This time last year, we were so impressed by some of the street art at Upfest in Bristol that we used it as our front cover – fast forward a year and it’s happened again. The July mag features some of our top pix from the two day paint festival as well as the usual food, culture, film, style, fashion and retail pages. Interview wise, we caught up with indie popsters Athlete who are heading to Cardiff, Bristol and Gloucester for a stripped back tour this month. We also spoke with Louk from Plymouth label Compulzion who recently signed Swansea’s Project Tek. Finally, we went a tad more high brow and looked at the classical music versus pop music debate after seeing Kissy Sell Out attempt to out argue Stephen Fry at Cambridge University. Bizarre indeed. Competition wise, we’ve bagged some £200 Weekend Offender goodie packs to give away too. You gotta be in it to win it!

This month’s West and Wales cover star is the hotly tipped Ed Sheeran. Sheeran’s first headline UK tour was a sell out success so he’s announced more dates for the Autumn as well as a heap of Westcountry festivals. We’ve almost doubled our features count this month and bring you interviews from Battles, Tellison, Kitty Daisy and Lewis and The Computers – all of whom are playing in the region as part of the pre festival gig drive. Out food page looks at ethical eating and previews the Cheltenham Food Festival, the film page has an interview with the Bristol-based director of Eliminate: Archie Cookson and our Snapped page features some pix from last month’s ATP at Butlins in Minehead. This along with all of our regular listings makes for a darn good read we think!

For all you online readers, check out this music video, and to listen to their album, go to www.carpetfaceandaudible1.com

Somehow, we managed to find time between going to gigs to pull together a 40 page March magazine for you! Our cover star is the beautiful Mz Bratt, who plays at the big Infidelity party in Bristol at Lakota on March 19. We also caught up with the fantastically interesting American singer songwriter John Grant, who plays Bristol and Exeter this month. Our third and final band feature is on the up and coming Welsh rockers, Before the Escape, who are set to launch their new EP any day now! Bristol artist Acerone is the star of our Street Art page and the fashion pages feature the finalists of our South West student model search. Comps wise we’ve bagged some McFly gig tickets, Underground Disco CDs and Burke and Hare DVDs. March also sees the launch of the brand new Style Hunter section, cherry picking some stylish folk from the streets of Bristol. On top of this we’ve got all the regular listings for you and photos from the big Hospitality event in Cardiff earlier this year. Enjoy!

With this in mind, we’ve gone all out on the spooky theme for a Day of the Dead style fashion shoot – shot in some eerie woodland in Somerset. We’ve also nabbed some Halloweeney items for the Retail Therapy page, which was shot in a Devon graveyard. Ooooohhh. And have we ever let you down when it comes to comps? We’re giving away VIP tickets to The Big Reunion in Skegness, tickets to The Relentless Freeze Festival in London and more film goodies for a handful of lucky readers.

To celebrate the release of the hotly tipped and self-titled debut album by Dubstep pioneers Magnetic Man, not only have we reviewed it on out newly revamped Music pages – which now feature even more album and demo reviews – but we caught up with Benga for a quick chat ahead of a series of gigs in the region. In other music news we’ve got an interview with the young 20-something popstar of the moment Eliza Doolittle and the genre-defying Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip.

And this is all on top of our regular film, culture, club and live listings…what more could you need?

In the Sept issue of 247, we interview the Magic Numbers ahead of their shows in the region this month, we chat with Paul Van Dyk as he prepares for a rare live show in Cardiff on 1 October, and Swindon’s Beatbullyz give us the full lowdown on what all the fuss is about. Don’t forget our comprehensive listings guide covering all the best live gigs and club nights this month and there you have – your essential guide to the month ahead!