Aimee Howarth brings you an interview with The Yorker directors on the final day of the advent articles
Aimee Howarth speaks to YUSU's sabbatical officers about their Christmas Day routine for day 17 of the advent calendar
For the final time this term, Vicky Morris updates you on this weeks film news
50 years after the publication of 'James and the Giant Peach', the works of Roald Dahl continue to celebrate success.
Tickets for all the major festivals sell out within hours, but that’s not to say there’s no other events that are worth attending, and who’s to say they won’t be the “new Glastonbury” in a few years time. Here’s our guide to the alternative festivals, in and around the UK this summer.
You can choose to stay local, or spread your wings and experience some alternative events around the UK.
THE BEST FOR:
Live at Loch Lomond has secured Feeder, Pete Tong and Dirty Pretty Things. It’s set at arguably one of Scotland’s prettiest areas, Loch Lomond. Tickets cost £42.50 a day and is on the 4th and 5th of August with 20,000 people expected to attend each day. Also in this category is the Tennent’s Vital Festival. It’s held at the Botantic Gardens in Belfast (don’t worry Easyjet fly there) and this year has Indie Rockers Razorlight and the Manic Street Preachers heading up the bill on the 21st/22nd of August. Tickets are a reasonable £38/day.
Should you wish to head (or stay) down South and not attend O2 Wireless or Reading you could visit Guilfest – in Guildford, Surrey. The 13th-15th July sees Supergrass, Madness, Morcheeba and The Ordinary Boys sharing a varied bill. Ticket prices are dependant on the day you attend, from ₤30-40/day.
The O2 Wireless Festival is being held in Leeds on 15th-17th June. It may be a relatively new event on the festival circuit, but it has all O2’s corporate might thrown in, and is the Northern version of the Hyde Park event.
This is one of those events you should attend if you think the best club in York is Reflex. Retrofest is on September 1st and has legends such as Human League, Bananarama and Tony Hadley gracing its stage. Tickets are £45 for the day but no other festival could provide as much cheese as this!
Wakestock has secured Just Jack and Shapeshifters for this trendy festival. For those of you who didn’t know, wakeboarding is ‘surface water sport which involves riding the wake of a speed boat on a single board.’ So there! This event is being held on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales, and is billed as Europe’s biggest Wakeboarders festival. Tickets are £55 for 2 days and will provide music, stunning views and no doubt plenty of wakeboarding!
Let’s face it, we’re students, and even with a full time job, a festival can cost a few days wages and the requirements of a tent and beer may well increase that to a week’s worth. Radio 1’s One Big Weekend provides a huge shindig of an event at various (as yet unknown) venues in the UK. The last one in Preston attracted the likes of Mika and Rihanna, tickets are provided on a free, albeit, ballot system – stay tuned to Radio 1 for more details.
You may well have seen advertisements for Beachbreak Live around campus, it’s to be held from 11th-14th June 2007 and is being pushed as the first Student’s festival. It has secured the musical genius of Babyhead, Mr Scruff, Zero 7 & The Beautiful Girls to entertain thousands of students on Polzeath Beach, Cornwall. This could hypothetically be the perfect time to increase student relations across the UK and top up your tan (British weather permitting!) Tickets cost ₤65 for 3 days & nights.
Festivals are a great way to see the past, present and future of music, enjoy a few drinks and experience the joys of camping. If you weren’t quite quick enough off the mark to get to Glastonbury, Leeds or the upcoming Wireless festivals, then there are plenty more to choose from. Don’t discount those that have simply managed to avoid the hype that comes from many, many others.
