UK Music Festivals with a Difference

England Expands its Festival Repertoire for Summer 2008

Jun 17, 2008

With eco-friendly Wafeform Project, literary and comedy fest Latitude and student-run Beach Break there's plenty of choice to keep alternative festival-goers happy!

Festival fans looking for something a little different have been escaping the over-commercialised and mainstream English events in recent years, preferring to head across the channel for one of Europe’s many offerings.

But in a year where Glastonbury tickets fail to sell out as fast as usual, England has begun to prove its worth once more on the international festival scene and is now home to a number of exciting events.

With headliners including Sigor Ross, Franz Ferdinand and Interpol, this little festival held in Southwold on the Suffolk coast has its fair share of music industry giants.

However, the true lure of Latitude, aside from its laid-back atmosphere and chilled-out countryside setting, it the diversity of the entertainment. In addition to the music, there is outdoor theatre with the RSC, literary and poetry arenas and a comedy line-up with some of the scene’s hottest performers

It’s become bigger in recent years – but that just means more funding and not a less exciting (and alternative) experience.

The student-only festival held in North Cornwall turned down money from TV show ‘The Dragon’s Den’ in order to opt for sponsorship by a major student travel company more in keeping with Beach Break’s target audience and theme.

Held during the week and at the end of the university exam period in order to attract the intended crowd and with a line-up that reads like the best of the year’s student union gigs, the festival is the first of its kind and set to be a great success.

Nominated last year for Best New Festival and The Greener Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards, Devon's Waveform Project is back with more support and publicity than befor.

It promotes itself as a sustainable dance music festival and will feature a range of genres in this category, from experimental psytrance and minimal techno to old-school dub and chill.

It’s revolutionary in comparison to its main UK competitors Creamfields, Gatecrasher and Global Gathering. It’s powered by 100% renewable energy such as pedal, solar and wind power and has compost toilets rather than usual harmful chemical-based ones.

With 5 stages and a range of music to rival even the biggest electro and dance events, Waveform offers an event for the raver with a green conscience!

These festivals are just starting to become popular on the UK scene and, if things go well this summer, other alternative events should be encouraged to get going too.

The copyright of the article UK Music Festivals with a Difference in Alternative Music is owned by Alice Woolliams. Permission to republish UK Music Festivals with a Difference in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.