The Cool Camping Guide to Festivals

The organisers behind The Big Chill‘s record-breaking zombie gathering Katrina Larkin (festival director, left) and Victoria Burns (programmer) strike a pose after more than 4,000 ‘zombies’ participated in a film scene for I Spit On Your Rave, starring comedian Noel Fielding. Make-up was handed out to anyone wishing to take part in the film, which, set nine years in the future, sees mankind extinct after a virus is released at the 2012 Olympics.

More good news, the weekend is set to be a hot and sunny one as the festival continues in Herefordshire, after a series of rainy days. Artists and DJs include Orbital, David Byrne, Pharoah Sanders, Chris Cunningham, Lamb, Ursula Rucker, Horse Meat Disco, MJ Cole, The Field, The Unabombers, Hexstatic, Optimo, Chris Duckenfield, Keb Darge, Greco Roman Soundsystem and more.

Not a rave worth spitting at, at all!

I Spit On Your Rave

News

It’s all kicking off this weekend, and so far the weather is behaving itself – long may that last!! Pack all the footwear you need and you’ll have a grand time…

This afternoon the Solent will turn into the M25 of waterways as dozens of ferries chug fans of The Ting Tings, Pendulum and The Prodigy to the Isle of Wight Festival. Big bands at a big party, see the Cool Camping Guide to Festivals for the full low down of the festival’s colourful history. The event has sold out but there will be a few tickets on the door. See their website for more general info.

The alternative to T in the Park, the boutique RockNess takes place this weekend on the beautiful banks of Loch Ness, where the Prodigy wind up on Sunday. Their set is sure to be awesome; reports of their live shows so far have been nothing short of glowing, but put them among a raucous Scottish crowd and witness chaotic scenes! Check the headline acts and you’ll see that aside from The Flaming Lips who are headlining tonight, this is a bumper packed dance fest. Let’s haaaave it!

If you prefer guaranteed sunshine with your beats, today has hit 35 degree highs in Athens, where Synch festival rolls out its artistic and hip multimedia installations and invites great international live artists. Often labelled a ‘Greek Sonar’, tonight will see Florence and the Machine, Friendly Fires and Theo Parrish among the live acts. Luckily, this is a night time event, which leaves you all day to flap about in the shade by the ‘pool or take in the sights of the fabulous city, before the all night action begins. How cute are the Greeks? Very.

In a statement they issued this week, the organisers wrote:

Despite being supported by the authorities, resulting in the granting of the premises license, and recommendation for approval by the planning officer and having earned the support of the majority in the local community, there has been a very small, but very well orchestrated campaign locally against the event. It would appear that the campaigners have used their networks to lobby the councillors involved in the planning application.  In doing so, it is our opinion that it has made obtaining the relevant permissions a closeted political process, the outcomes of which are highly irregular for the area.  The site has a history of hosting major events that dates back to 60’s and to our knowledge permissions have never been refused.

The situation is extremely disappointing and the last 2 weeks have been the most challenging and frustrating times in the life of Beach Break and the organisers.

Best of British to them. And while we’re here we’re sending good vibes to the Glastonbury crew, too, who have had to endure a wave of negative media with the news that a monsoon is heading towards this month’s event. Our Glastonbury HQ contact tells us this is poppycock. Who to believe, we’ll just have to wait and see!

As dear ol’ Bob would have chirruped, sun is shining, the weather is sweet, yeeeah. We’re off to the Hay Festival this weekend and we’re taking lashings of Factor 15 with us. It’ll be Hay’s 22nd annual event and as always it’ll feature hundreds of the best authors, books and thinkers in the world. The gorgeous market town is full of bookish types at the best of times but this really has inspired the many of us to revel in words, pull apart syntax and discover new works with literary abandon! The event has also inspired smaller, boutique events such as the more bohemian Port Elliot Festival that takes place in south Cornwall in July – now that is one beautiful looking site.

In other news, after Sunrise Celebration at the end of this month we have Wychwood and Isle of Wight to look forward to – see the book for the low down. Download and RockNess are also taking place in June – we hope you’re ready to rock!

Thank you for logging on. Please check back soon for regular news updates and unbiased reviews from the merry-go-round world of festivals that we love to inhabit. If you’ve already bought the Cool Camping Guide to Festivals (Punk Publishing) you’ve probably already planned where to go this year. If not, hopefully we can help you to decide…  We’ll be back soon with reviews from various staff at Punk Publishing and our spies, edited by Sam Pow author of Cool Camping Guide to Festivals.