Well, for starters, it takes place on one what could be the sunniest weekend of a very temperamental month and who wouldn’t want to be by the sea on a lovely late Spring day, or three? Then there’s the line-up; with the likes of The Temper Trap, Django Django (who everyone was trying to see, resulting in queues full of disappointed punters) and Maximo Park on the epic bill and the sheer amount of venues involved – meaning Brighton’s abuzz with excitement all weekend.

Starting on the Thursday day (when most ticketholders are probably still at work), makes for a slow start but by the time Cloud Nothings take to the stage of Above Audio at 10ish, the place is rammed. And it’s not difficult to see why. Their at times introspective, Death Cab For Cutie-esque brand of rock makes for compelling watching. With tiny sniffs of Weezer and The Hold Steady, they play a fan-winning set. Noteworthy acts from earlier on in the day include the adorable Francois and the Atlas Mountains, whose hilariously choreographed dance moves somehow compliment the dreamscapey half English/half French, slightly twee (but in a good way) indie numbers. And Gemma Hayes, America’s answer to Laura Marling – a girl with a guitar, a voice to die for and a cache of country-tinged ballads.

For some though, the main festival events in the Dome, Corn Exchange and Komedia, weren’t the main draw – with hundreds of people heading to the Pav Tav for the Alternative Great Escape. With a stage run, on the Friday, by the indie label – Alcopop! it’s talent heavy with the likes of Katie Malco, Stagecoach and My First Tooth. But the piece de resistance was Tall Ships, whose storming late night set, punched you in the guts with the raw energy of ‘Sappy’ style Nirvana and the soaring, singalong style of Dry The River, who are there to witness their recent tourmates’ performance. Which brings us onto another top performance from the awesome Dry The River.

Bizarrely, despite their massive sound, Dry The River, at times, seems dwarfed by the venue (Corn Exchange). It’s a late slot and while they pull in a good-sized crowd, it shoulda been rammed. I mean these guys are good, really fuckin good. Their surprisingly unique brand of anthemic folk-tinged indie balladry, layer on layer the songs build into a massive crescendo of epic proportions – like ‘Yes’ by McAlmont and Butler or much of Arcade Fire’s back catalogue. A definite highlight of the festival.

Throw into the mix a bunch of industry stuff and second to none networking ops and The Great Escape might just win out over all the city festivals.

Words: Laura Williams

WOWfest has been dubbed the brightest and biggest new festival for 2012 with a spectacular line up of massive names across 5 stages and an African Village featuring an eclectic mix of House, Reggae, Ska, Jazz, World, Disco, Dance, Dubstepas well as workshops, cabaret, theatre and circus performances, afterhours swirling burlesque and comedy clubs.

UB40 will be joined on the bill by one of the world’s best DJs, Paul Oakenfold. There’s also a UK exclusive with Madeleine Peyroux on tour, 70s & 80s originals such as The Selecter, The Beat, Maxi Priest, Aswad, Rose Royce, Imagination and greats like the Wailers, Finley Quaye, Jesus Jones, Misty in Roots, Alabama 3, Neville Staple, plus a whole host of other names.

Tickets only £99adv from www.wowfest.co.uk Or to be in with a chance of winning a pair, simply fill your details on the form below, with your answer to the following question:

What is the title of WOWfest headliner Paul Oakenfold’s unreleased Album for 2012?
1. Pop Killer
2. Killing Pop
3. Pop Death

Please remember to include your address and WOWFEST in the subject line. Deadline June 30. Winner to be informed by email. [contact-form-7]

Way Out West takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden’s hub for music and creativity. Having been nicknamed “Little London”, Gothenburg is Europe’s most hidden secret with some of the best venues and festivals stretched across the intimate city location.

Bands already confirmed for this year’s festival include Blur, The Black Keys, Refused, Feist, Florence + the Machine and Bon Iver as well as Wilco, First Aid Kit, Mazzy Star, Bobby Womack, Thurston Moore, Hot Chip, Factory Floor and more.

Way Out West’s unique city based format taps into Gothenburg’s thriving music scene, with performances at some of the best venues the city has to offer. From Thursday evening to Saturday night (or Sunday morning if you can last that long) the city’s rock clubs, nightclubs, churches, theaters and cultural centers will showcase both breaking and more established acts as part of the festival’s club concept Stay Out West. Bands playing the club nights will not be appearing on the stages at the festival site. A 3-day festival pass is valid for admittance for all Stay Out West shows, Thursday through Saturday, but does not guarantee entrance.

Tickets work out at about £165 for the weekend and are available now, from www.wayoutwest.se/en – where you will also find more info on the line-up.

Cloud Nothings, The Internet, A Plastic Rose, All The Young, Doldrums, Two Wounded Birds, Here We Go Magic, Hyde & Beast, The Dunwells, Eugene Francis Jr, Last DinosaurS, O Children, Josh Kumra, Kwes, Mary Epworth, The Other Tribe, Seasfire and more added to the bill.

The countdown to this year’s Dot To Dot is hotting up with just a month to go until a litany of the globe’s biggest buzz bands hits Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester over this coming Jubilee bank holiday weekend. Headlined by The Drums and Pulled Apart By Horses, and with appearances from Wavves, Willis Earl Beal, Dog Is Dead, Summer Camp, Lucy Rose, Pond and more, the tri-city event is set to reveal even more must-see acts for 2012, and you can catch them all for the mind-blowing ticket price of just £20!

Dot To Dot Organiser Anton Lockwood said: “There’s under a month to go until Dot To Dot 2012 and the latest acts joining us showcase what a fantastically exciting line-up of new music we have on offer. From high octane rock to soulful singer songwriters these are the acts that people will be talking about all summer long and with tickets currently £20 it’s great value for money’.”

Tickets, priced just £20, available from www.dottodotfestival.co.uk

The dispersion of the Cornish people following the closure of the mines shaped cultures all over the world. As the Olympic torch arrives in Cornwall, Heartlands will brings these cultures and customs back home to the Duchy with a twelve hour multicultural extravaganza in association with Swamp Circus.

On Saturday 19 May from 10am – 10pm and completely free to the public, Heartlands will come alive with an exciting and vibrant mix of music, dance, theatre, acrobatics, workshops and more. The finale of the evening will involve an awe-inspiring fire and aerial show which will end with fireworks and the lighting of a 30ft high flame sculpture, shaped like a miner.

Workshops will include aboriginal dot painting in the Australia Garden, Poi in the New Zealand Garden, Boum Boum drumming in the South African Garden, Carnival Headdress, Samba and Capoeira in the South America Garden and hula-hoop and hip-hop dancing in the North America Garden. Circus workshops will also be happening throughout the day in the special Big Top within Robinson’s courtyard.

Circus theatre will include a swinging trapeze act, flamenco dancers, clowns and stilt kangaroos as well as the Flame Finale including fire jugglers, tight wire walk, abseiling off the mining headgear, large flaming sculptures and fireworks. There will also be a beer tent, BBQ and big screen for those wanting to watch the Olympic Torch Relay as it travels through Cornwall.

For this one event only car parking will be free at Heartlands and overflow parking will be available at Cornwall College and the Carn Brea Leisure Centre. The Flame Festival has been generously funded and supported by the Big Lottery Fund through Awards for All, World Heritage Site office, Cornwall Council, Visit Cornwall and local councillors.

Vicky Martin, Chief Executive of Heartlands said: “As the Olympic Relay wasn’t coming to the Camborne, Pool and Redruth area, we all put our heads together to think of a way we could bring the excitement and buzz of the Olympic Torch to Heartlands and the Flame Festival was born. Cornish culture has shaped many parts of the world and this event celebrates these countries, bringing them alive through dance, theatre, music and acrobatics. It’s going to be a breath-taking event!”

The Olympic Flame arrives at RNAS Culdrose from Athens on board British Airways flight ‘BA2012’. After spending the night at Culdrose the Flame will be flown by naval helicopter to Land’s End ready for the official start of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, presented by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung. For more info on the Torch Relay through Cornwall, visit:

More information at www.visitcornwall.com/whats-on/olympic-torch-relay

Coined ‘Create the Gate’ the competition will be judged by a stellar panel including festival organiser Vince Power, English playwright and gallery owner Polly Stenham and singer and former Hop Farm act, Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine.

The winner will be announced at a private event at The Cob Gallery in Camden, London on 31 May. Their design will be shown alongside a special exhibition curated by Hop Farm Music Festival’s artist in residence Hayden Kays.

The lucky winner will get to see their design realised and used as the official entrance gate for this year’s festival. The runner up will have the unique opportunity to design the fronting for one of the festival bars on site.

Vince Power, festival organiser, said, “I’m very happy to announce this competition and it will be very interesting to see all the different creative ideas the entrants come up with. It will be a great addition to this year’s festival and I’m sure it will be used for years to come.”

To register for ‘Create The Gate’ please send your name and age to hopf...@vpmg.net to receive further instruction and full terms and conditions. You must be at least 18 years old to enter.

Hop Farm Music Festival, now in its 5th year, is a strict no sponsorship or branding festival where every ticket holder gets the same experience. This year’s festival sees exclusive headline performances by Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel and The New Blood Orchestra and Suede. For all line up details, tickets, announcements and news visit www.hopfarmfestival.com

Tickets available through www.eventim.co.uk or call the ticket Hotline: 0844 249 1000

Deriving from the popular ‘twin towns’ concept the scheme aims to create a cultural exchange between the UKs leading independent festivals and their international counterparts and both festivals have plenty of ideas up their sleeves to benefit both artists and festivals goers from Serbia and the Isle of Wight this summer.

Says Rob Da Bank “I’m so pleased that we’re twinning with Exit – my one visit there has stayed lodged in my festival brain as one of my favourite memories…playing records in an old fort to the most hedonistic party people this side of …well Bestival! So much energy, good vibes and great acts playing – hopefully something that we share with Exit at Bestival. Long may we be brothers and sisters in sound!”

Exit General Manager Bojan Boskovic added: “We are so excited to be twinning with Bestival this year as we have watched it bloom from a wonderful ethos into one of the largest and most musically exciting festivals around! Bestival has a great energy, an immense and interesting line up and who can compete with the unique ideas and artwork each year. Exchanging acts and ideas, we also hope some of our followers will make the journey to Bestival and we look forward to welcoming Bestival fans to our crazy fortress”.

To benefit local artists each festival has suggested acts to swap and play at each other events. The Playground Syndicate will play at Exit and The Good Guys will play at Bestival. Each act will also blog about their experience playing at the twinned festival.

Twinned festivals will be sharing not only artists and expertise but also audiences, as 10 lucky competition winners will win tickets to experience the twin festival in action. And one very lucky winner from each festival will win a trip to the twin festival with travel and accommodation for them and a mate. Announcements will follow on both festival websites in the coming months with more information and how to enter.

Now in its third year the AIF scheme has gone from strength to strength with participating festivals successfully building local awareness of their twins through cross press and marketing promotions. As well as sharing links on their websites, twinned festivals also include twinning information on flyers, marketing materials and in their PR campaigns to local media and once their own event has sold out help to market their international twin through their media channels. Talent discussions have helped to co-ordinate bookings of international artists and further reinforce the fundamental values that unite the festivals.

Confirmed for this year’s Chai Wallahs is former 247 Magazine cover star Gabby Young and Other Animals, Yes Sir Boss, Dizraeli and the Small Gods, Hidden Orchestra, Cocos Lovers, Sheelanagig, Smerin’s Anti Social Club, The Urban Folk Quartet and more. Kick back or freak out in a giant Bedouin marquee serving a feast of food and drink, as over 40 bands and DJs play the very best in reggae, rap, blues, jazz, hip hop, dub and dance daily until 5am.

Einstein’s Garden is back too – with some awe-inspiring science stuff, including a talk from a Green Man regular Simon Watt. Simon Watt: Dissections Uncut – Channel 4′s “Inside Nature’s Giants” gets under the skin of massive animals (including an elephant, a giraffe and a whale) to figure out what makes them tick. Join presenter Simon Watt to take a look at some of the fascinating science that didn’t make the final cut.

The Tallest Man On Earth, The Bees and One Sixth Of Tommy have just been added to the bill, along with a handful of other artists, who are joining headliners Van Morrison and Feist as well as The Walkmen, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Jonathan Richman, tUnE-yArDs, of Montreal, Yann Tiersen, The Felice Brothers, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, C.W. Stoneking, Slow Club, Willy Mason, Daughter, ∆ Alt-J, The Wave Pictures, The Staves, The Pictish Trail, Treetop Flyers and more.

More info and tickets at www.greenman.net

The first wave of artist announcements also sees DJ performances from Francois K (Deep Space), Erol Alkan, Mr Scruff (Keep It Unreal), Derrick Carter Does Disco, Andrew Weatherall & Sean Johnston, Horse Meat Disco, Jerry Dammers, Don Letts, Optimo, Luke Solomon, Daniele Baldelli, Harri & Domenic Cappello (Sub Club), Unabombers (Electric Chair), Lowlife, PBR Streetgang, Kelvin Brown and Will TRAMP!

Taking place on the weekend of September 14-16, Festival No. 6 is a brand new premium festival concept set in the eccentric surrounds of Portmeirion, where neo-classical architecture collides with sandy beaches and palm trees. The sleepy Welsh fantasyland, famous for being the set of cult 60’s TV show ‘The Prisoner’, has never before hosted an event of such breadth and ambition. Constructed between 1925 and 1975 by maverick architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis the village is a wonderfully bizarre and elaborate interpretation of a Mediterranean villa, couched in the waters, mountains and forests of North Wales which make up the festival’s perimeter.

Bands, DJs, musicians and string ensembles will be performing across the entire site, from the historic town hall to the Colonnade gardens to the picturesque Bay Stage and the promenade along the estuary of the River Dwyryd. The diverse bill ranges from rock and roll to Balearic, funk to folk, seashanties to Welsh male voice choirs.

Attendees will get the chance to enjoy cinema screenings, street theatre, prose and poetry readings, midnight masquerades, cliff-top comedy stages, secret parties, impromptu interactive moments and even participate in cultural lectures and debates. The rugged Welsh landscape will also offer punters the opportunity to get physical with activities including wild swimming, zorbing, clay pigeon shooting and archery.

Festival Director Gareth Cooper said: “In a market saturated with festivals and with the Olympics looming it would take an idiot or something pretty special to warrant starting a new one. We’ve found what we hope will become one of the most outstanding and defining boutique festival sites in the world. It’s fantastic to be announcing a lineup including New Order, Primal Scream and Spiritualized, and we’re especially excited to work with Portmeirion as a location. It’s a totally jaw-dropping, mind-blowing place, offering a premium event aimed at a slightly more mature and discerning crowd. We’re confident it’s going to be one of the most stylish festivals the UK has ever seen.”

Food and drink options range from an indulgent bite at the pop-up Champagne and Oyster bar to a full dinner at the long table castle banquet. A whole host of delicious locally sourced and organically grown meals will be available alongside some special guest ales for those looking to sidestep the usual lager and cider offerings.

Castell Deudraerth will be opening its doors to any guests looking for some luxury accommodation. Alternative options include cosy cottages in the heart of the picturesque village, the stately gatehouse, tower bedrooms, tribal yurt’s, tipis and bell tents along with a selection of iconic caravans and movie star Airstream trailers. Boutique washing and showering facilities offer a refreshing alternative to the usual festival amenities.

Curated by the masterminds behind Snowbombing, The Warehouse Project, Beach Break Live, Lounge on the Farm, Parklife and the directors of Ear to the Ground Production, and Portmeirion Ltd., the festival places an emphasis on the quality of experience like no other.

Tickets start from £99.00 and are available at www.festivalnumber6.com

Taking place at the Half Moon Inn, Clayhidon, nr Cullumpton, the pub has good transport links – with the M5 close by as well as Taunton and Honiton train stations. The area is a Mecca for walkers & cyclists and there are many lovely walks and footpaths passing near to the pub as well as plenty of camping facilities nearby. The Blackdowns AONB straddles the Devon/Somerset border and the M5 and A303 skirt the north and south which has allowed the area to remain largely unspoilt.The area is an agricultural plateau dotted with villages and hidden valleys.

More information at www.halfmoondevon.co.uk