festivals

Supersonic Festival 2024, Birmingham review - another fine musical celebration far away from the mainstream

Tuesday, 03 September 2024

I’ve been a regular attender of the Supersonic Festival for about 15 years and much has changed in that time. When I first rocked up to see Swans, Stinky Wizzleteat, PCM and other sonic treats, the event was a bit of a white boys’ club, both in...

Reading Festival 2024, Day Two review - Fontaines DC, Raye and Lana del Rey

Tuesday, 27 August 2024

The sun coming out for our festival-organised boat shuttle down the Thames was relief indeed, as we ditched the wellies and reached for the Crocs on our way into the arena.Saturday afternoon was a melee of young folk, festering in the mire of their...

theartsdesk in Switzerland: Lucerne and Gstaad offer curious audiences fresh perspectives on much-loved works

Tuesday, 27 August 2024

The summer festival circuit in Central Europe can be a bit of a merry-go-round. Notices in festival towns promise world-class orchestras and soloists, but they are usually the same performers, making festival appearances as part of broader touring...

Reading Festival 2024, Day One review - an eclectic line up and a perfect headline set

Monday, 26 August 2024

Reading Festival’s 2024 line up was the embodiment of playlist culture. Once a key contender in the UK’s Rock and Alternative market, then a rite of passage for students partying their way into their first year of university, it’s fair to say that...

We Out Here Festival 2024 review - generations of weirdness and wonder

Sunday, 25 August 2024

I won’t give it loads about the atmosphere and attendees at We Out Here – suffice to say that in its fifth edition, it has maintained all the strengths I mentioned last year, with the added benefit of slicker-operating infrastructure having ironed...

Medicine Festival review - sound and music healing in the depths of Berkshire

Friday, 23 August 2024

I had been softened up for the Medicine Festival by a recent visit to the global music extravaganza WOMAD – a trio of us met a guy called Paul aka SpriITman – an ex-IT expert who after a health crisis realised he was a healer. Bear with me on this....

Stowaway Festival, Buckinghamshire review - old ravers and their kids get on one

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

The UK festival scene has been going through a bit of a difficult time in the last couple of years, with a number of events closing down due to financial problems. This has obviously hit the “boutique” end of the marketing hardest, with several...

Brighton Pride 2024 review - the UK's most fabulous festival

Wednesday, 07 August 2024

Brighton’s Preston Park came alive this weekend in the most magnificently colourful, sparkling and diverse celebration of love in all its forms for the UK's most famous LGBTQ+ community fundraiser.Saturday was the more hedonistic affair, seeing the...

WOMAD Festival 2024 review - exuberant global roots sounds, hippies young and old, and blissful weather

Wednesday, 31 July 2024

The weather is perfect. Rare at a festival in this country. The sun shines. Occasional clouds pass. There’s a light breeze. Flamingods are on the Charlie Gillett stage. They are a London-based unit of primarily Bahraini origin who make psychedelic-...

Camp Bestival, Dorset 2024 - magical memories from an enchanting festival

Tuesday, 30 July 2024

I sometimes think I’ve done the festival thing the wrong way round. When my babies were at their littlest, we did the big ‘uns – Latitude, Wilderness, Blue Dot, and the like – all family "friendly", but with slightly wilder, bigger, more adulty...

theartsdesk at the Ryedale Festival: dances, and songs, to the music of time

Monday, 29 July 2024

“Cherish the moments. They go ever so quickly.” Sheila Hancock, beloved actor, writer – and award-winning singer, notably of Stephen Sondheim in Sweeney Todd – gave us that carpe diem nudge in the course of an afternoon discussion of her favourite...

Glastonbury Festival 2024: A Sunlit Epic of Music, Madness, Chaos and Culture

Thursday, 04 July 2024

SUNDAY 30th June 2024It’s late. But not really. Not by the standards of this place. Photographer Finetime and I are in Block9 in the South-East Corner. The so-called “naughty corner”. We take turns juggernauting quomble off a pinecone. Finetime’s...

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