Festivals: as much as part of summer as beer gardens and barbeques
It may only be february but we're already gearing up for the festival season this summer. Although if you can't wait for sunshine then we have the ultimate guide of all the best festivals to keep you ticking over for the next 6 month.
There are few festivals quite as legendary as South by South-West. If you want to escape the bitterness of March in Britain and happen to have the money spare to nip off to America then this is the festival to check out.
SXSW takes place 18th - 22nd March and showcases bands from around the world and takes place in Austin, Texas each Spring. Confirmed acts include White Lies, Ida Maria, The Courteeners, Primal Scream and many others.
Best for: New acts. With bands playing from all over the world it's the perfect festival for finding new bands.
Bad points: It's in Texas - and we're in the middle of a credit crunch.
In dear old London, the weekend of 24th-25th April will see over 150 acts performing in 40 venues. No acts are confirmed as of yet but Camden Crawl always delivers on quality bands. The festivities kick off on the Friday at midday and last until the early hours of Sunday.
Best for: Varied entertainment. The Crawl includes daytime activities including arts and crafts, visual art, bingo quizzes, comedy, short films and well as music
Bad points: April in London will still be freezing.
The annual event will show case up and coming bands and DJs in two events, one on the 23rd May and the other on the 24th May. The first day see various venues in Bristol taken over by the festival, day two, the same for Northampton. As of yet no bands have been confirmed but is known for its performance by the best up and coming acts.
Best for: Eclectic mix. Dot to Dot features pop, indie, rock, dance and hs has the best mix you could ever ask for.
Bad points: Which one do we go to? Decisions, decisions.
Tickets for the June festival have gone quickly and organisers are promising this year's will be the best event yet. Every genre is covered in Glastonbury and rumoured acts include Keane, Madonne, The Specials, Led Zeppelin as well as several others. Organiser Micheal Eavis has announced that this year there will be four instead of the usual three headlining acts. The legendary festival is set for 24th - 28th June and takes place in Somerset.
Best for: Charity: Glastonbury famously supports several organisations so you get to party and feeling like you've done good is just a cheeky bonus.
Bad points: Other years have featured an excessive amount of rain and mud. Plus last year's headliners caused outrage so who knows what will happen this time around.
The fourth Latitude event will take place Friday 17th - Sunday 19th 2009. Although a relatively new festival and small in comparison to the like of Glastonbury, this is quickly becoming one of the best events of the festival year. Non-musical entertainment will be available on the 16th for the early birds. Latitude is inspired by European festivals such as Lowland and contains music, art, comedy, film, theatre and workshops.
Best for: accommedation:the festival offers campervans tickets! hurrah
Bad points: security: previous events have been bad for thefts so hold onto your valuables.
The Carling Weekends are one of the heavy weights of the festival world and it's no surprise really. Often voted best festival by readers of NME, Leeds and Reading are the highlight of the summer. All pre-sale tickets have gone now so will need to wait until the next wave of tickets are released.
Carling Weekend organisers have a habit of not revealing the line up until just before tickets go on sale, but with previous headliners including the likes The Killers, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Metallica, 2009 isn't likely to disappoint.
Best for: weather: usually by August its all sunshine
Bad points: due to the size of the fest there's often more than one band on you want to see at the same time