As Spring approaches your eye may very well be turning to Summer plans and picking the right festival for you.
Daily Info has curated a list of the best local festivals, as well as a few just down the road from us, to help you decide where to get your boogie on during the warmer weather that approaches.
Pub in the Park (Marlow) – 15th to 18th May
Headliners: Squeeze, Billy Ocean, Dizzee Rascal, Will Young, Jess Glynne, Ocean Colour Scene
Other Acts: Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Pixie Lott, Craig Charles, Natalie Imbruglia
Tickets: £44 to 66 (per session), £214.50 (weekend ticket)
Part music festival, past foodie weekend bonanza, Pub in the Park errs towards the poppy ends of things but is a glorious transition from Spring to Summer. Plus it’s the place to enjoy a pint or two from some of the best pubs in the country, and sustenance in the form of tapas, brunch and delicious street food.
Wood Festival (Braziers Park) - 16th to 18th May
Headliners: Jane Weaver, Touki, Nick Cope
Other Acts: The Dreaming Spires, Fonda 500, The Deep Dark Woods, Finn Forster
Tickets: £159 weekend tickets
Kicking off the Oxfordshire festival circuit, Wood Festival is the little festival that continues to thrive, combining folky, acoustic charms with a family-friendly vibe and appreciation of the natural world around us. With a programme of music across two stages, as well as many workshops and activities across the three days, Wood Festival has something for the entire family. Where else could you go for an evening bat walk, take in the lyrical stylings of CBBC star (and local hero) Nick Cope and take part in the likes of African drumming, yoga and animal origami>
Wychwood Festival (Cheltenham Racecourse) - 30th May to 1st June
Headliners: Shed Seven, James, Doves
Other acts: Lottery Winners, Public Service Broadcasting, The Zutons
Tickets: £54.50 to 74.50 (day ticket), £159.50 to 169.50 (Weekend ticket)
Closing out May is Wychwood Festival, which has a trio of classic indie headliners in the form of Shed Seven, James and Doves. Outside of the music there are workshops on circus skills, bhangra dance and funky drumming, as well as comedic sets from the likes of Bridget Christie, Elaine Robertson and Lost Voice Guy. Plus the festival is free for under 10s, so why not introduce the younger members of your families to the joys of the festival scene?
Nocturne Live (Blenheim Palace) - 18th to 22nd June
Headliners: Richard Ashcroft, Gary Barlow, Nile Rodgers & Chic
Other acts: Lightning Seeds, the Zutons, Beverley Knight
Tickets: £54 to 90 (per day); £465 for the whole festival
Blenheim Palace get in on the festival action in June and this year’s headliners include Gary Barlow, Richard Ashcroft and Niles Rodgers & Chic, so you’ve got funk, pop and indie music all covered. Each has support acts including the likes of The Zutons and Beverley Knight, and the festival still has two more days to be announced. You can spend all five evenings in the Palace’s courtyard, or go for individual tickets.
Henley Festival - 9th to 13th July
Headliners: Diana Ross, McFly, Rick Astley, Jamie Cullum
Other acts: Ivo Graham, Ed Byrne, Jo Whiley's Festival Anthems, Alistair McGowan
Tickets: £80-200 (per day)
Perhaps the most bougie of festivals (although it’s competing with Wilderness for the accolade), Henley Festival doesn’t come cheap. But it does have beloved acts (you might say that they're no strangers to love) such as Diana Ross and McFly to entertain you, as well as daily comedy headliners including Ivo Graham and Ed Byrne. Plus the riverside setting is truly resplendent, and it will prove a festival you'll never want to give up.
Truck Festival (Hill Farm) - 24th to 27th July
Headliners: Nothing But Thieves, Kasabian, Courteeners, Bloc Party
Other Acts: Blossoms, The Last Dinner Party, Franz Ferdinand, Natasha Bedingfield, CMAT
Tickets: £250 (weekend + Thursday)
The festival that is sure to sell out is the fabulous Truck Festival. And this year they’ve got a cavalcade of indie titans with the likes of Kasabian, Courteeners, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, as well as a UK exclusive from Nothing But Thieves. The festival is an intimate, rocking delight. There’ll also be a paint party, fireworks, a silent disco, Barrioke, Mr Motivator and oh so much more. Truck Festival really is the place to celebrate the start of the summer holidays.
Wilderness Festival (Cornbury Festival) - 31st July to 3rd August
Headliners: Basement Jaxx, Supergrass, Wet Leg
Other Acts: Aurora, Air, Orbital, Bear's Den
Tickets: £288 weekend ticket
Wilderness Festival is the kind of weekend where you can escape everything, with a line-up that blends music (headlined by Basement Jaxx, Supergrass and Wet Leg), dining experiences (with a full roster of famous chefs), wellbeing (there’s boating, wild runs & swimming, and a lakeside spa) and a full line-up of comedy, art and talks. It’s not just a music festival; it’s a chance to get lost in a woodland wonderland.
Fairport Cropredy Convention - 7th to 9th August
Headliners: Albert Lee, The Trevor Horn Band, Fairport Convention
Other Acts: Rosalie Cunningham, El Pony Pisador, Urban Folk Quartet, Bob Fox & Bully Mitchell
Tickets: £220 weekend ticket
As it approaches its 50th anniversary (next year!), Fairport Convention’s annual festival runs across three evenings, mixing classic rock and soulful folk, all closed off by the band themselves, taking to the stage on Saturday to perform all their hits such as ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes’, ‘Meet on the Ledge’ and ‘Farewell, Farewell’.
Rewind Festival (Henley) - 15th to 17th August
Headliners: Soft Cell, Holly Johnson
Other acts: Sugarhill Gang, Midge Ure, Heaven 17, Blue, Chesney Hawkes, ABC
Tickets: £81.20 (per day) £148.50 to 167.75 (weekend ticket)
No festival quite embraces lyrical nostalgia like Rewind Festival in Henley. You can catch the likes of Soft Cell, Holly Johnson, Midge Ure and Blue across the weekend at this mid August festival. Head down for the day or camp on site and enjoy all of the pop hits. And outside of the music there’s the on-site club, The Pink Flamingo Club, a fun fair and a silent disco.
Stowaway Festival (Stowe) - 15th to 17th August
Headliners: Jungle (DJ Set), The Wailers
Other acts: Shy FX, Derrick Carter, Horse Meat Disco, Dr Banana
Tickets: £209 weekend tickets
Stowaway Festival’s speciality is dance music, with this year’s line-up including Shy FX, The Wailers and a DJ set from Jungle, all as it takes over Stowe Park. For wellbeing seekers there are paddle boards, woodland yoga sessions, wood-fired hot tubs and sound & ice baths. For younglings there’s immersive theatre, roller disco, a vintage fun fair and pirate school. Plus the festival comes with amazing street food, scrumptious woodland banquets and bottomless brunches across the weekend.
Reading Festival - 21st to 24th August
Headliners: Hozier, Chappell Roan, Bring Me The Horizon, Travis Scott
Other acts: The Kooks, Block Party, Rudimental, Limp Bizkit, Becky Hill, Enter Shikari, D-Block Europe
Tickets: £125 day ticket, £325 weekend ticket
A strong contender for the biggest UK festival outside of Glastonbury, Reading Festival may be too youthful for some (coming as does right after A-Level and GCSE results). But this year’s line-up may entice some to head on down the road to Reading itself. The headliners are pop titans Hozier & Chapell Roan, rock gods Bring Me the Horizon and hip hop banger merchant Travis Scott, with the likes of Bloc Party, Limp Bizkit and Rudimental all popping up on the line up. And hey, they do day tickets so you can venture out for a day and not having to camp amongst all the partying teens.
Victorious Festival (Portsmouth) - 22nd to 24th August
Headliners: Queens of the Stone Age, Vampire Weekend, Kings of Leon
Other acts: Michael Kiwanuka, Madness, Nelly Furtado, The Last Dinner Party, Travis, Bloc Party, Chris McCausland, Ruby Wax
Tickets: £75 to 85 day ticket, £195 weekend
If Reading is too intense then Portsmouth has a great alternative in the form of Victorious Festival. This year’s line-up is jam packed with some fabulous acts such as Vampire Weekend, Kings of Lion, Michael Kiwanuka, Nelly Furtado, Bloc Party and Travis, as well as comedy from the likes of Chris McCausland and Ruby Wax. Plus it one of the cheaper festivals on the list, with the whole weekend available for under £200.
Big Feastival (Kingham) - 22nd to 24th August
Headliners: Nelly Furtado, Faithless
Other acts: Travis, The Wombats, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Rizzle Kicks
Tickets: £238 to 268 weekend ticket
As well as Reading and Victorious, the August Bank Holiday also has the Big Feastival. This is a weekend of popular music (Nelly Futardo, Fatithless, The Wombats), scrumptious food (there’s a rich line-up of chefs, headlined by Raymond Blanc and Si King) and great entertainment from big names like Lucy Beaumont, Lou Sanders and Justin Fletcher.
Found Festival (Claydon Estate) - 22nd to 24th August
Headliners: Elles Bailey, Talisk, The Longest Johns
Other acts: London Afrobeat Collective, Breachbach, Willie and the Bandits
Tickets: £215 weekend ticket
Our final August Bank Holiday is one of the newer ones, drawing from Americana, folk, country, blues, world and roots music, with a line-up that mixes music, dance, arts, crafts and wellness, all in the Claydon Estate. The headliners are Elles Bailey, Talisk and the Longest Johns, and this seems a wonderfully mellow close to the summer.