It’s time to get excited for festival season. With stellar lineups across the board, including the return of Faithless Live, the resurgence of Shania Twain (that does impress us much) and a different vibe for the Secret Garden Party, here’s our top 5 festivals, in the country that does them best. And don’t forget – summer is peak bitey insect time, so make sure you pack your gorgeous-smelling, chemical-free Love Bites Only as part of your festival look - cowboy boots optional.
Glastonbury
Worthy Farm, Somerset
26-30 June
Caitlin Moran once wrote that she spends the annual journey home from Glastonbury bawling her eyes out (from sadness that the party's over, rather than anything else). And after last year’s sun-soaked triumph, we totally get it. The temporary city and worldwide legend is a hard one to top, even if the thought of all those crowds makes you wonder about catching it on BBC instead. This year, Pyramid Stage headliners include Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA; there's Fontaines D.C., London Grammar and Orbital on the Park Stage; Idles and Disclosure on the Other Stage. For family fun, The Kidzfield is back, including 80s icon Basil Brush, who may or may not have a stand-off with Bodger’s Badger - our money’s on Basil.
Wilderness
Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire
1-4 August
If you visit Soho Farmhouse during the first weekend of August, you'll find it being used as a decompression tank by Wilderness party people taking over the pool. But the self-described cosmic family-friendly dreamland is as much about the wellness as the music, and a world away from cider-chugging shoulder-squatters. Boutique options range from luxury yurts to Airstreams to wagons; Michael Kiwanuka and Faithless have the top spots; look out for Ibibio Sound Machine and after-hours parties in the woods.
Secret Garden Party Roots
Abbott’s Ripton, Cambridgeshire
25-28 July
SGP has diverged into a trifecta, freshening up the brand and helping hedge weather bets. Secret Party Roots is its bid to get back to the good old days pre-main stage, with lots more of the kooky small stages that everyone loves blundering into randomly throughout the course of the weekend. Celebrating independence and the fact that their artist budget can book hundreds of small artists for the price of a few big ones, supporting Roots means supporting new talent, which is something we can all get on board with. Expect the craziest festival-goers on the planet, and so many shenanigans, you'll need careful curation before sticking any photos on the grid.
The Wild Meadows
Abbott’s Ripton, Cambridgeshire
5-12 August
The Wild Meadows is SGP’s take on Camp Bestival. Tagged ‘fun for feral children’, this week-long festival is all about getting back to nature. It promises a ton of family fun, reconnecting with the natural world and – natch – letting your kids get properly feral around the campfire. The Abbott's Ripton site with its two lakes and beautiful woods is the perfect backdrop - expect games, forest skills, theatre workshops, and generally interactive, screen-free fun.
Camp Bestival
Lulworth Castle, Dorset
25-28 July
Camp Bestival is doing the double this year, and has pulled two fabulous lineups across consecutive weekends. Original Camp Bestival Dorset always delivers, and with this year's revived sweetheart and kitchen disco-er Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Pete Tong, McFly, Jake Shears, and House Gospel Choir among many, many others, mum and dad'll be grooving on up while the kids are in circus school.
Weston Park, Shropshire
15-18 August
Camp Bestival Shropshire is not being left in the corner and is sharing plenty of headliners with its older sibling. On top of that you've got Faithless, Rick Astley, Hal Baker, Brainiac Live and all the usual workshops and activities that make Camp Bestival the master in its literal field.
And just to finish up that feast of summer fun, a cheeky bonus pick that's ver' ver' exclusive, also from the Secret Garden Party famhood - let us know if you've scored tickets for this (proof required) and we will grace you with a sample of Love Bites Only!
Mistress Mary
Abbott’s Ripton, Cambridgeshire
Early September
This one is invite only, so if yours got lost in the mail, know that there were only 1000 to start with. It’s 36 hours of mayhem on the SGP site: expect fur coats, meltdowns, whisky and regret. There's something about Mary...
Order those heart-shaped glasses and your LBO and get ready to roll - pun intended!
LBO x