Small and perfectly formed: we present our favourite new UK festivals.
It's FESTIVAL TIME!
Summer is so bloody very nearly here! Excited Brits across the country are buying tickets and tents, trawling websites for the latest news on line-ups and fancy dress themes, squeezing into last years lycra animal print onesies in preparation for the very best time of the year: UK Festival Season.
The summer months are, more than ever before, choc-a-bloc with festivals. New ones are popping up all the time, bristling like sunshine freckles across summer's beautiful face. How to make sense of them? How to choose? Getting tickets for the big ones is harder than ever, and they are getting increasingly pricey. Why not try out one of the new kids on the block?
Here we compile a logical, chronological list of our absolute favourite young festivals. Get gallivanting.
Feis
18 - 19 June
One day ticket £60 - £70, £120 for weekend ticket
First things first, it's pronounced 'fesh' people. Feis is a celebration of all things Irish. This Gaelic outdoor event takes over Finsbury Park for two beautiful days in June replete with music, and, of course, booze.
Global artists inspired by Celtic traditions will be performing is the theme. Bob Dylan headlines, (although his Irish roots are unclear, he is a folk LEGEND and is named after the ultimate Welshman - Mr Dylan Thomas.) 'Van The Man' is perhaps the most famous Irish musician and co-headlines. The line-up is simply, undeniably stunning.
Beat-herder
1 - 3 July
£85
The ultimate back to basics, corporation boycotting festival. Beat-Herder boasts self-sufficiency at it's best. Everything on-site is hand made in advance in the Beat--Herder workshop before being shipped off to the Sawley site for a weekend of hedonism and guilt-free fun.
Now in it's fifth year, it has been described as 'the most heart-on-sleeve Northern festival' around. With no official sponsorship, Beat-Herder exists with the support of the surrounding Lancashire community, serving up local food and alcohol, and in return showcasing little known artistic talent in the form of festival art installations. It's no surprise there's a devoted Beat-Herder cult following already. An exciting, eclectic list of late additions to the bill this year sees the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Riva Starr, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Lazy Habits hit the forest to provide just a taster of the weekend's entertainment.
Out To Graze
8 – 10 July
£65
They manage to mix the quintessential chilled festival spirit with upfront, damn fresh DJs from the epicentre of UK bass, house, techno, and dubstep. And then they pull it all into place with head-liners like Jazzie B (Soul II Soul), Prime Cuts, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, A Guy Called Gerald and Raymundo Rodriguez. They retain that free party vibe via the nice little rigs and areas.
It's not huge and head-liner driven, it's an intimate affair all about great tunes, down to earth people and silliness in a beautiful setting. The Saturday night fancy dress theme is 'Charity Shop Chic' so get digging.... (Check out our best charity shop feature!) It's also only £65 for a weekend ticket which is less than half the price of Glasto.
Playgroup Festival
5 – 7 August
£77
Playgroup Festival began as a multifarious, fancy-dressed, uplifting and generally shiny night in Brighton. This year marks their second ever festival and they have a special formula lined up just for you. Their festival is an intimate, magical affair crammed full of silliness, amazing music, fancy dressed fripperies: friends having fun in a field. Magicians, cabaret, lovely food and drink, healing - on a donation basis, films.
Fans last year bought tickets safe in the knowledge that Playgroup always provide excellent music (gypsy swing to dubstep, glitch hop to rockabilly via skweee) and an amazing, friendly atmosphere in a beautiful location. This year's line-up is better than ever, reflecting the organiser's impeccable taste and featuring appearances from The Apples, High Rankin, Hint, Hexstatic, Quantic y su Combo Barbaro, Reso, Boss Kite and Zen Death Squad.
Wilderness
12 – 14 August
£99.50
Wilderness Festival is the thinking man's crumpet. A weekend of freedom and inspiration, relaxation, dancing, gluttony and high-end entertainment in a paradise setting. Set in the wilds, amid lakes and forests is their vast and enchanted world. This is their festival debut, and it's fantastic to see a festival really run with the true concept of 'boutique'.
Not only is there a healthy rosta of music (Laura Marling, Gogol Bordello, Antony and The Johnsons, Daniel Johnston and The Low Anthem, Hayseed Dixie...they genuinely understand the adage: 'Without music, life would be an error') but there is an unprecedented line-up of talks, debates, intellectual argument, comedy and poetic declamation. Topics include 'Don't Let The Eco-Warriors Ruin Your Fun', 'The World in 2050' with Ian Goldin (Director of Oxford University's James Martin 21st Century School) and a Sunday Philosophy Slam.
Add a luxury area for rejuvenation – The Wilderness Spa – where you can leap from hot tub to sauna to crystal clear lake, and flagship outdoor dining experiences from Michelin-starred Skye Gyngell or Petersham Nureries Cafe and Sam and Sam Clark of Moro Restaurant (both will be your hosts and culinary maestros of the daily banquets for 800 people) and you have yourself a weekend of bliss for body, mind and soul. Plush? You got it.
Photo by the incredible Dan J W Austin.
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