK festival. 18 hours of live and DJ music held in a rural setting complete with Victorian fun fair, Enchanted Wood and 'Twisted Tea Room': with dance rock, electro, indie, house and minimal techno covered, your only problem will be planning where to go.
Headliners: Bjork, Richie Hawtin, Soulwax, Pendulum, Sasha, Faithless
Spoonfed recommends: James Zabiela, Magda, Carl Craig, Marco Carola, Dixon, Ame, Yousef, M.A.N.D.Y
Best For: Fancy Dress

Truck Festival
Steventon
19 - 21 July
Tickets- £60
This little indie festival has been steadily growing in stature over the past couple of years. Taking over Hill Farm in the Steventon, this year the guys have teamed up with Drowned in Sound to offer a line-up that includes sets from These New Puritans, Lovvers, aned Noah and the Whale, all headlined by The Lemonheads and the excellent Okkervil River.
Headliners: Okkervil River, The Lemonheads
Spoonfed Recommends: Lovvers, Camera Obscura, These New Puritans, Noah and the Whale, Television Personalities
Best For: Indie Kids, Proto Hippies

Secret Garden Party
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
Thursday 24th – Sunday 27th July
Weekend Ticket: £125 (4 days, camping and parking)
The Secret Garden Party is the ultimate boutique festival: a psychedelic wonderland of eccentrics, extremists, performers, healers, musicians and fancy-dressed freaks. It also occurs at what is probably the most beautiful festival site in Britain. As dictated by the term ‘boutique’, everyone who attends plays their part in creating the magic, whether by participating in the Suicide Olympics (human curling, mud wrestling) or dropping off some emotional baggage with the Bad Advice Bears. Put on a rented vintage ballgown, drink rum aboard the galleon in the middle of the lake, dance to cutting-edge beats on the floating pagoda stage or go skating at the roller disco. Get involved.
Headliners: Sons and Daughters, Ali B, Morcheeba, Grace Jones
Spoonfed Recommends: The Glitzy Bag Hags, Bad Science, Eclectic Method, The Losers, Imperial Leisure
Best For: Unleashing the freak inside, learning to play with fire, talking utter bollocks.

Standon Calling
Hertfordshire
Fri August 1 – Sun August 3
3 Days £89
Standon Calling started in 2001 as a party for about 40 people in the grounds of a plush 16th Century Manor House in Hertfordshire. And suddenly it’s one of the best ‘boutique’ festivals around. This year, the line-up features Welsh innovators Super Furry Animals, Late of the Pier, Lesser Panda and Los Campesinos! And Sebastian Horsley'll be there, which is pretty hilarious.
Headliners: Super Furry Animals, Mystery Jets, Radioactive Man
Spoonfed Recommends: Sebastian Horsley, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Johnny Flynn, Los Campesinos! Lesser Panda, Elle s’Appelle, Late of the Pier
Best For: Oddball Eco-types

Click for the Best UK and Irish Festivals Part II