Well, it's that depressing time of year when summer still seems a very long way off, so this Festographer's sanity-and sunshine-seeking thoughts are naturally turning towards establishing a Festival Calendar for the coming summer.
The following list is completely selective, with a big bias against including any ultra-corporate, ultra-mainstream events like the Carling Crap Label Weekender (aka 'Reading') and the Richard Branson's Profitable Beard Festival (aka 'V').
The list is also far from exhaustive.
But feel free to add more events to this thread as you think of them/hear about them, but try to do what I do and include DATES (most important) and if you know it a location as well, and a link to any website.
So here are a few dates to be pencilled (perhaps!!) into your summer diaries!
Festival Season 2005 Calendar!
Thursday 29 April to Sunday 1 May
Rocket Festival, Andalucia, Southern Spain
Rocket Festival website
Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May (Early May Bank Holiday weekend)
Newcastle Community Green Festival
Sat 30th April 12pm-7pm
Sun 1st May 12pm -11pm
Leazes Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne
(behind St James Park football ground)
Free entry
Newcastle Green Festival site
Website is now (4-4-2005) just a holding page, but should be fully online shortly.
Freespirit (one of the organisers) says :
"Newcastle Green Festival for May Bank Holiday. FYI we get something like
10,000 people over 2 days, and will be having 8 music stages this year, all free and in a lovely city centre park. Oh yeah, and lots of green stuff, very kid friendly etc. etc."
Saturday May 7
******THIS EVENT NOW CANCELLED****
See Brixton Forum/Drugs Forum for background behind Lambeth Council's outrageous decision to cancel/in effect ban this Free Festival, without the courtesy of allowing a proper licence hearing
JayDay -- Legalise Cannabis March (from Kennington Park to Brixton) and Free Festival (in Brockwell Park, Brixton)
JayDay Festival website
Actively being discussed on this thread
on the Brixton Forum
Sunday 15th May -- New Date for JayDay, March with no Festival
NB : The event originally planned for 7 May has now been REPLACED by a Legalise Cannabis MARCH from Kennington Park, SE11 to Trafalgar Square (subject, as at 4-4-2005, to the Mayor of London/Greater London Authority's approval). Carnival atmosphee, costumes, samba bands, etc. expected, but no licence likely for any amplified music in the Square
See JayDay Festival website (URL above) for details ... once it finally gets updated ...
Thursday 18 to Sunday 22 May
Holidays in the Sun/Wasted Festival, Morecambe, Lancashire
Punk Festival
Holidays in the Sun website
Friday May 20 to Sunday 22 May
Knockengorroch Festival, Spring (Ceilidh Gall Gallowa')
Galloway, SW Scotland
Ceilidh Gall Gallowa' website
Monday May 30 (late May Bank Holiday, to be confirmed)
Kingston Green Fair, Canbury Gardens, Kingston on Thames.
About £5= to get in.
Another excellent fluffy hippy event! Lovely pub on the riverside, right in the middle of the site. The Kingston Green Fair website appears to confirm that it's happening in 2005, and the date.
Saturday June 4
Strawberry Fair, Midsummer Common, Cambridge, FREE!
The infrequently updated Strawberry Fair website is still showing 2004 details (bloody hippies part II!) but word reaches me from sources close to the SF Committee that the first Saturday in June will, as usual, be the date of the original and the BEST! one day free festival.
Stig and I will be there Friday to Sunday as usual.
Friday 3 to Sunday 5 June
Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire
This is a new and very interesting looking weekend festival -- shame it clashes with Strawberry Fair though ...
Wychwood Festival website
Wednesday 8 to Wednesday 15 June
or
Wednesday 15 to Wednesday 22 June
(or both weeks)
Unsound Beach Party, Southern Italy
As anticipated by many Urbanites! Note closeness of dates to Glastonbury though.
Unsound in Italy website
Extensive Urbanite discussion on the Music Forum
Friday 16 to Sunday 18 June (??? website still shows 2004 dates)
Sonar Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Sonar website
Friday 17 to Sunday 19 June 2005
18th Umsonst & Draussen Festival, Wurzburg, Germany
Umsonst & Draussen website
Wednesday 22 June to Monday 27th June
Glastonbury 2005
Licence now granted. It has also just been confirmed that there will be no Glastonbury in 2006, which will definitely increase demand this year.
Official Glasto site
The much superior EFestivals site (also has loads of information about other festivals).
Aloud.crap site (official ticket agency)
Wayahead/Seetickets site (official ticket agency)
<2 March 2005 edit> :
Full ticket buying information now available on this page of EFestivals
Most useful of all, here is Tort (of this site)'s superb all-round guide to all aspects of Glastonbury! -- I feel deeply unprofessional as a Festographer when I shamefacedly compare my sporadic, occasional, disorganised bits and pieces of advice over the years, to the consistent quality, usefulness and practicality of EVERYTHING you will find here! Warning : image heavy and not very dialup friendly!
It's not known year which of the above two ticket links will work best for buying Glasto tickets this year, but Aloud and Wayahead/Seetickets are all part of the same corporate empire ... there have also been rumours of a dedicated Glasto tickets server with it's own web address ... all to be clarified later ...
NB Tickets go on sale at 9 am on Sunday 3 April and are expected to sell out VERY fast (within a very small number of hours). Tickets will this year cost £125= !!!
But worth it for the dedicated -- this year will be my eleventh.
TICKETS NOW OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT (Monday 4 April 2005)
Friday 1 to Saturday 16 July
Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux website
Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July
Blissfields Festival, Bradley Farm, Bradley, Alresford, Hampshire.
Tickets are FREE but you need to pre-reserve
Blissfields website
Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July
Cornbury Music Festival, Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire
Cornbury site
Recommended by sheriff rosco, which is good, but I hear through other grapevines that it's 'terribly posh' which isn't ... make your own mind up though!
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July
Ashton Court, Bristol
Ashton Court website
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July (likely dates, not confirmed)
Lambeth Country Show, Brockwell Park, Brixton, FREE!
No website running yet, as far as I know.
Friday 15 to Sunday 17 July
The Glade Festival, probably not far from Reading, Berks.
Glade Festival website
Here also is the efestivals page on it
Friday 15 to Sunday 17 July
Larmer Tree Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Tollard Royal, 16 miles west of Salisbury, Wiltshire
Larmer Tree site
This is an excellent festival -- I will miss it this year, but it's thoroughly recommended!
Friday 22 to Sunday 24 July
Warwick Folk Festival
Warwick Folk Festival website
Friday 22 to Sunday 24 July
Carhaix Festival, Carhaix (is there such a place???), France
Carhaix
Don't know anything about this one ...
Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 July
Village Pump Festival, Wingfield, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Village Pump website
Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 July
Truck Festival, Steventon, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Truck Festival website
Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 July
Wickerman Festival, Kirkcarswell, nr Dundrennan, Solway Coast
SW Scotland
Wickerman site
"Scotland's alternative Festival"
Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 July
WOMAD 2005, Rivermead, Reading
Ticket details yet to be confirmed. One day visits likely still to be possible (and encouraged, if you can't make the whole weekend)
WOMAD site
And annoyingly, clashing with the above :
Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 July
Cambridge Folk Festival
Folk Festival website
[see post seven below for continued, ever growing list ... ]
The following list is completely selective, with a big bias against including any ultra-corporate, ultra-mainstream events like the Carling Crap Label Weekender (aka 'Reading') and the Richard Branson's Profitable Beard Festival (aka 'V').
The list is also far from exhaustive.
But feel free to add more events to this thread as you think of them/hear about them, but try to do what I do and include DATES (most important) and if you know it a location as well, and a link to any website.
So here are a few dates to be pencilled (perhaps!!) into your summer diaries!
Festival Season 2005 Calendar!
Thursday 29 April to Sunday 1 May
Rocket Festival, Andalucia, Southern Spain
Rocket Festival website
Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May (Early May Bank Holiday weekend)
Newcastle Community Green Festival
Sat 30th April 12pm-7pm
Sun 1st May 12pm -11pm
Leazes Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne
(behind St James Park football ground)
Free entry
Newcastle Green Festival site
Website is now (4-4-2005) just a holding page, but should be fully online shortly.
Freespirit (one of the organisers) says :
"Newcastle Green Festival for May Bank Holiday. FYI we get something like
10,000 people over 2 days, and will be having 8 music stages this year, all free and in a lovely city centre park. Oh yeah, and lots of green stuff, very kid friendly etc. etc."
Saturday May 7
******THIS EVENT NOW CANCELLED****
See Brixton Forum/Drugs Forum for background behind Lambeth Council's outrageous decision to cancel/in effect ban this Free Festival, without the courtesy of allowing a proper licence hearing
JayDay -- Legalise Cannabis March (from Kennington Park to Brixton) and Free Festival (in Brockwell Park, Brixton)
JayDay Festival website
Actively being discussed on this thread
on the Brixton Forum
Sunday 15th May -- New Date for JayDay, March with no Festival
NB : The event originally planned for 7 May has now been REPLACED by a Legalise Cannabis MARCH from Kennington Park, SE11 to Trafalgar Square (subject, as at 4-4-2005, to the Mayor of London/Greater London Authority's approval). Carnival atmosphee, costumes, samba bands, etc. expected, but no licence likely for any amplified music in the Square
See JayDay Festival website (URL above) for details ... once it finally gets updated ...
Thursday 18 to Sunday 22 May
Holidays in the Sun/Wasted Festival, Morecambe, Lancashire
Punk Festival
Holidays in the Sun website
Friday May 20 to Sunday 22 May
Knockengorroch Festival, Spring (Ceilidh Gall Gallowa')
Galloway, SW Scotland
Ceilidh Gall Gallowa' website
Monday May 30 (late May Bank Holiday, to be confirmed)
Kingston Green Fair, Canbury Gardens, Kingston on Thames.
About £5= to get in.
Another excellent fluffy hippy event! Lovely pub on the riverside, right in the middle of the site. The Kingston Green Fair website appears to confirm that it's happening in 2005, and the date.
Saturday June 4
Strawberry Fair, Midsummer Common, Cambridge, FREE!
The infrequently updated Strawberry Fair website is still showing 2004 details (bloody hippies part II!) but word reaches me from sources close to the SF Committee that the first Saturday in June will, as usual, be the date of the original and the BEST! one day free festival.
Stig and I will be there Friday to Sunday as usual.
Friday 3 to Sunday 5 June
Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire
This is a new and very interesting looking weekend festival -- shame it clashes with Strawberry Fair though ...
Wychwood Festival website
Wednesday 8 to Wednesday 15 June
or
Wednesday 15 to Wednesday 22 June
(or both weeks)
Unsound Beach Party, Southern Italy
As anticipated by many Urbanites! Note closeness of dates to Glastonbury though.
Unsound in Italy website
Extensive Urbanite discussion on the Music Forum
Friday 16 to Sunday 18 June (??? website still shows 2004 dates)
Sonar Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Sonar website
Friday 17 to Sunday 19 June 2005
18th Umsonst & Draussen Festival, Wurzburg, Germany
Umsonst & Draussen website
Wednesday 22 June to Monday 27th June
Glastonbury 2005
Licence now granted. It has also just been confirmed that there will be no Glastonbury in 2006, which will definitely increase demand this year.
Official Glasto site
The much superior EFestivals site (also has loads of information about other festivals).
Aloud.crap site (official ticket agency)
Wayahead/Seetickets site (official ticket agency)
<2 March 2005 edit> :
Full ticket buying information now available on this page of EFestivals
Most useful of all, here is Tort (of this site)'s superb all-round guide to all aspects of Glastonbury! -- I feel deeply unprofessional as a Festographer when I shamefacedly compare my sporadic, occasional, disorganised bits and pieces of advice over the years, to the consistent quality, usefulness and practicality of EVERYTHING you will find here! Warning : image heavy and not very dialup friendly!
It's not known year which of the above two ticket links will work best for buying Glasto tickets this year, but Aloud and Wayahead/Seetickets are all part of the same corporate empire ... there have also been rumours of a dedicated Glasto tickets server with it's own web address ... all to be clarified later ...
NB Tickets go on sale at 9 am on Sunday 3 April and are expected to sell out VERY fast (within a very small number of hours). Tickets will this year cost £125= !!!
But worth it for the dedicated -- this year will be my eleventh.
TICKETS NOW OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT (Monday 4 April 2005)
Friday 1 to Saturday 16 July
Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux website
Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July
Blissfields Festival, Bradley Farm, Bradley, Alresford, Hampshire.
Tickets are FREE but you need to pre-reserve
Blissfields website
Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July
Cornbury Music Festival, Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire
Cornbury site
Recommended by sheriff rosco, which is good, but I hear through other grapevines that it's 'terribly posh' which isn't ... make your own mind up though!
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July
Ashton Court, Bristol
Ashton Court website
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July (likely dates, not confirmed)
Lambeth Country Show, Brockwell Park, Brixton, FREE!
No website running yet, as far as I know.
Friday 15 to Sunday 17 July
The Glade Festival, probably not far from Reading, Berks.
Glade Festival website
Here also is the efestivals page on it
Friday 15 to Sunday 17 July
Larmer Tree Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Tollard Royal, 16 miles west of Salisbury, Wiltshire
Larmer Tree site
This is an excellent festival -- I will miss it this year, but it's thoroughly recommended!
Friday 22 to Sunday 24 July
Warwick Folk Festival
Warwick Folk Festival website
Friday 22 to Sunday 24 July
Carhaix Festival, Carhaix (is there such a place???), France
Carhaix
Don't know anything about this one ...
Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 July
Village Pump Festival, Wingfield, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Village Pump website
Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 July
Truck Festival, Steventon, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Truck Festival website
Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 July
Wickerman Festival, Kirkcarswell, nr Dundrennan, Solway Coast
SW Scotland
Wickerman site
"Scotland's alternative Festival"
Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 July
WOMAD 2005, Rivermead, Reading
Ticket details yet to be confirmed. One day visits likely still to be possible (and encouraged, if you can't make the whole weekend)
WOMAD site
And annoyingly, clashing with the above :
Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 July
Cambridge Folk Festival
Folk Festival website
[see post seven below for continued, ever growing list ... ]