So August Bank Holiday folks is the date for this lovely little festival. This was my first time…read morehere, but actually it's only been running for 2 years. Tickets cost £40 for adults, and children are £1. Get them quick as it does sell out. This is a family festival, and my friends kids absolutely loved it, and why wouldn't they...... face painting, and arts and crafts...and even a bouncy castle for them...and best of all this was all free. The site itself was clean and had plenty of space for the tents and to sit outside, but then we are talking about around 1500 people. And there was plenty of entertainment for adults and party goers too...from the 5 stages - with acoustic sounds from the Otters Pocket, chill out at the Lotus Flower,or hit the brilliant Dub tent which had some great Reggae, and Drum n Bass blasting out. When the sound systems shut down at midnight, you then get a chance to head to silent disco...where you can party til 3.30am...and potentially back to the lotus flower after that if you're hoping to catch the sunrise. The vibe was fun and friendly...and they have big ideas for the future so this is definitely one to watch. My only criticism would be that there were too many covers bands...but then this is a learning curve...and I have no doubt this will change in future years. A brilliant little festival, and well worth checking out.

Well, great stuff! Bournemouth was heaving with people - indeed on Friday the M3 was flowing like…read moretreacle, and Bournemouth council announced ' No More Cars Please!!!!!! Well, every August the Red Arrows come to Bournemouth and it's always worth getting a vantage point. You just have to allow three timesas much travel time! This year we had the Red Arrows in all their glory,and what glory it is, plus a parachuting display by the RAF, a biplane display with women on top!!!, Vulcans and fireworks every evening, which I got to see from Poole Quay. I think every feels the Red Arrows are so spectacular and with split second timing and only eight feet between wing tips - I may be wrong but saw that on a documentary. A lot of people have seen Red Arrows from their gardens as far away as Wool, so their turning space is huge but alsothe main event is not always all nine planes. Ooooh, a Red Arrow just flew over the harbour here in Poole. The bi-planes looped the loop and all sorts of tricks, complete with women on each wing! (Oh, you all know that women multi task.) This was a feat which caused laughter of amazement and huge applause. Parachuting with jet trails - well, very colourful sky and amazing skill. Landing in the sea! I wonder if the Royal Marines took part in this, they often parachute into Studland Bay. But so do the Commandos. Hmmm..... And then the firework displays at night - I'm lucky enough to see in the distance these displays over Bournemouth Bay. And all of this is free. Amazing, considering how much one pays to see a concert. Absolutely brill!

Red arrow helps tourism in Bournemouth. Hotels and restaurants do need your stunning perofrmance…read moremore often. It is good to have you here in Bournemouth at least twice in a year. It is definately an event that could draw people into the town. We are in the redhill area, we could see them piercing through the sky towards the coastal areas. What a spectacular scene! E-pan Cafe Bar & Chinese Restaurant 3 New Parade, BH10 5BG

Really good festival for all the family, except for one thing. The cost. It's a total and utter rip…read moreoff. If it wasn't so expensive it would be amazing but I leave here every year feeling like I've been totally fleeced.

Really good for the family and often has a good line up. However, I don't recommend bringing 12…read moreyear olds. I myself went as a twelve year old and there is almost nothing to do. There is a really cool music thing for 13+, and most of the things to do are for up to about 11. Also, the festival is really expensive so look out for people selling them dirt cheap on gumtree because they can't make the dates. When you've finished the festival, there is many places to go for free around, such as durdle door. Lulworth cove is my personal favourite for bodyboarding. Finally, my last bit of advice is KNOW WHERE YOU TICKETS ARE AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE LEAVING. Once, ,e and my mum were about to leave and couldn't find the tickets. We wasted a whole day of the fest trying to find them. Eventually, we realised I had accidentally scooped them up with other bits of paper and put them in a drawer. Please don't let that happen to you, and enjoy!

Once upon a time this was a small local festival taking place every now and again out back at a…read morepub. Now it's one of the largest folk music festivals in the United Kingdom. It takes place during summer every year, at the beginning of the summer holidays, and is a very family friendly event. This is the ideal festival for those with young children and an aversion to massive crowds, the like you find at Glastonbury. There are many regulars who return year after year, and the festival is becoming ever more popular year after year too. This was the festival that I was taken to as a child. I could probably draw you a map of it down to the last blade of grass. With live music, dancing and a wonderful variety of stalls, this festival can be a little bit of an unforgettable experience. This year the festival takes place from the 22nd-25th of July, and includes acts such as Show of Hands, Bellowhead and many, many others. Quickly, book now!

This is my favourite out of the two Stewart sites (the other at Christchurch) I think because it…read moreappears to be a little smaller, cosier. I like the layout and the product displays, it is a pleasure to meander around. There is an excellent range of plants, always healthy as they are also a nursery. There is a wide range of gifts both ornamental and useful gardening gifts, books, garden sundries, bird feeders & some clothing. There are some really good value offers. At Christmas they have an array of products from trees to festive napkins and in the summer a wonderful diplay of furniture, BBQs and accessories. The coffee shop does breakfast, lunch & teas but can get busy. The staff are friendly & more than helpful. There is a wonderful walk in the grounds, a little map is provided. Plenty of parking. A building section with sheds & summer houses is on site and they also do landscaping & garden maintenance but I have never used these services.

This is a lovely garden and gift centre but can be difficult to find but worth the trouble. There…read moreis an extensive range of plants and garden things and ahuge range of gifts. It has a nice relaxing coffee shop and outside a nice garden area to sit in and wnader through. There are some good walks in the area so a visit here can make a good day out.

Wouldn't recommend a general ticket, you need a vip ticket to enjoy the event to the full. Great to…read moresee some Polo, its a very visual sport. :)

This year's Isle of White festival hit the news for all the wrong reasons. As the summer deluge…read morecontinued we wondered if we should even bother to attend - reports came in of people sleeping in their cars as they couldn't enter the flooded car parks, ferry's being delayed, gigs being canceled due to the high winds...its sounded like it was going to be a blast!! We decided to give it a go and it was certainly worth the perseverance! We arrived on the Friday and were directed to an alternative car park at Robin Hill. From here were were shuttle bused in and it worked like a dream - no queues and muddy car parks for us! On arrival, we were astonished by the level of mud and ground water already accumulated, and we knew that this being day one it was only going to get worse! The camping fields were already jam-packed and it took us a while to find a small space to squeeze in to. Squeeze in we did, and then attempted to put up our tent in the rain and strong wind - perhaps we should have stayed at home after all! Once we were erected we settled ourselves in to our temporary home for the weekend and started to relax a bit! The festival itself is pretty well organised - wristbands were sent through the post, beer tokens needed to be purchased to prevent long queues at the bar, and the food stall selection was outstanding - we tried everything from tapas, to ostrich burgers, to Japanese to donuts. The bands were an eclectic mix this year, some of the best were Madness, Noel Gallagher, Pearl Jam, Jessie J and of course The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. A large screen was put in place for those that wanted to catch the England v Italy game and there were dance tents and smaller venues for those who wanted a little less mainstream. Yes, there were long queues for the loos and they weren't always in the best condition, the walk back to the tents through the mud was tiresome and perilous at times, and our tent did flood on the Saturday night, but this is all part of the festival experience and those that stuck it out until the end all had a fantastic time. John Giddings, the festival organiser, got a lot of stick this year but at the end of the day, he can't be held responsible for the British weather and I feel that the whole team did a great job to ensure everybody had a great experience, regardless of the rain!

Went to IoW in 2006, and I have to say I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. It's just far too…read morecommercial for my taste, rammed full of chavs, and even has a bloody fairground in the arena?! The setting is pretty nice, you can see boats going past in the harbour just behind the stage, but, well, I won't be going back. Apparently bestival (same ground?) is really nice though. Bring on Glasto