Panicking because you overlooked the whole festival thing and now getting jealous of everyone else’s Instagram? Don’t flip. Some of the best festivals of the summer are yet to come and better yet, have tickets left. Here's our pick of the 9 hottest festival tickets, including Europe's coolest weekenders - a great excuse to squeeze in a city break.
Wilderness, Oxfordshire
6-9th August
With tipis, wild swimming, gourmet banquets, theatre and wellbeing workshops, Wilderness is the ultimate hippie fest. Three days in the rural setting of Oxfordshire’s Cornbury Park and you’ll forget any of the stresses you went with. Music-wise, the highlight has to be Bjork, whilst if its food you’re into, you have to get a ticket for one of the luxurious long table banquets, with different sessions headed up by the likes of Angela Hartnett and Raymond Blanc. Whether you want to dance under the stars, be captured by dramatic arts, learn about religion, feast gourmet, or get lost in the middle of a forest, Wilderness is the place where you can do it all.
Book at: WildernessFestival.com
Soundwave, Croatia
6-10th August
If you know festivals, you’ll know Croatia has a whole host of corkers. Soundwave is just one of them, boasting a great roster of DJs including Mr Scruff, Jay Electronica, Maribou State, and Fatima, and a whole host of sure-to-be-awesome round the clock boat parties. Croatia’s both cheap to get to and cheap when you’re there. There will of course be sun, and ample opportunities for swimming and lounging. In fact, you’ll find you barely change out of your bikini. Stick around for a couple of extra days and go explore some more of Croatia — Split, Pula and Dubrovnik are all stunning.
Book at: soundwavecroatia.com
Way Out West, Gothenburg
13-15th August
Book your tickets to Gothenburg and let Way Out West festival be an excuse for a city break. The two-day city festival has grown hugely in popularity in recent years and does a lot to strengthen the city’s music and culture kudos. This year’s electro/indie line up is particularly strong, with the likes of Alt-J, Caribou, Florence & The Machine, Years & Years, Beck and Kwabs. What with it being Sweden, you can expect the crowd to be damn beautiful - all tall, blonde Swedish babes. And there’s no camping, so a hotel it is — though Airbnb can be a better (and cheaper) shout. Again, this is a great one to tag a couple of extra days onto, to enjoy waltzing around the city’s glorious waterways, embracing the long, light nights, and amazing bars.
Book at: www.wayoutwest.se/en
Exhale Festival, West Sussex
**28-30th August **
If you’re looking for a festival a little more wholesome, book tickets to Exhale, a yoga and culture festival in West Sussex. Founded by Carl Faure of Stretch, and Charlie Kelly of Black and Light Yoga, Exhale is designed to be a weekend for unwinding, with not just yoga sessions led by some of the best teachers across the UK, but DJs, hot tubs, saunas, campfires, nutritional workshops, and great food too. What’s great is that the £150 ticket price includes all the activities, yoga, camping and food, so you really don’t need to worry about anything when you’re there.
Book at: exhalefestival.com
Big Feastival, Cotswolds
28-30th August
The brainchild of Jamie Oliver and Alex James, The Big Feastival is, as the name suggests, a giant foodie festival that takes place on Alex James’ farm in the Cotswolds. The music line up includes Groove Armada, Ella Eyre, Paloma Fatih, Badly Drawn Boy and Norman Jay, but that all comes secondary to the food. Along with some of the top chefs in the country doing demos, from Mark Hix to Nathan Outlaw, Raymond Blanc and of course, Jamie Oliver, there’ll also be a Healthy Living Zone with Deliciously Ella and Hemsley + Hemsley, a Little Dudes Den for kids, and various feasts and banquets to join in on.
Book at: jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival
Festival No. 6, Portmeirion
3-6th September
Close the summer in style with at Festival No.6, ‘a bespoke banquet of music, arts and culture’. Located in the quaint Italiante town of Portmeirion in North Wales, the set up couldn’t be more picturesque with palm trees, sandy shores, fosetry and characterful architecture. When you’re not watching the music — this year’s line up includes Metronomy, Belle & Sebastian, Grace Jones, Years & Years, Mark Ronson and Catfish & the Bottlemen — you can zone out in the festival’s luxury spa, watch a comedian in The Gatehouse, or even partake in some paddle boarding. There’s also a lively carnival, and when it comes to accommodation, you can choose between a castle, a cottage, a boutique tipi or a tent.
Book at: festivalnumber6.com
Black Heath Festival
**12-13th September **
There’s no doubt festivals in cities tend to be rowdy affairs, but Black Heath Festival is different and positively sophisticated. With John Lewis as the key sponsor, it’s a well oiled machine of a festival, and with a whole range of music, food, children’s and arts activities, it’s as good for families as it is for party lovers. The music line up is great with the likes of Elbow, Madness, Manic Street Preachers, Anna Calvi, and Giles Peterson, and the food scene equally wholesome with the highlights being Hemsley and Hemsley, Calgary Avansino, Duck & Waffle’s Dan Doherty and Ceviche’s Martin Morales. The best thing for Londoners though is being able to get the tube home at the end of the day.
Book at: onblackheath.com
Lollapalooza, Berlin
**12-13th September **
You’ve all heard of Lollapalooza but who knew this year it was happening in Berlin? Yep, the much celebrated, well documented American festival is landing in Europe this September, bringing lively atmosphere and fun times to Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport. The eclectic line up will keep electro, pop and indie fans happy with the likes of Digitalism, Bastille, Little Dragon, Muse, The Libertines, Sam Smith, Clean Bandit, Hot Chip and Fatboy Slim all on the line up. And those of you who hate camping, rejoice, the only options here are hotels or Airbnb – there won’t be a tent in sight.
Book at: lollapaloozade.com/en/
The Good Life Experience, Flintshire
** 18-20th September**
With culture, food and the great outdoors, The Good Life Experience in Flintshire is one for hippy types, foodies and explorers. With just 1 year of experience under its belt, it boasts an impressive array of names and talents. Thomasina Miers, Bill Granger, Tom Herbert and Ella Woodward will all cook; Cerys will campfire sing-a- alongs, BeerBods will give talks about what beer should really taste like; and Ben Fogle will give outdoorsy talks and demos. Along with music and readings, there’ll be leather-working, axe throwing, bushcraft, barbers, campfire cooking, a Sunday host and even mass tug-of-war. And with no backstage area and no VIP tents, it’s a case of everyone getting amongst.
Book at: thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk