Festivals
In a more traditional sense, festivals have occurred in all cultures throughout history; ancient literature gives references to festivals that honoured deities, rivers, trees, mountains, seasons and even the worship of animals. Festivals suggest a ‘coming together’, a ‘feast’ shared between communities and modern festivals are still in keeping with these traditional themes.
The UK hosts many Festivals that invite people to share in the celebration of music, arts, food, drink, theatre, sport, religion .. anything, though some are perhaps more well-known than others. Here are just a few of the main music festivals held in the UK every year. For news and info, try our sister site for cheap tickets.
Cheap Festival Tickets
Glastonbury
One of the largest musical and performing arts festivals in the world, Glastonbury has become synonymous with contemporary music, circus acts, comedy, hippies and lots and lots of mud. The first festival took place at Worthy Farm in 1970, between Pilton and Pylle just east of Glastonbury in south west England and since 1981, the festival has been organised by local farmer and site owner Michael Eavis (CBE). Every year the Glastonbury festival attracts an average of 150,000 revellers though previous years have seen numbers swell even higher, with people travelling from all over the world to camp their tents on site for the spectacular three day event. The 2007 Glastonbury festival had some 80 stages to accommodate the 700 plus acts, giving a better idea about just how large and how popular the event is.
Read our guide to Glastonbury Tickets & Registration 2009.
Isle of Wight Festival
Similar to Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight Festival is a celebration of music, primarily of the rock and alternative rock genres. The first festival took place in 1968 but an Act of Parliament was passed in 1971 that prevented gatherings of more than 5,000 people on the island without special license – this was partly a response to complaints from the local authorities of a threat to public safety and lack of adequate amenities for such a large number of people. The event was revived in 2002 and has been held annually since then. The Festival has attracted some big names over the last few years including The Rolling Stones, Ray Davies, Coldplay and The Police.
V.Festival
The Virgin Festival (to give it its proper name) is an annual music festival, the first of its kind to be held in two separate sites simultaneously. Though it had previously been held at Temple Newsham in Leeds, in 1999 it moved to Weston Park in Staffordshire due to lack of camping space; it is also held at Hylands Park in Chelmsford. It is alleged that the idea for ‘V’ came from Jarvis Cocker, the lead singer of the band Pulp, who announced that he’d love to play two outdoor venues in two days. As the idea came together, so more and more bands were added to the performance list. It is Richard Branson’s Virgin Group that lends its name to the event which is officially sponsored by Virgin Mobile with Virgin Radio the official radio station. The festival usually takes place on the penultimate weekend of August and the mixture of popular, rock, and heavy metal music attracts a more commercial audience though this only seems to have added to the enjoyment of the large crowds that gather in their many thousands.
Reading Festival
Another ‘double festival’, it also has a sister site at Leeds (Bramham) that is held on the same weekend from Friday to Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend. When the V.Festival was moved from Leeds to Staffordshire, it was the Carling Festival that replaced it, however, what had previously become known as the ‘Carling Weekend’ (Carling Lager being the official sponsors), changed when Carling parted ways with the festival in 2007. It is now frequently referred to simply as the Reading/Leeds Festival. The Reading Festival is the world’s oldest popular music festival, technically starting back in 1961 when it originated from the National Jazz Festival. Taking inspiration from large music festivals held in America, the festival changed names and moved around before finally settling in Reading in 1971. It hosts an eclectic mixture of music genres, from pop, indie, rock and dance to heavy metal and punk.
The Big Chill
Although perhaps lesser known in comparison to some of the other festivals already mentioned, The Big Chill has continued to grow since it began in 1994. Founded by Pete Lawrence and Katrina Larkin, it began as a series of ‘ambient parties’ at the Union Chapel in Islington but with popular demand and the desire to move outdoors it moved to the Black Mountains of Wales in 1995, eventually finding a more permanent home at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire in 2002. The Big Chill showcases a number of musical genres as well as being a platform for lesser known and even unsigned bands. Visitors can expect a more ‘relaxed’ festival with a display of world music, trance, reggae, folk music, ambient and ‘chillout’ bands on the line-up.
Surviving A Festival Weekend – Top Tips
Though music festivals may evoke images of mud, cold weather and dreadful sanitation facilities, anyone who has ever been to a festival will know that these elements are all part of what can be a truly amazing experience. There’s definitely something magical about thousands of people coming together to enjoy the same music and have a good time and they can be a great place to meet new friends too. Expect it to be loud, expect it to be muddy but expect it to be great fun too. Learning to ’survive’ a festival will come from experience but here are just a few top tips to enhance your festival weekend.
- If you’re camping, take as many ‘baby-wipes’ as you can possibly carry. These will come in handy for just about everything – including loo roll!
- Take a pair of Welly Boots.
- Get there early – find a good place to pitch your tent and remember that the closer you pitch to the music arena, the more people there are likely to be walking past your tent – not great when it gets muddy. Also, the closer to the car park, the less distance you’ll have to carry your stuff.
- Take a change of clothes for every day, but don’t forget sun cream, a hat, sunglasses .. hey, we get sun too!
- Take as much food and drink as you can carry – they can get quite expensive in the music arena.
