Weekend one of Coachella kicks off on Friday which means that the 2014 festival season is officially underway, our Instagram feeds will fill up with pictures of It girls and style bloggers partying in the desert, and we will shortly be bombarded with get-the-festival-look emails from our favourite fashion brands.
Closer to home, it’s too late to get tickets for Glastonbury, unless you’re lucky with the resale (be by your computer on 24th and 27th April), but there are plenty of other festivals worth checking, with tickets still for sale. And if you’re all like, “But I don’t do camping,” you can (for a price) give your festival experience a luxury upgrade, such as other people putting up your tent for you, porters and bell boys to carry your stuff, Egyptian cotton sheets to slip between and even spas. Seriously. It’s camping, but not as you know it.
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Field Day
7th and 8th June, Victoria Park, East London
The line-up: Pixies, Metronomy, Jagwar Ma, Sky Ferreira, Jamie xx and Temples. With the excellent Street Feast market doing the food you can be sure of tasty eating options.
The upgrade: This is the only one of the five with no upgrade option (but then it’s not a camping festival). However there’s bound to be a backstage area and you’ve got time to make friends with someone with connections, think a member of a band that’s performing/a record company staffer/someone from the Field Day team.
The damage: £49.50 (Saturday), £38.50 (Sunday).
Latitude
17th – 20th July, Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk
The line-up: Damon Albarn, Two Door Cinema Club, Hall & Oates, The Black Keys, Haim, Tame Impala, Lykke Li and, yep, Temples, plus comedy, theatre and poetry.
The upgrade: Pink Moon has tents and tipis for up to 8 people plus wifi and a hair care pamper parlour, from £269 (includes ticket). Podpads come with mattresses, from £433 (includes ticket). Yurtels come with brunch included, plus there’s porters, a bar knocking up Bloody Marys and cocktails, a cinema tent and a pop-up spa, from £1000 for a classic bell tent (doesn’t include ticket).
The damage: £195.50 (full weekend ticket).
End Of The Road
29th – 31st August, Larmer Tree Gardens, North Dorset/Wiltshire Borders
The line-up: The Flaming Lips, Wild Beasts, John Grant and, ooh, there they are again, Temples, plus comedy, films and a ridiculous amount of eating options.
The upgrade: Choose from pitched tents, Gypsy Caravans, yurts and Hotel Bell Tent, with bell boys (carry my own bag, I don’t think so!), a lounging tent and even a pamper tent, from £355 (doesn’t include ticket).
The damage: £170 (adult weekend camping).
Bestival
4-7th September, Robin Hill Country Park, Isle Of Wight
The line-up: Outkast, Chic featuring Nile Rogers, Foals, Beck, Disclosure, London Grammar, Chvrches, and, obviously, Temples, plus DJs, erm, Mr Motivator, Morning Glory’s rise-and-shine-raves, a Bollywood cocktail bar and en masse fancy dress.
The upgrade: Every possible type of boutique upgrade is available here. I rather like the sound of the Royal Indian Safari Tents (memory foam mattresses, Egyptian cotton bedlinen, handmade and vintage furniture and an option to order luxury picnic hampers), from £565 (doesn’t include ticket).
The damage: £195 (adult, entry from Thursday or Friday).
Festival Number 6
5th/6th/7th September, in the bonkers Mediterranean-inspired Welsh town of Portmeirion (seriously you have to go there to believe it’s real).
The line-up: Beck, London Grammar, Jimi Goodwin and, this is getting silly now, Temples, with more acts to be announced and an excellent line-up of DJs, plus talks, film screenings and comedy.
The upgrade: Furnished tipis, which come complete with comfy cushions, handwoven rugs, hardwood tables and tea light lanterns, from £550 (doesn’t include ticket).
The damage: £160 + booking fee (adult weekend camping).
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{Festival Checklist}
Here’s Latitude’s very useful festival checklist. As they say on their site, don’t take anything you can’t afford to lose – good advice.
Entrance ticket Money/cash card Clothing for all seasons (this is England not Indio). Sleeping bag/blanket Tent Travel ticket home Camera Mobile phone Suncream and hat Tin opener and bottle opener Wet wipes Toiletries and towel Torch Plenty of clean socks Strong shoes Insect repellent Any medication you need I would also add a pillow, sunglasses (you can hope) and your phone charger.
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What’s your favourite festival in the UK or further afield? Which festivals are you heading to this summer? Which is your favourite ever festival performance? Do share!
Well, I’ve had my eye on the craziness that is the secret garden party (http://www.secretgardenparty.com/) for like 5 years but every time there has been something else going on like a big birthday, wedding etc this year however, I am free so we may just be going 🙂 fingers crossed Mr H can get the time off work xx
I’ve heard loads of good things about secret garden party – you should deffo get yourselves there.
If Mr H can’t get the time off there are always other jobs 😉
Looks brilliant fun, and some excellent boutique camping options – the extravagant yurts are immense! x
Larmer tree fest is pretty chilled. I definitely give a thumbs up to end of the road. Dot to Dot festival in Bristol is good if you don’t really “do” the camping thing!
Ooh, both look good, do like a city festival (I can be home from Field Day in 20 minutes, which makes it very appealing!).
Latitude is a wonderful festival – we’ve been going for quite a few years now and always go ‘glamping’. Having been to quite a few different festivals I would say that Latitude is the one I would go to if I could only do one festival in the year (if, like this year, I couldn’t get my hands on some Glastonbury tickets that is!)
If you decide not to go with one of the companies providing boutique camping options I would recommend the following:
*Get a tent that is bigger than you need – ie/ a 3or4 person tent for 2 people
*Get a thick blow up mattress
*Bring an electric pump with spare batteries
*Your favourite pillows to ensure a good night sleep
*A little camping chair
*A small mirror (I tend to prop this up on the chair while getting festival ready each morning
*Wine in a box – Fern Bary is a great option – it’s a NZ Sauvignon Blanc so it’s actually nice wine but easily transportable to festivals 🙂
Happy Festivalling!!
x
I really want to go to Latitude! Some excellent additions to the list. I always take a mirror, pillows and a box of wine too! x
GLASTONBURY! Only 76 days until I’ll be there! I think it’s the best of all of them. I have tried Bestival and Standon Calling in the UK, and I met my husband at Benicassim in Spain but Glastonbury is still the winner for me!
Bryony, I bet you are counting down the days.
I would love to get to Glasto… I’ve done a few others in my time but never hit the daddy of them all. I’ve just been unlucky with tickets.
Maybe next year?
Glastonbury is magical. Benicassim is brilliant fun, but I like the look of Primavera this year – great line-up and Barcelona in May is pretty much guaranteed sun!
It’s a shame Rockness isn’t happening this year – glorious setting near Loch Ness. I’ve only went once but the line up was Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers – I fear it doesn’t get any better than that.
Loopallu is also supposed to be really good – it’s in Ullapool (which is Loopallu spelt backwards – get it?) although no line up announced as yet. The big question is will Temples be playing haha.
Bestival is on my hit list! One day… one day….
Lynn… Rockness sounds Huge! How come I have never heard of this one?
My Money is on Temples Headlining Loopallu…
I’m holding a festival this year in my communal back garden and already have had Temples on the phone asking if they can play the Friday night. I’ve told them only if they bring some sausages for the barbie.
A festival in your backgarden?? Amazing!!! 😉
Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers at one festival? Amazing! I’m not sure Temples have any more free days in their festival season…
I love this! I’ve always wanted to go to a festival but get all overwhelmed about what is what and where and then give up. This is such a fab intro to festivals for someone whose never been!
You should definitely try make it to a festival this summer, either a city festival or do the fancy camping thing!
YNot festival in Derbyshire sounds amazing, am trying to get tickets 🙂
Ooh haven’t heard of Y Not. Good luck getting tickets Ann-Marie!
Awwww this post makes me sad! No festivals for us this year 🙁
Went to Glasto last year as a little mini-moon & it was just as amazing as all the hyp! I don’t think I stopped smiling all weekend 😀
It is just so flipping massive. I needed loads more days just to explore all the bits I didn’t get to see!
Have also done Reading (twice!) and Lattitude. Reading is pretty hardcore! But I absolutely adored Lattitude – the theatre tent had me in heaven and doing a giant conga line out of the comedy tent with Ross Noble and the 1000s of audience members will always be the highlight (seriously, he got everyone to do a conga out, which then just turned into a stampede – all so we could go to the veggie stand – where is friend was working at – and all ask for sausage rolls!!! EPIC)
Oh & I nearly forgot the Ben & Jerry’s festival in London! Seriously, they used to do a 2 day festival with free ice cream – yup FREE Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream!!!!!!!!! the last one was in 2011 and then they stopped for the Olympics and never returned 🙁 Think I might need to start a campaign to get it back!
There’s definitely something special about Glastonbury! Reading is fun too and the Leeds location is about five minutes from where I grew up so very convenient. I never made it to the Ben & Jerry’s festival, we should join forces and start that campaign! They did a free cone day earlier this week, I think?
Glastonbury is my faaaaavourite! I could have got tickets this year but due to a million things I’m not going (I know, I will definitely kick myself when Blondie are playing) Bestival and The Big Chill in Malvern Hills are super fun too.
The best advice I was ever given about going to festivals is to always have a couple of lighters on you. All the smokers will love you (because they will instantly loose theirs when they arrive) plus it’s the best way to make friends. Oh, and a head torch! X
Having been to Glastonbury a few times some years ago its great when the weather is good but when it rains….mud and more mud! went to latitude for first time last year and would recommend, very laid back, lovely site and lots of interesting literary stuff and not too packed. Stayed in a pod pad which I actually thought was pricey and not great but you do get lower ratio of festival goes per toilet/ shower in your patch which is marshalled so non pod padders can get in, a bit like a gated community! This year I have purchased tickets for lunar, which happens to be within walking distance of where I live….not sure if this is good or bad?