Best UK and Irish Festivals Part II
by: LowriBloom Festival
Seven Springs, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Friday 8th – Sunday 10th August
Weekend Tickets: Adults £85.00 / Kids £30.00
Bloom is a relatively young animal, but over its 3 years has proved to be among the best of the ample crop of boutique festivals sprouting in the UK. With 24 hour fun and an intimate, alternative vibe, Bloom is an eclectic, mashed up circus with the emphasis on interactivity. It boasts a pretty even spilt of live music and DJs across the 4 arenas, plus comedy, jugglers, acrobats, cabaret and a cinema tent.
Headliners: Kissy Sell Out, Roni Size Reprazent Live, The Black Seeds, Brand New Heavies, Akil The MC (Jurassic 5), Scratch Perverts
Spoonfed Recommends: Meat Katie, Max Sedgley and the Shoots, London Breakbeat Orchestra, The Glimmers, Kraak and Smaak
Best For: Getting covered in glitter and dancing till you fall over.
Shambala Festival
Secret Midlands Location
Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th August
Weekend Tickets: Adults (18yrs +) £89 + £5.50 booking fee
Child (5-17yrs) £25 + £2.50 booking fee
Car Pass: £15 + £1.50 booking fee
Camper Van/Caravan Pass: £25 + £1.50 booking fee
A low-profile, 'green' family friendly festival with the emphasis on silliness, creativity and sustainable living. Dance till dawn, then go for a cocktail in a hot-tub before getting lost on the magical woodland arts trail and falling asleep in a hammock 30 foot above the forest. As well as the alternative line-up (gypsy-funk, skiffle, ska, electro, breaks, boogaloo), there are creative workshops, saunas, crazy golf, poetry, debates, a Saturday fancy dress Carnival and a crowd of smiling, open-minded people.
Headliners: To Be Announced
Spoonfed Recomends: Booking a hot tub, cracking out the champagne and letting go.
Best For: Turning off your phone, feasting on exotic food and wandering around barefoot.
Woolfire
Woodmancott in Hampshire
Fri 29-Sun 31st August
Earlybird tickets £30/Weekend tickets £35
Now four years old and growing in popularity, Woolfire endeavors to promote up-and-coming bands and DJs. Last year saw 600 punters watching such acts as The Fuck Buttons and DJ Shorty (XFM) spread over three stages. Experimental bands tend to play on the Elysium stage (last year had a mad 1940s swing set at 3am) so no one is excluded. For the first time this year there will be a cinema to showcase films and a separate dance arena.
Headliners: Capitol K, Applicants, Friends of The Bride, Napoleon IIIrd
Spoonfed Recommends: King Arthur’s Men, Bossmanchief, Eaten By Tigers
Best For: Diversity
End Of The Road Festival
Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset
Fri Sept 12-Sun Sept 14
Weekend Ticket: £105
Voted ‘Best New Festival’ in 2006 and resisting the temptation to compromise its intimacy ever since, this tiny 5000-capacity boutique weekender remains one of the UK’s best. Refreshingly corporate-free and experimental, 2008 boasts their best line up yet, with plenty of surprises planned throughout the weekend. Good food and drink, well-mannered staff and even a Scandinavian tent complete with Nordic acts and Viking games make this one of our favourites.
Headliners: Calexico, Mercury Rev, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Dirty Three
Spoonfed Recommends: Billy Childish, Jeffrey Lewis, Low, Kimya Dawson, Mountain Goats, Two Gallants, The Wave Pictures.
Best For: Those in search of the new Glastonbury
Electric Picnic
Stradbally Estate, County Laois, Ireland
29th – 31st August
Weekend Tickets: €240
Family Camping Ticket is €480 for 2 adults and up to 4 kids u-12
Leccy Picnic is Irelands only boutique festival. It has a massive line-up of contemporary greats and legends of old - this year the Sex Pistols and Sigur Ros play alongside the Gossip and My Bloody Valentine. The site is huge and wonderful, with a circus tent featuring the world renowned Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Circus, comedy, spoken word, art installations, the Hot Press Chat Room where fans can quiz their musical heroes as well as the usual massive main stage, dance tent and smaller, quirky nooks and crannies.
Headliners: Sex Pistols, Underworld, Sigur Ros, The Gossip, Franz Ferdinand, Sinead O’Connor, My Bloody Valentine
Spoonfed Recommends: New Young Pony Club, The Breeders, Goldfrapp, Kormac, George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars
Best For: Amazing circus feats, massive headline acts, accidentally slipping into a dodgy Irish accent.
