The Weekly DiScussion: have too many festivals spoilt the summer?

i will tell you after connect..

that this level of festivals will only last a few years at least. After that we will see the geniunely good new festivals remaining alongside the established ones. Heres hoping anyway.

...but the French do it the best. Route du Rock was brilliant, small, organised, with a genuinely STELLAR lineup (LCD, the National, CSS, Fujiya & Miyagi, Justice etc etc) with regularly cleaned, FLUSHING toilets which had manageable queues. and the booze was dirt cheap. Having been to 8 festivals this summer, it was definitely the best in terms of balance between small and good music. Reading was good, but SO expensive and overcrowded. Best small fest: Ilkley Moor Festival; I had only heard of 2 of the acts, but still had a brilliant time despite the rain and mud. I'm definitely going again next year, and to route du Rock. Reading - will probably go, but only out of tradition, if that doesn't sound TOO stupid...

There can only be a finite number of people willing to part with cash to go to music festivals. Most fans of 'alternative' music have their favourites - I've been to Reading every year for the last few years, having tried Glasto and not liking it. I went to my first ATP this year, and loved it. I also love Truck.

But new festivals can try as hard as they like but unless, as you say, they offer something 'different' (like Latitude, I suppose) then it will be difficult to crack into a crowded market. There was pretty much something to do every weekend this summer, from April onwards, in the 'Festival' bracket. And no-one is going to go to them all, so most (whether rightly or wrongly) when faced with so many options will stick with a site they know already and, if they're flush, try something 'new' in addition.

I remember Phoenix stopping in the mid-late 90's after a short run, because they complained about too much festival competition and the difficulties of getting exciting line-ups that offered enough differences to other existing events. And back then, there were relatively few festivals, camparitively speaking. Even with the current musical climate and thirst for chart-bothering indie music, there is, and will always be, only so far it can go.

I admire people trying to start something new. But unless it really is new, they will all fall by the wayside. It's hard to complain about being given too many options really - it seems churlish to do so. But the organisers of these events must realise that there isn't a lot more they can do.

Best festival yet.

Of the major UK fests, V and Oxegen have both grown too big for 2 day events. Too many good artists, spread over too many stages.
Reading/Leeds are great, well organised festivals, but the line-ups are becoming too predictable.
T in the Park seems to be going the same way.
Glasto will always have something about it, even if it has the occasional bland line-up.

But I went to Roskilde this year, and it was by far the best festival I've been to. A high quality line-up, it had most of the UK's major fest's headliners, and some other in for good measure.
I know some people that went to Bennicassim and loved that.
I've heard good things about Sziget, Lowlands, Pukklepop, etc. as well as Hove through here.
One thing these have in common is that they're generally longer events. Even if the music is only 2/3 days, the whole thing is more like a week. It becomes a holiday as well, making a much better experience.

To be honest, I think UK festivals need to slim down, but also expand a little.
What I mean by that is they need to stop trying to appeal to everyone, and have a bit more focus on their line-ups, and then stretch it out longer.
A well thought out, focussed festival will always be better than a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none fest.

was utterly fuckin dreadful...

it was like a smash hits festival this year

connect festival this weekends has an amazing line up it will be crackin

To Glasto- and hated it. Normally go to Reading but I almost got trampled a couple of years ago and is not an experience I want to repeat. Also had/have tickets to Truck let you know how that goes then!And... I sold my tickets for Field Day which seems a good idea now.

As a 'girl' I bloody hate the mud at festivals and the lack of toilets; if i was a boy I could wee quite happily anywhere (or in our en-suite as we did at Reading a few years back as the loos were so foul). I'm not one of those girlie girls who can't stand breaking a nail or getting a bit muddy. But glasto was like a swamp this year, and we got caught in a downpour as seetickets fucked up our coaches. It's not just small festivals that suffer from bad planning. Festivals are so bloody trendy these days it's become far less about the music and more about getting wasted... I can do that at my local grizzly indie bar, and pass out on the nice ceramic toilet floor, ta very much! That's my rant over. festivals have made me angry this year, as I'm yet to have a good festival... come on Truck make it up to me! xxx

From the beginnings of Glasto when vans of hippies piled into a field to take LDS and have 'an experience', festivals have always been about having a bit too much whatever and enjoying yourself. Can anyone on here honestly say they had s sober day at a festival this summer? And wouldn't the atmosphere be a little more dull if everyone was stood around in a field, soberly and silently watching a band rather than jumping up and down? Festivals aren't gigs, that's the whole point...

Your own taste in music is hardly cutting edge!
Have you been reading the alternative section on the Guardian website for inspiration?
You complain about middle class, guardian reading, organic/eco obsessed Kooks fans but at glastonbury... very open minded.
Ps. I bet you buy the guardian on a saturday for the TV guide and define your personality via your music taste.

I've heard such good things about Truck, for example, but I'd never be able to convince my mates to go.

for music... because they're the only places you can really see bands from july-sept! And in Reading's case you can usually see about 20 odd bands for just over 100 squid at least before they put the prices up!

I'm just saying that if you're only there to get pissed you can do that anywhere - you don't need to beat the crap out of people and try to kill them! Seriously this is what Reading is getting like. Thanks Gingerninja I'm glad you understand what I am getting at.

I'm of course not saying we should all be sober... I rarely am!

looking forward to electric picnic tomorrow it has a true festival vibe and everybody is really friendly.capacity is 35,000 and it doesnt change over the years . mainly about the music but there is still alot of gimmicky things that distract you from the music.its also a boutique festival like bestival.cost me 220 euros,(less than 200 pounds) for the ticket and the weather is suposed to be good.line up is amazing!!!

^^^^^^^^^

There were far too many of these on the last nite, and at least 2 fire engines and countless Campsite Assistants going round extinguishing Killing Fields style explosions, and it was very Skins...Some twat threw a can of beer at me cos I told them I'm gay, i probably won't get a ticket; Why am I going again? Oh yeah, seeing Kings of Leon, Maximo Park and Interpol on the same stage on the same night.

I went to Eurockeennes in June, a mid-sized French festival after going to V last summer (admittedly a bad move; i bought tickets before any bands were announced such was my ignorance of Virgin's sterile choices) and my experience abroad was by far the best experience i've had.

Firstly it was cheap. £60 for three days' music plus camping, but primarily this was considering a really intelligent and diverse line up, with loads of dub outfits, a dedicated reggae & hip-hop stage and great African acts. It wasn't an excuse for the organisers to choose cheap acts either; Bassekou Kayoute, who had never played outside of Mali before, but put on an astounding show with 2 encores and i don't think anyone in the tent had heard of them. This was alongside Aracde Fire, Klaxons, Digitalism, QOTSA, Marilyn Manson, Deerhoof, Gogol Bordello and TV on the Radio among others.

Also the food was tasty and really good value; 2 euros for a nutella crepe means you can actaully eat at your festival. I'll no longer feel like paying £2.50 for a bottle of water is an unavoidable sacrifice for good music.

I'm now viably considering whether to go back or go to Glastonbury next year. (I think i may suffer for that comment...)

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- Reiterating what a few people above have said, for music fans, for the last few years, Europe has been the way forward. Just in terms of pricing, organisation, sound quality, and atmosphere, they are head and shoulders above the UK at the moment. It's probably easier to travel from most parts of England to a fair number of the continental festivals than Glastonbury