The Very Best Weekend Festivals Across The UK
Love Supreme
One for jazz and soul fanatics, the line-up for this year’s Love Supreme is one of its best yet – Earth, Wind & Fire, George Clinton Parliament Funkadelic and Elvis Costello are all set to headline the festival’s sixth outing. We recommend paying a bit more for Supremium tickets: this’ll get you access to a stage-side seating area with its own bars, food trucks and nicer loos. The Lazy Bird Banqueting Kitchen will be serving up long table, supper-club style breakfasts, lunches and dinners throughout the festival, while yoga, swimming in East Sussex’s oldest pool and after-parties in the woods are all essential experiences.
Glynde, East Sussex BN8 6SX; 29th June-1st July
Visit LoveSupremeFestival.com
Latitude
Solange, The Killers, Alt-J, Wolf Alice and The Vaccines are just some of the big names set to play the Suffolk festival this summer. But this weekender is about much more than music. Art highlights for 2018 include SOLAS, a retreat filled with folk-tinged acoustic troubadours and a selection of healing treatments and holistic arts. Readings, debates, discussions and poetry will be held in the Speakeasy, lake swimming is a must, and food from all your favourite traders at London food market Street Feast will round off proceedings. Remember to keep an eye out for the famous spray-painted sheep.
Southwold, Suffolk NR34 8AQ 12th-15th July
Visit LatitudeFestival.com
Bluedot
The magnificent Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank space observatory makes a fine backdrop for this family-friendly festival of exploration up north. Back for a third outing, the festival is set to open with the premiere of Blue Planet In Concert, where excerpts from the original series will be accompanied by a live score by the Halle Orchestra. But it’s not all classical – line-up highlights include The Chemical Brothers, Flaming Lips and Future Islands. Away from the tunes, a wellness area and gastronomy village will be bolstered by science talks, immersive installations and the opportunity to stargaze with scientists.
Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield SK11 9DL; 20th-22nd July
Visit DiscoverTheBluedot.com
Port Eliot
Come the end of July, the masses descend on Cornwall for Port Eliot festival. This year is no different – Saturday is already close to selling out. Set within the grounds of the vast Port Eliot estate, the grand 18th-century house is the backdrop for a host of cool up-and-coming musical acts, plus comedy, literature and outdoor pursuits such as axe throwing, astronomy and wild swimming. New for 2018 is The Lawn restaurant, which will feature long-table suppers and breakfasts cooked by Freddie Bird of Lido Bristol.
St Germans, Saltash PL12 5ND; 26th-29th July
Visit PortEliotFestival.com
Wilderness
Yes, this is more a music festival than a food festival (one look at the line-up confirms this – hello Nile Rogers & Chic, Bastille, Groove Armada and Jon Hopkins) but we can't get over the culinary offerings, which have always been outstanding at Wilderness. This year street-food vendors will include Bao, Smokestak, Som Saa and Ottolenghi, while the weekend’s feasting table hosts will be Café Murano, Berber & Q and Petersham Nurseries. Book ‘em now – they always sell out (as do the wood-fired hot-tub sessions. Don’t forget your bathing suit).
Cornbury, Oxfordshire OX7 3DG; 2nd-5th August
Visit WildernessFestival.com
Bestival
In 2017, Bestival upped sticks from its home on the Isle of Wight and made for Devon, where it’s held Camp Bestival for years. This year there’s another shakeup – the festival will take place at the start of August, rather than September. While this means that Wilderness and Bestival will go head-to-head, we imagine that this one will win points with the younger crowd. The acts we’re most looking forward to include Grace Jones, M.I.A., Thundercat, London Grammar and Chaka Khan. This is a great one for night owls – there are always loads of interactive installations and secret nightclubs in the woods, just waiting to be discovered come sundown.
Lulworth Estate, Devon BH20 5QS; 2nd-5th August
Visit Bestival.net
Green Man
In the foothills of the beautiful Brecon Beacons, this Welsh festival has managed the progression from boutique festival to main-player without compromising anything that made it so great in the first place. With a line-up that focuses on Americana – this year’s headliners include The War On Drugs, Fleet Foxes, John Grant and Grizzly Bear – this fun weekender mixes a laidback vibe with green credentials. Hot tubs, woodland walks, spa treatments and a Welsh beet festival all collide with visual arts, literary talks (we’re looking forward to Viv Albertine and Annie Nightingale) and films (last year we watched Mindhorn as it poured outside). Trust us, it’s worth the trek.
Brecon Beacons, Wales; 16th-19th August
Visit GreenMan.net
Lost Village
Relatively new on the scene, Lost Village is an immersive festival experience set in an abandoned woodland village. Returning for its third year, the boutique weekender invites guests to dance in the grounds of the Abandoned Chapel, feast at the Tribal Banquet, learn new skills on Forger’s Lane and expand their minds in the Institute of Curious Minds. This year’s musical headliners include Friendly Fires, Four Tet and Everything Everything. A spa, massages and hot tubs will all be on hand for any post-party recovery that may be needed.
Norton Disney, Lincolnshire LN6 9QF; 23rd-26th August
Visit LostVillageFestival.com
End of the Road
End of The Road always has one of the coolest music line-ups across the UK festival scene – and this year is no different: Feist, St Vincent, Vampire Weekend, Yo La Tengo, Fat White Family, White Denim, Oh Sees… we could go on. The comedy and literature tents are always packed with top-notch authors, comedians and rapt audiences, while mysterious late-night art installations and secret acoustic sets by big-name bands continue to make this Wiltshire festival unmissable.
Larmer Tree Gardens, Salisbury SP5 5PY; 30th August-1st September
Visit EndOfTheRoadFestival.com
Festival No. 6
One of the prettiest festival settings in the UK, this year’s Festival No. 6 musical line-up includes the likes of Franz Ferdinand, The Horrors, The Charlatans and Jessie Ware. Elsewhere, the Portmeirion Hotel plays host to Clough’s restaurant, which offers views across the river. When the weather’s good, this picture-perfect Welsh village really comes into its own – it honestly feels as though you’re in the Med. Come rain or shine, make sure you take a dip in the swimming pool in the Estuary Gardens. Paddle-boarding, woodland runs, yoga and massages are all on offer.
Portmeirion, Wales LL48 6ER; 6th-9th September
Visit FestivalNumber6.com
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