Mountain backdrops, mud spas — and serious tunes: your guide to the summer's hippest festivals

This summer’s festivals have something for everyone, says Samuel Fishwick 

RED ROOSTER

2-4 June

Where: Euston Hall, Suffolk

What: The whiskey sippin’, banjo strummin’ folk of Red Rooster bring a taste of the Deep South to South-East England. Refresh with Creole-style cooking in the form of Colonel Tom’s gumbo, and Texan BBQs and brisket from The Harbercue, washed down with a jar of moonshine (yes, seriously), then listen to the James Hunter Six in Euston Hall’s superb grounds. You’ll feel like you’re in sweet home Alabama — except, y’know, in Suffolk.

Best for: Americana. Where else in the UK could you find so much American merchandise in one field?

Tickets: £50 (redrooster.org.uk)

Red Rooster
Edward Haynes Photography

11-12 June

Where: Victoria Park, London

What: Beach House, James Blake and PJ Harvey tick all the east-London hipster boxes for us at Victoria Park for Field Day (yes, it does still count as a field). The festival reaches its 10th birthday this year with carrot-eating contests and winkle picking to celebrate, plus there are stalls from Dalston Yard’s Street Feast, among others. On the village green, the games organisers, Village Mentality, top off festivities with raucous events from nappy-wearing relay races, to a ‘mid-life crisis’ pogoing competition.

Best for: Big kids. There’s a sack race on the green with your name on it.

Tickets: weekend £94, one-day £49.50 (fielddayfestivals.com)

Field Day

SUNFALL

9 July

Where: Brockwell Park, London

What: The latest festival to invade London’s green spaces, Sunfall’s organisers have joined forces with Phonox in Brixton, The Nest and Shoreditch’s XOYO to stage a dance festival with a difference: jam to headliner Jamie xx in Brockwell Park by day, and head to the clubs by night (each ticket will include access to the festival and one of several curated nights.)

Best for: 24hr party people. Eight official venues around south London will support.

Tickets: £55 (sunfall.co.uk)

FARR FESTIVAL

14-16 July

Where: Hertfordshire

What: Farr’s greatest asset isn’t the convenience (it’s only half an hour north of London); it isn’t the all-DJ electric lineup, which rivals the fun at the famous dance festivals Dekmantel and Gottwood; it isn’t even the rolling fields and the woodland stages lit with fairy lights, though they make a great backdrop for every #FarrFestival selfie by the hay bales. It’s the size — capacity is just 2,000. It’s still packed enough that you’ll always be dancing in a crowd, but sparse enough that you’ll always find a seat on the dodgems.

Best for: City dwellers. Wear shades on Monday morning and the office will be none the wiser.

Tickets: £100 (farrfestival.co.uk)

LATITUDE

4-17 July

Where: Henham Park, Southwolds

What: Latitude’s organisers must need a compressor to squeeze so much into one long weekend. Music begins on the Friday with New Order, while The National, Maccabees, Grimes and Father John Misty are on the bill over the weekend. Throw in ballet, opera, plus performances from the National and the Old Vic theatres, and the family-friendly festival — now 11 years old — really does have something for everybody (there’s lake swimming, too, so pack your togs). When we’re not in the poetry tent filling our brains with Don Paterson, our hidden highlight is set to be the wooded Sunrise Arena, boasting ethereal group The Invisible on Saturday among a leisurely lineup.

Best for: Families. Trust us, even Grandpa will find something to tickle his fancy.

Tickets: £205.50 (latitudefestival.com)

Latitude
Victor Frankowski

LOVEBOX

15-16 July

Where: Victoria Park, London

What: How do you top last year’s headliner, Snoop Dogg? With a performance from legendary Brooklyn rockers LCD Soundsystem. Set in Victoria Park over two days, Lovebox has a long-list of things going for it: it’s non-camping,

12 minutes’ walk from the Tube and packing a lineup that includes Stormzy and Chet Faker. On the downside, last year the park was so dry it transformed into a dust bowl. Still, what self-respecting Londoner needs fresh air for a good day out?

Best for: UK grime. Stormzy reps the scene alongside Big Narstie and Kano.

Tickets: £93.50 (loveboxfestival.com)

SECRET GARDEN PARTY

21-24 July

Where: Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire

What: SGP is Cambridgeshire’s bucolic Burning Man. Blindfolded-boxing, naked mud wrestling and a Lake Stage accessed only by boat are among its off-beat attractions. The headliners — perhaps overshadowed by the sheer volume of sideshows in previous years — are finally set to take centre-stage, with Primal Scream, Air, Caribou and Beardyman on the lineup. The real secret is in your fancy-dress prep-work: this year’s theme is Gardener’s Guide to the Galaxy, so break out the tinfoil and spade if you want to roll with the crowd. Don’t miss the annual Dance Battle to learn some new moves. The fairground rides are good enough for Prince Harry, who attended in 2014, so they’re just fine with us.

Best for: Fireworks. Join the pyrotechnic pirates by the lake for a real light show.

Tickets: £180 (secretgardenparty.com)

WOMAD

28-31 July

Where: Charlton Park, Wiltshire

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What: Bringing six continents to one nation (well, the Charlton Park estate in Wiltshire) WOMAD celebrates a world of musical styles. Catch all-woman Malian supergroup Les Amazones D’Afrique, Denver indie-rockers The Czars, Roots Manuva and our personal favourites, the Hot 8 Brass Band (the ensemble behind THAT ‘Sexual Healing’ cover you hear every night out in Dalston). If you need a break, rest your ears at the story-telling tipi, or work up a sweat with tree-climbing at the Arboretum — a massive hit at last year’s festival.

Best for: Carnivalistas. Who needs Notting Hill — let Sunday’s samba parade get your body moving

Tickets £175 (womad.co.uk)

PORT ELIOT

28-31 July

Where: St Germans, Cornwall

What: The balm to all your real-world angst, Port Eliot is part festival, part retreat. A who’s who of the art, fashion and literary worlds descend on the idyllic, rolling Port Eliot Estate. Join yoga therapists at the Lark’s Haven retreat, indulge in the estuary’s mud baths and have a glass of bubbly in the eco-friendly Kernow Spring spa. Oh, and there are readings and music from sunrise until late into the night: take your pick from Ali Smith, Noel Fielding,

Gloria Steinem and more. Think Hay-on-Wye, but groovier.

Best for: Bookworms splashing out on boutique camping just for the bedside reading light.

Tickets: £165 (porteliotfestival.com)

 Port Eliot

WILDERNESS

4-7 August

Where: Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire

What: Wilderness is known as much for its culinary lineup (Raymond Blanc is among the chefs this year) as it is for the music — although former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and the Flaming Lips are nothing to turn your nose up at. Plus, it all happens in the idyllic Cornbury Park surroundings in the Cotswolds, with Edie Campbell and her gang of woodland faeries staking a claim to Wilderness as a personal favourite. If you can drag yourself away from the banquets, dance yourself silly at Juke Joint by day, while at night embrace your inner Wild Thing in the Valley.

Best for: Food fetishists. Glorious food and hot bangers await.

Tickets: £164 (wildernessfestival.com)

BOARDMASTERS

10-14 August

Where: Newquay, Cornwall

What: Get your rocks on at Boardmasters, Cornwall’s guitar-thrashing, surf-crashing music beacon for under-25s. The sight of the now ubiquitous pastel festival flags flying over the crystal blue Watergate Bay are enough to get our hearts all a flutter, while Craig David, Kaiser Chiefs and James Bay will play over three days. If you’re not content with soaking your bones in the hot tub, stroll, skip or stumble down to Fistral Beach, a 10-minute walk away, to watch the Pro Surfer competitions — or dig into the delicious catch of the day at Fish House.

Best for: Beach bums. Take the load off to the sound of the surf.

Tickets: £134 (boardmasters.co.uk)

GREEN MAN

18-21 August

Where: Brecon Beacons, Wales

What: If you thought Glastonbury held a monopoly on Albion mystique, think again. Green Man will leave you breathless: sitting at the foot of the Brecon Beacons on a Glasto-esque convergence of ley lines, the festival’s breathtaking mountain backdrop and lush Welsh oak surroundings swell the midsummer dreaminess. Headliners Belle and Sebastian and Laura Marling add to the folk-fuelled haze, while the UK’s only

24-hour festival licence means you’ll be partying around until sunrise — and where better to while away the hours than at Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon, a karaoke-slash-glitterbomb explosion.

Best for: Stress heads. Green Man has a dedicated ‘Nature Nurture’ wellness area.

Tickets: £175 (greenman.net)

Green Man
CAITLIN MOGRIDGE

SHAMBALA

25-28 August

Where: Secret Country Estate, Northamptonshire

What: The independent, irrepressible, ethically impeccable festival Shambala is a big hit with punters far beyond the eco-crowd: all-night raves, BUMP roller disco, and a lineup that ranges from the revellous Gypsies of Bohemia to the achingly cool Nighmares on Wax — plus acts like Sister Sledge. Both family-friendly and excellent for adults, this year it welcomes Madame Bayou’s, a voodoo swamp shack where the blues are dirty and the moonshine flows, and Stiletto Disco, which can only be entered by sliding down a giant shoe.

Best for: One Love. Shambala’s Utopian ideals are drummed into you at every turn.

Tickets: from £119 (shambalafestival.org)

FESTIVAL NO 6

1-4 September

Where: Portmeirion, Wales

What: Mixing hit headliners like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds with fresh and uncut diamonds like Wolf People, the real draw at Festival No 6 is the location — and what they do with it: Italianate multi-coloured homes nestled in the idyllic valley village of Portmeirion, with floating stages hidden in woodland glades. Head into the village centre for hair-raising performances from the 60-strong Brythoniaid male voice choir. After dark, don’t miss BBC Radio 6’s Craig Charles’ ‘trunk of funk.’

Best for: Television junkies. The area is stuffed with nods to Sixties conspiracy TV show The Prisoner, which was set there.

Tickets: £195 (festivalnumber6.com)

FIELD MANEUVERS

2-4 September

Where: Secret Location, Oxfordshire

What: Small, but perfectly formed, Field Maneuvers is one of the UK dance calendar’s better-kept secrets. The location — which is revealed to ticket-holders two weeks before — is a lightning rod for true house, techno, disco and acid heads, with DJs Ryan Elliott, Jane Fitz and Mark E and The Black Madonna, plus one of the notorious sound systems, the DiY Collective. Believe the hype.

Best for: Rhythm disciples. Not a last supper, but plenty of teachings in dance.

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