2024 Festival Guide
The diversity and sheer volume of Festivals is staggering, and trying to work out which one to attend is no longer a simple question. With so many choices, it’s hard to know where to go, especially when the line-ups share so many acts (Looking at you Sampa the Great!). We delve in and select some of the best festivals you should be considering this year!
It’s also been a brutal time for all festival organisers, with some unbelievable cost increases to digest, so it’s really a matter of use it or lose it for many events. If you can, please try and support the independents. Your support means that these smaller boutique experiences can continue to sprinkle magic over our summer!
Most creative Festivals for escapism
Boomtown
It’s really hard not to kick off this category with Boomtown as the attention to detail and sheer scale of the stage sets, production and theatrics really do set this apart from the rest. It scaled back considerably over the last few years and if I’m honest I preferred the expanse and separation with the distinctly different vibes in each sector. I miss chilling out in the bowl of the Lion’s Den and find the new condensed city a little hectic and rather over-run with bass heads and wannabe road men. But then I’m over the age of most of the Boomtowner demographic, so perhaps I’m just getting a little old…
- Music & Line up (Good but getting a bit D&B heavy)
- Creativity (undefeated heavyweight champions)
- General Vibe (Good Vibes let down by a few too many dickheads)
- TNT Rating
As ever the line-up is a closely guarded secret, with only reddit speculation to provide any idea of who might make an appearance. We expect less hard hitting headliners and more suprises this year.
BeatHerder
Beatherder is tiny in comparison to Boomtown, but don’t let that deter you. It shares a similar ethos in its attention to detail and micro venues, and goes way beyond the usual big top tent or metal trussing stages. Its roots in the hedonistic free parties of the 90’s still remain and this always has the best vibe. It’s also got an outrageous line-up this year with the likes of Leftfield, Orbital, Sky FX, Sub Focus, The Wailers and Channel One Sound System you can expect wild breakbeats, analogue squelches and deep reggae vibes all weekend!
- Music & Line up (No complaints from me!)
- Creativity (Expect a few suprises!)
- General Vibe (Great vibes, and good old Northern hospitality)
- TNT Rating
Festivals for musical discovery
Womad
I really wanted to mix things up this year and come up with new suggestions in this ‘Musical Discovery’ category, but Womad just has to be on the list! Womad is a very special place, a truly global music festival. The line-up this year is a cracker with Scottish Hip Hop from Young Farmers, Amadou & Miriam from Mali, Baaba Maal from Senegal, Sampa the Great from Zambia, Sid Sriram from India and Alison Goldfrapp from planet Alison Goldfrapp
- Music & Line up (It’s a true world tour)
- Creativity (Nothing special, but it’s about the music)
- General Vibe (Super Chilled if a little laid back for the party heads)
- TNT Rating
Shambala
Possibly the only reason to visit Northamptonshire has to be Shambala! Unlike Northampton which is grey all year round even when the sun’s shining. It’s a vibrant place full of fun and colour, and this year has really knocked it out of the park with an outstanding line-up! The Hot Cakes take over, will bring together Benny Page and Deekline B2B, and other highlights include The Congos, Sampa the Great, Ozric Tenticles and Chris Tofu. It’s going to be a wild ride!
- Music & Line up (No shortage of variety, but light on headliners)
- Creativity (Always a bit of magic sprinkled around the site)
- General Vibe (Super Friendly Hipsters and Hippies)
- TNT Rating
Our pick of Family Friendly Festivals
Lattitude
Lattitude remains my top choice for families. It’s the only place I would really want my kids wandering around without fully coherent supervision. It offers ‘teens wristbands’ providing more autonomy for the under 18’s and is so crammed full of yummy mum’s, your little darlings are constantly surrounded by many responsible parents. That said, It’s not where I would go without the kids in tow. I love the idea that people are paying a lot of money to be ‘Rick Rolled’ in person. If that’s not Festival Republic rubbing your noses in it, I’m not sure what is… If you dig deep enough, the line-up has some hidden treasures, although I think Rick Astley is the top comedy lineup to look forward to this year apart from Nina Conti and Rosie Jones…
- Music & Line up (pretty mid, safe options)
- Creativity (Well thought out and put together, but pretty clinical)
- General Vibe (Super safe, perhaps lacking any edge)
- TNT Rating
Harlequin Fayre
Sticking with the East Anglian flat lands, this little festival is the perfect place for younger kids. It’s a small festival with it’s roots very firmly in the era of the hippie fairs of the 70s and 80s. It’s unashamedly not really evolved much from those days and if you can endure the stench of patchouli oil then this might be the most rewarding weekends of the year. It’s a true delight, one of very few authentic fayre’s left.
- Music & Line up (It’s not about big headliners)
- Creativity (Plenty of imagination, albeit with tiny budgets)
- General Vibe (Authentic hippy vibes all weekend)
- TNT Rating
Small (but perfectly formed) festivals
Mucky Weekender
We can’t not kick off with what was by far my best weekend of 2023! If you read my review you’ll see it got pretty mucky! This is just a super vibe, and a festival that really knows how to party! Highlights include Mr Logical Progression himself LTJ Bukem and if you’re too young to know, he’s one of the pioneering D&B producers. There’s also Dreadzone, House Music pioneer Marshall Jefferson, The general himself General Levy. This is going to be a special year with some absolute belters, better strap in this ’cause this one is going to go off!
- Music & Line up (Epic lineup, of iconic artists)
- Creativity (Coming along nicely, but needs more of the good bits)
- General Vibe (Best vibes, fun loving party people all weekend)
- TNT Rating
Haughton
It seems the East Coast is the place to be in this year’s festival round up, with Haughton Festival based in the grounds of Haughton Hall near Kings Lynn. Now in it’s eight year and evolving fast it’s really building momentum now shaking off the constraints of lockdowns and getting firmly back in the groove. In the groove is exactly where you’ll find yourself this year with the curated line up of Craig Richards imagination. Highlights include sound system champion Aba Shanti-I, African Head charge, Billy Nasty, Joy Orbison, Mr Scruff, Reggie Watts, Nightmares on Wax Soundsystem, Shy One, Horse Meat Disco, James Massiah and Sean Johnston (A.L.F.O.S) the list goes on. If you like Electronic music, then this is a absolute must this year. We’ll see you there!
- Music & Line up (Beats, breaks, blips and bass in equal measures)
- Creativity (Where forest party meets warehouse club)
- General Vibe (Happy party people)
- TNT Rating
I don’t want a muddy field. Festivals in the sun
Mallorca Live festival
This is got some massive names on the line up. Pet Shop Boy, Blondie, Underworld, Belle & Sebastian and 2ManyDJs. Based on the lovely Balleric island of Mallorca, it’s going to be a hot one.
SziGet Festival Budapest
You might have noticed the lack of mainstream festival coverage this year. That’s because this is where to go. This line-up is massive! Fred Again, Kylie, Liam Gallagher, Skrillex, Stomzy, Four Tet, Raye, Tom Odell, Fontaines D.C. Richie Hawtin. It’s commercial, it’s massive, but it has to be better than going to Reading or Download, and you get to spend some time in Budapest.
Electric Castle Transylvania
Electric Castle is absolutely crammed with line up talent this year with Massive Attack, Queens of the Stone Age, Chase & Status, Bonobo, DJ Shadow, Sean Paul, Paulo Nutini, Khruangbin and loads more. It’s all condensed down into 24 hours of fun, with the option of camping for more days too, but I would suggest going a hitting it hard for 24 hours and then finding somewhere to rest before going and exploring the local area. You can get cheap flights to Cluj-Napoca and a shuttle from there, so it will probably work out just as cheap as travelling to a UK festival!
Bilbao BBk Live – Bilbao, Spain
Another big line up, this time in Spain. It’s worth going just to see Massive Attack and Air on the same night!
and Now for something completly different…
Out There Festival
A festival dedicated to outdoor arts & Circus. Consider it like Covent Garden on a really good day with some of the world’s best street performers and circus acts.
20th Annual Watercress Festival
Now I like a bit of Watercress, but I’m not sure I like it as much as Glenn Walsh the undefeated king of eating an 80g bag of watercress in the shortest time. He’s so bloody good at it, he’s been the winner for the last 15 years! So get down there and knock him off his throne, someone has to.
We’ve compiled some great products sure to pimp up your festival experience this year!
