My first *ever* multi-day music festival (a sheltered adolescence, you see...)…read more FN6 was suggested to me by learned friends as a great 'entry-level' festival to cut my teeth on, and they weren't wrong. Much smaller than the behemoths such as Glastonbury, at 15,000 capacity, it sounded like a decent-sized event to me. Held in and around the seriously picturesque coastal tourist village of Portmeirion in north Wales, their tag line of "A festival like no other in a location like no other" was absolutely spot on. A pal and I headed down there on Thursday as we had weekend camping tickets; meaning we could get set up and start exploring the area before the masses arrived after work on the Friday. This really worked in our favour, as the queues to get our wristbands in nearby Porthmadog (where the park and ride and shuttle buses were) moved fairly steadily. Getting on to site, we carried everything we had up to the general camping area (be sure to think ahead about your choice of bag) - lots of people had small hand-pull trolleys and I even saw a bloke dragging a wheelie bin with his stuff inside. Genius. There's plenty to see and do around the site, with smaller stages in the forest by the beach and to the sides of the main arena. A fantastic range of food stalls were selling all manner of tasty dishes. The have a real ale and a cider bar so don't worry there's more than just commercial lager on tap. We brought our own stash of beers though - you can bring alcohol with you but absolutely no glass bottles. The headliners this year included Kaiser Chiefs, Bastille, Hot Chip and Noel Gallagher, but for me it was the lesser and unknown acts singing, DJing and performing comedy who made it a terrific long weekend (despite the biblical levels of rain and subsequent mud-fest). Though I admit I missed my mattress and my power shower, it was a great experience!

This is a two day festival in the beautiful location of tittlesworth water. with live music and…read morecrafts this festival is perfect for young children. When the sun sets in a haze over the water it really is somthing else! Its a shame the was no bar but i expect it was becuase it was so close to the water and they couldnt or decided not to get a licence, this maybe added with the family/relaxed atmosphere. This for some made it unique. Alcohol was still alouded on site and music hit on till late. music included hippy scar and a lively big haired punk set. a very little acoustic tent hit out niche tunes behind the hill in the day. A plesant day

Very very busy boot sale with loads of stalls, meat auctioneer, burger vans ice cream etc, theres a…read moregiant slide for the kids as well, If your buying or selling its a great place to spend a couple of hours and a few £'s.

gets really busy so good if you want to sell stuff. Only thing to watch out for is if you get there…read morereally early to sell, blokes come up to the car with flash lights asking what you have brought with you and offering you about 5p for things until you feel like swearing at them to leave you alone! Usually plenty of food wagons turn up so refreshments are available. Large field and reasonable entry price to get in and to sell. tip - if you are selling, look out in the local papers for vouchers off the cost of a pitch

I only found out about this because of Facebook,and i'm glad that I did!…read more Apart from the fact that Holmfirth is a really lovely little place,the event itself was really bloody good! Set over 5 zones dotted around the centre the Festival really was a food and drink lovers dream.All of the stall holders were friendly and passionate about their wares and they were all quick off the mark where samples were concerned. We bought a gorgeous chicken dumpling from the Jamaican stall,a beautiful buffalo burger,a stunnungly good veg indian platter and a couple of wicked seek kebabs (All of those eaten at the Festival) To take home we bought,4 pies,some soup,some bread,some cheese,a mars bar crunch and 3 litres of small batch cider. A good Festival and day? You bet it was!!

As soon as the sun starts popping out again after the winter, it's time to think about what music…read morefestivals you'll be going to this year. If you'd like to keep things fairly local, then I can recommend Whatfest as a newly emerging music festival in Cheshire. For such a new festival they bagged a surprisingly high profile line-up last year with the likes of The Bluetones and Dodgy performing. Unfortunately, it was hit pretty hard by the weather, with torrential rain turning the site into a quagmire and affecting walk up attendances on the second day of the festival especially. Those that did make it through the mud were treated to two great stages of music, DJs, food and fairground rides on a glorious site. However, this shouldn't detract from how well this festival was run, the strength of the line up and quality of the sound on the main stage. A new festival that is only going to get better and better in future years. Go check it out in 2010.

The winter gardens in Blackpool has changed beyond recognition between my childhood and now. In 20…read moreyears this has went from a building resembling an air raid shelter with bare stone floors and a few kids rides and fruit machines to an amazing theatre building with very up market eateries and the likes. There are now some very big shows held here and the place is astounding to look at but personally I prefered the days of cheap thrills and cheap cafes to the £3 cups of coffee and staff looking down their noses at you that you get these days.

Attended here last year for a Pet Shop Boys concert, other than that have been a few times for…read morevarious conferences. The place is huge and with the most amazing decor and certainly is the jewel in the crown when it comes to venues in Blackpool. Once inside you will find refreshments and snacks quite expensive so best to take your own if you want to save a few pennies.

Amazing music, Alcohol, Tents, Adrenalin pumping Rides, 60,000 people from all over the country,…read morewomen in tiny shorts and floral prints, shirtless men and gorgeous sunshine --- These ingredients definitely make up for a FANTASTIC festival! What more could one possibly ask for? This was my first ever festival in this country and I must say Parklife you were incredible! I have always been more of a rock & roll girl but after this I have started to love hip hop and EDM! Incredible dj's playing all over and some of the best bands ever! Jurassic 5 reminded me of my teenage days and I danced like a mentalist like everyone else there; Rudimental was absolutely insane as well and the crowd was singing aloud every song (woof what a feeling to be in that crowd); Disclosure was equally crazy getting the crowd all excited even though the heat was scorching! Besides the big names there were so many independent artists from all over the country who blew my mind, there was this one reggae band who covered some really popular rock numbers in reggae style -- Ama-zing! I am gutted that I cant recall their name, blame the heat and alcohol for that! The downsides like every festival included no signal, 3G and long queues --- but hey! that is expected. Verdict : I had a fabulous time and I can't wait to go back next year again!

With 200 bands playing over two days, Matthew Street Festival could well be Liverpool's…read moreGlastonbury. A free event held every August Bank Holiday, MSF finds the city centre transformed into a den of music and mayhem. Last year's festival attracted over 30,000 revellers spread across six areas and this year's on 29 -30 August looks set to be even bigger. There's six outdoor stages planned in Williamson Square, Derby Square and Tithebarn Street amongst other locations. There's also temporary bars and hot and cold food stalls. The live music kicks-off at 11am til early evening with most style of music covered from rock, pop and blues to soul, indie and punk. The only downside is that the majority of bands seem to be cover bands and whilst this doesn't seem to bother most of the revellers, bores me. Luckily, a New Bands Stage was introduced last year with no covers. If you don't like being pushed against complete strangers singing and dancing, there's big TV screens that allow you to watch the performances from a distance. Just make sure you take a sunhat, a large bottle of water and some pennies for food, beer and the obligatory festival item, an inflatable guitar. N.B. I'd give the festival 4 stars for camaraderie but the dire covers bands strips it down to 3!

5 stars is probably a little extravagant for Liverpool's Matthew Street Festival for all things…read moreBeatle related as the talent can be a little hit and miss but overall the weekend long music and booze binge is a good laugh. It is an extremely busy weekend as most bars and clubs take part hosting tribute bands from all over the world. Over the years this has changed dramatically from a few Beatles tributes in The Cavern into a city wide festival for tribute acts for all sorts of classic rock groups, performances from old favourites and even showcases for emerging Liverpool talent. Three years ago was probably the best one I had been too and was definately the biggest. The streets were rammed with people and there were numerous huge stages in the middle of Liverpool's busiest streets.