por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

Round about once every month or two I escape London to go home and see my family and friends in Worcester, home of the classic Lea & Perrins sauce (molho inglês), about 2½ hours away by train. Not a lot happens, but that’s half the appeal, and I wanted to tell you about one of the best ways to while away the time there.

So there I was, getting up lazily one recent Saturday morning and who should call but my oldest and tallest friend. ‘Wanna row up to The Camp?’, he asked. This is a silly question. ‘I’m game’, I obviously replied.

I wander out into the garden and rouse my little brother, sunbathing with a book. He’s game too, and before we know it the three of us plus two friends are strolling over to the River Severn to a chap who hires out rowing boats. The lovely big one (called Munchkin) is already booked, so we get two small ones and set off upstream. The goal? A delightful old pub called The Camp!

It’s a perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon; you paddle against the current for a little over and hour, then sit back with sandwich and a cider or two at the pub, and then literally drift back downstream a couple of hours later. And of course, it’s all giggles and fooling around, taking turns to row, splashing water and waving at passers by on the banks.

I’ve known this pub since I was a little boy, and although some of the playground items have gone, it’s very much the same. And the best bit, apart from a lovely great big tree, is the fact that there are not just chickens roaming around in between the tables, but there are also peacocks strutting their stuff and wailing to each other – such bizarre and beautiful birds.

Back we get into the boats to head downstream, floating along, meandering, paddling a little and crashing into each other or low branches, but mostly drifting along and enjoying the sunshine.

There’s nothing better than being on the water in the warm weather, and don’t worry if you never make it as far as visiting Worcester – your best bet for a lovely day in a boat would be to check out Shakespeare’s Stratford, or better still do a spot of punting in the very scenic spots of Oxford and Cambridge.

More info

Punting

GLOSSARY

• To while away the time: to spend time
• I’m game: I’m up for it, I’m keen
• Rouse: to get the attention of
• A chap: a man
• Strutting their stuff: showing off, parading as if on a catwalk
• Best bet: This is literally the best advice you can offer, the best suggestion
• Punting: a form of boating, like rowing but instead of using two oars you use the one, propelling the boat along by pushing on the bed of the river, rather like they do in Gondolas in Venice

por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

So I’ve finally booked a train to Aberystwyth on the coast of Wales.

I had friends to see, friends from home that only all get together once in a blue moon, and they just so happened to be doing so in Wales, a place that for me brings back nostalgic childhood memories of camping, beaches, rivers… and rain, and grey, and cold.

I’m painting a lovely picture aren’t I? In truth though it was the most beautiful of weekends, with blue skies and good times.

The day we spent on the beach was full of tomfoolery, as we did our best to play cricket, football and frisbee, which would’ve been fine only the wind wanted to play too!

And I’d been telling one of my friends we simply HAD to go in the sea, no matter how cold it was, but the water was simply f-r-r-r-r-e-e-z-i-n-g. So all we managed was a paddle till our feet were numb.

On the way back to the house we dropped by a cute little harbour town called Aberaeron where there was a fun looking annual children’s football tournament going on.

We found an amazing sweet shop nearby and got a few bagfuls of old fashioned goodies, and then we wandered down to the harbour in search of some local honey ice cream, and we sat eating it in the sunshine looking at the boats and all the kids playing, catching crabs, or even throwing jelly fish at each other!

Perhaps the best bit of the whole weekend though was the next day when we ventured back into Aberystwyth, and what did we find but the ultimate holiday activity… crazy golf. And you know what, it must’ve been the cheapest crazy golf I’ve ever played – a mere £1.65 (you could usually expect to pay almost 4 times that).

My home friends and I get very competitive (immaturely so) when it comes to this particular sport, and so it was great when one of the lads won rather unexpectedly, beating us all by a good 5 shots.

Back to the house we took one last stroll along the pebble beach nearby as the sun was beginning to set, and still hellbent on perhaps going in the sea I told the others to carry on home as we started to head back.

Maybe it was the ‘what would my dad do in this situation’ feeling I always get, or maybe it was the text I received from a jealous friend saying to dive in, but I did it, all on my own, and jumped in the sea for a very, very, very cold 5min swim, at 8pm at night. What an idiot.

Links

Aberaeron: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberaeron

GLOSSARY

• Once in a blue moon: seldom, once in a while (or less!), basically something which happens very rarely
• To paint a picture: to describe something, to set the scene (telling a story)
• Tomfoolery: messing around, fooling around, joking around…
• Goodies: nice things. Can also be used to describe the good and the bad guys in films, i.e. the goodies and the badies
• A mere £1.65: using the word mere is like saying ‘only £1.65’, used as a diminuitive
• Hellbent: uncontrollably keen to do something, determined, adamant

por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

Sunday. Not my favourite of days, simply because (even years later), I still get the sneaking suspicion I’ve forgotten some homework I need to do. Traditionally a day of rest, chores and seeing friends, today is different, with some 40-odd thousand runners sweating out 26 miles for the London marathon. And although actually on my bike, I feel like I’ve completed the same distance.

Before heading to the centre I quickly nipped up to the pleasant neighbourhood of Muswell Hill (which is at the top of a massive hill) to buy a thin mac/jacket I’d had my eye on – it was too sunny to wear it there and then, but I still made me feel nice and brand new. Then I rolled down to The Mall to the finish line of the marathon, right infront of Buckingham Palace.

It felt like there were hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets, and given the sporting occasion and good weather, spirits are high, and you know what, I felt rather proud. Proud of all these people, all the effort, all the clapping, cheering and energy, and of course the money raised for charity.

Exibir mapa ampliado

Though saying that, I did queue for a good hour and a half to cross a road and get into Green Park to try and find a friend of mine who lives in China but had come home to see family, and run the marathon! It would’ve been worth the wait, but with him being without a phone, our loose arrangement at Meeting Point C was a longshot, and sadly I couldn’t find him! Still, not a wasted journey, I’d never experienced the event live, and besides being amazing, it reminded me that I’d like to run it one day.

Then, back on my bike, I rode through town to a pub called The Old Queen’s Head to catch a friend’s band play, and then on up to Camden to drop in briefly at a charity event by the ABC Trust (Action for Brazil’s Children). And, before winding up the evening at a famous venue called the Koko with ‘a night of twisted Cumbia’ from a band called the Mexican Institute of Sound (see photo), I quickly popped by Primrose Hill Park to get a view across the city an its sunset, and also a glimpse of the nearly full moon!

A beautiful spring day. But now I am most definitely ready for bed.

Saiba mais sobre a maratona:

http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/

GLOSSARY

• Chores: jobs to be done around the house, or other activities like shopping – another similar word would be ‘errands’, although this refers more to things like shopping and going to the bank or post office
• 40-odd thousand: adding the word ‘odd’ in here simply emphasises the fact that you are making a rough guess, in this case it means around about 40 thousand people
• I quickly nipped up to: to nip somewhere is literally like ‘to go’, to drop in somewhere quickly
• I’d had my eye on: to have your eye on something means wanting something – usually something you’ve seen and can’t stop thinking about… like a new bike, or a cute new classmate at school
• A longshot: something which is a little ambitious, unlikely, hopeful!
• Winding up the evening: you can also say ‘rounding off the evening’, to say how you ended the evening
• A glimpse: to see something quickly, briefly

por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

The English, like Brazilians, love to hit the seaside towns and beaches during 3-day weekends (weekend with Bank Holidays).

Let me tell you about the last time I escaped much further afield to Cornwall (far in the south west) on a Bank Holiday.

Visiting my friend’s family home in Penvin he took me to the nearby Falmouth, a quaint little seaside town which has a strong reputation for art, graphics and design.

We wandered around the centre, full of narrow streets and colourful bunting, checked out some shops, and got ourselves a pasty to eat on the beach, this being a pastry delicacy from Cornwall which typically comes with a beef filling.

Following that we went off for a walk around the coast and alongside the estuary of a river, and I felt as if I were returning to my childhood, climbing a tree and skimming stones – an old favourite of mine – trying to bounce round, thin flat stones along the surface of the water, seeing how far or how many times you can skim them.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that kept us entertained for a whole hour!

Next up we drove over to the north side of the peninsula to a beach which would obviously be popular with surfers when the conditions were right, and we climbed to the top of a cliff to watch the sunset, then as it went down we sat drinking a pint of ‘Knocker’, a local ‘ale’, similar to beer but much flatter, with far less gas.

And another classic seaside bite, we then went off in search of some ‘fish ‘n’ chips’, which you typically have with lots of salt and vinegar, although the chip shop was out of fish so we just had chips – but after having walked all day we didn’t mind and we wolfed them down!

If you ever get the chance, do go and visit the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset or Dorset in the south west, they bear some of the best spots England has to offer.

And if you’re in London and short of time, just hit Brighton!

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Links & info

www.visitcornwall.com

Photo Album of my trip to Cornwall on Facebook

‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’ – this is the name and a line from a famous piece of music, capturing the spirit of the desire, when it’s hot, to go and have a nice day out by the sea, and do silly things. It sums up the spirit of this article: 

GLOSSARY

• Love to hit the: love to go to
• Cornwall: a beautiful county to the south west of England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall
• Bunting: long strings with small bits of fabric attached, like flags, used for decoration
  
• Pasty: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty
• Skimming: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_skimming
• Peninsula: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsula
• We wolfed them down: we ate them quickly, like a dog or wolf might

por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

An interesting combination, you might be thinking.

But not if you cycle from the neighbourhood of Camberwell even further south to Crystal Palace park, where aside from the basic remains of the original palace, there are also some old concrete pre-historic creatures, rather themepark-esque.

That tour was like a birthday party. I’ve joined a group of about 15 bikes, complete with a boom box stereo, to celebrate the birthday of a newfound friend.

Nowalthough she was turning 26, you might not have guessed it, but only due to the dinosaur theme of the ride, and the minor detail that she did the ride wearing an all-in-one dinosaur costume!

Must’ve been hot inside, and impressive as the ride was further, all the way from Hackney in east London.

View Larger Map

Once we arrived (taking me over 2 hours all the way from north London) it was time for a picnic lunch, sat near some pools, and, uh… some dinosaurs.

And soon enough the group grew restless and we relocated to a nice patch of grass overlooking the park’s small sports stadium (incidentally where Brazil’s football team will be based for the Olympics!), and we started to play rounders, which if you’re not familiar with it’s similar to baseball only with a smaller bat and pitch (I guess in Brazil it’s called “taco” or “bets”).

Such fun, having not played for years, and although we lost I got two ‘home runs’.

We finished up a tad before dusk, and thankfully from Crystal Palace we could catch an overland train back to Hackney in 30 mins, literally right to the birthday girl’s front door, and we were treated to an epic reddy-purple sunset en route.

As she has a young kitten my present to her was a tea cup which meows (!) when you pick it up, and laughing over that we all rounded the day off with a piece of cake. Yes, dinosaur cake.

GLOSSARY

• Themepark-esque: adding the suffix ‘-esque’ to certain nouns simply gives it the meaning of something being the same as that word, in this instance suggesting the dinosaurs are like models in a theme park
• A tad : is used to say ‘a little’, ‘a touch’ (as in a touch more milk for example)
• Boom box stereo: just another word for a stereo, ghetto blaster, sound system, for some tunes on the ride. Cars do it, so why not bikes?
• Grew restless: grew in this instance could be substituted by ‘became’
• Reddy-purple sunset: a red and purple sunset, obvious yeah?
• En route: borrowed from French, as with many words in English and other languages, and literally to say ‘on the way’
• Rounded the day off: to round something off (such as the day, a class etc) simply means to finish

por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

Yet another bank holiday weekend, and yet another trip to the seaside… the weather wasn’t great, overcast, grey and cold, but we were in the mood for some fun, so my housemate, my boss, her housemate and I grabbed a GroupSaver train ticket to Brighton.

Being only 1 hour away it’s the obvious choice if you want a bit of beach and sea breeze, although saying that, being a pebble beach, it’s not the most comfortable for sunbathing etc. But given there was no sunshine anyway we went off in search of other things to do.

My boss’s housemate had a back up plan… it turned out they know an artist called Sam Toft, and she just so happened to be holding an open studio day with coffee and cake, and artwork on display.

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It took me a few moments to put 2+2 together and realise who she really was, but following a little puppet show where she brought her characters to life, it dawned on me that I knew her style well from gift cards and posters – have a peep at her work, it’s quite cute.

Strolling around the corner of a cool art Deco hotel we then sought out a workshop she recommended called Circus Kinetica, full of beautiful metalwork creations, jewellery and graffiti, and we met a lovely lad called Piers Mason who was working on this amazing pair of elegant metallic birds – fantastic to see such creativity, and actually in the making.

Finally venturing onto the seafront we messed around on the beach for a bit, pretending to have been shipwrecked and washed up on the shore, and admired the stunning remains of the West Pier, with a few brave surfers heading out in the cold waves.

Getting a little hungry by now we headed back off the beach, passing a steel pan band on the way which started playing a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” as we walked by, and we went and found ourselves a restaurant to have some (almost as mandatory as ice cream) fish ‘n’ chips!

On our way to the station I nipped down a back street to check if some street art was still there… as the very first time I’d gone to Brighton was 4 years ago, solely to catch an exhibition by the Brazilian graffiti artists Tinho, Pato and Flip. Cool to see it all again, and I remembered meeting the likes of Zezão and Speto too in subsequent exhibitions. I wonder how they’re getting on, and what they remember of Brighton…

And with that, we jumped on a train back home, and I slept all the way. Daytrips – more of them please!

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GLOSSARY

• Pebble beach: a beach full of that small rounded kind of stone, instead of sand
• GroupSaver: if you travel by train in the UK in a group of 4 you get 1/3 off the price off all the tickets – genius!
• Sam Toft: http://www.samtoft.co.uk/
• Bank Holiday: são os feriados britânicos durante o ano, caem sempre numa segunda-feira e são chamados de “feriado bancário”.
• Open studio: quite self explanatory really, when an artist opens up their creative space and welcomes friends and visitors to come and drop by.
• To put (2+2) two and two together:to manage to do something relatively simple
• It dawned on me: to slowly realise something, gradually so, like the dawning of a new day
• To mess around: to play around
• West Pier, Brighton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Pier
• Circus Kinetica: http://www.circuskinetica.com/

por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

The other week I went on a tour of the Olympic site. And aside from basing my 10min Portuguese homework presentation on this, I thought I’d tell you guys about it, as it was rather wicked.

Plus it also links our countries, as whilst the world’s eyes begin to fall on on London for next year, Brazil will be paying close attention looking for pointers for Rio 2016.

We know, we know – how on earth do you follow Beijing? Well, that’s pretty impossible really isn’t it, but ah well, we can have crack, or just have fun trying.

Anyway, despite the typical low expectations of the English, I was quietly impressed with what’s being built in East London as they regenerate and build on a vast space in Stratford (no relation to Shakespeare, this area).

I think the event might just turn out as quirky, fresh and modern as the controversial official logo!

The Velodrome, all wooden and shaped rather like a Pringle, is looking pretty. The Olympic Stadium’s almost complete, and the Aquatic Centre’s coming on well. And sat smack bang between the two, costing £22m, is Britain’s most expensive piece of public art, The Orbit, designed by Anish Kapoor.

When complete the rollercoaster-looking tower will stand 114m tall – it was perhaps half way there when I visited – and you can bet the view from the top is gonna be amazing. Check out this short video for an idea of how it’s being made.

But the icing on the cake was a novel project which cost half a million pounds and was whipped up in just 3 month, being a cubic green café called The View Tube.

Pretty much sat as close as you can get to the stadium, the café quite simply offers “a view, a brew, and a pee”, allowing members of the public to get up close and see how the development is coming on, with a classroom space for school groups too.

I was well impressed, but even more so, according to our tour guide, were the Brazilian Olympic officials who were visiting the week previous – so keep your eyes peeled for a View Tube café in Rio in about 5 years time…
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Know More

Official London 2012 website: http://www.london2012.com/

The View Tube website: http://www.theviewtube.co.uk/

Video about The Orbit, by Anish Kapoor: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12584721

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GLOSSARY

• Wicked: nothing to do with being evil, but rather meaning amazing, brilliant, cool
• Pointers: clues as to how something could be done
• To have a crack: quite simply, to have a go, to try
• Stratford:: a little trivia for you… Stratford (the full name of which is Stratford-upon-Avon) is the birthplace of William Shakespeare, whilst it is also the name of the area of London which is being redeveloped for the Olympics
• Quirky: like perculiar, different, novel, intriguing
• Smack bang:an expression used to say right in the very middle of…
• Gonna: abbreviation of ‘going to’
• Icing on the cake: the best bit, ‘the star of the show’, a cereja no bolo
• Whipped up: made, created, to be done
• A view, a brew and a pee: in other words, the chance to see the Olympic site, have a cup of tea and go to the toilet, ‘brew’ meaning a tea, as you brew the leaves in order to make it
• Well impressed: this is the same as saying ‘I was very impressed’, although it’s more slang, so your teachers might not approve

por Milo Steelefox, de Londres*

It was a typical spring day in London, a Saturday, and I cycled south of the river, all the way to Peckham for about 12 o’clock, for it was my friend’s birthday.

On the way back to the city centre I swung by The Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre to catch a 24-hour presentation of a film called The Clock, by Stephen Marclay.

It’s basically a running montage of normal movies, made up of small snippets of feature films, and the catch is that every time you see a clock or a watch it’s always in realtime (the time on screen is always the same as the actual time! – simple, but mesmerising).

But realising time was indeed ticking on, I decided to make a move to go and meet some more friends who’d invited me to go on a cycling graffiti tour at 5 o’clock. I know, what a cool idea huh!

Gathering near Old Street, we were sent off in small groups to follow blue arrows sprayed on the road, equipped with an iPod and a map, so that we could stop at designated points and listen to short commentaries by graffiti artists which provided some background information about the spot, neighbourhood, or specific artist, style, tag, or piece of street art.

It was an amazing experience, truly bringing the streets of East London to life, feeding our imaginations and understanding of what it all means.

And we passed through the iconic neighbourhoods of Shoreditch, Hoxton, Bethnal Green, Dalston and Hackney, then made our way along the canal to the final meeting point, in a cafe opposite the Olympic site, to reflect upon the tour and share feedback with the organiser.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention you’ll notice my references to times do not define AM or PM, but I thought I’d spell it out that this was all done during the night, from 11pm-9am! When my friend asked me a few days prior: “do you want to come on a cycling graffiti tour at 5am”, the novelty was too great, I simply had to say yes!

London is no ‘city that never sleeps’, like NY, but it does like to stay up late every now and again.

Find out more about the graffiti project here: http://undercurrentdesign.com/writingsonthewall/

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GLOSSARY

• I swung by : I went somewhere, ‘dropped by’, ‘dropped in’.
• Snippets : little bits/parts
• The catch: the interesting part, the twist
• Time was ticking on: again, time passing quickly
• To make a move: to leave, to get out of somewhere
• Tag: a signature mark a graffiti artist may use
• Spell it out: make it clear, to explain something

Now I’ve been living in London for over four years now, still very much digging it, but what always provides a refreshed look at what the city has to offer is when friends come to stay, and best of all, when my little brother’s in town.

But (in his eyes) no London visit is complete without going for one of the Thai Vegplaces dotted round the city, a self service buffet of Thai food with dumplings, beef, chicken and prawn dishes (like the one in the picture above).

All very convincing in appearance and taste – it fooled a couple of my friends who didn’t even bat an eyelid – only it’s all made of soya and quorn, imitation.

You simply don’t find novel places like this in the little city my brother and I are from.

Anyway, last time he was down we checked out this amazing exhibition at Westminster University which my architect-cum-designer of a housemate had heard of, Vertical Works by the artist Anthony McCall. Set in a vast and very dark room, it consisted of four projections coming from the ceiling in a row, cones of light, thin strips which made gradually moving simple lines and shapes on the floor.

It was awesome, people were lying down in the light and looking up, and the reason that doing so was so mesmerising was that the room was filled with a thin layer of smoke, which formed swirling and fantastical shapes when it passed through the beams of light, giving you a brilliant 3D sense of the space. Pretty epic.

Following this, a little spaced out, we strolled over to Goodge Street and met another friend for a good cheap pizza. It was fascinating because the Man United v Arsenal FA Cup Final was on, yet you could hear the game fine as the place was half full of deaf people, all conversing enthusiastically in sign language, some of them through the window to their friends outside – fascinating to watch.

My brother was sad we didn’t see that there was a Thai Veg just a few doors down, sowe walked him through China Town and past Leicester Square, the land of all the film premiers, and rounded off the evening by going to a bar called Byron for an Oreo Cookie milkshake.

Check out Vertical Works here

http://www.anthonymccall.com/exhibitions.html

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GLOSSARY

• Hangin’ with my brethren: perhaps you know it, but ‘hanging out’ means like chilling, spending time with your friends for example, and brethren refers to your brothers, which can be used as slang to refer to your friends, though it’s not exactly common!
• Digging it: slang for ‘liking it’
• To go down a treat : to be a success with others, quite literally ‘for people to like you’
• Bat an eyelid : to blink, in other words ‘to react’, always used in the negative way of saying that someone didn’t even respond to something
• Architect-cum-designer: basically meaning an architect who has begun working more in the realm of design
• Spaced out: chilled out, ‘not with it’, saturated

por Milo Steelefox, direto de Londres*
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Glastonbury (Worthy Farm, Pilton)

Surely the festival of all festivals, absolutely massive in both size and calibre of the diverse array of music and entertainment it offers, Glastonbury is quite something to behold. I’ve heard of friends taking 1h30 to simply get from one stage to the next just becase it’s so big and full of people. It’s not the easiest of festivals to get a ticket for either, they seem to evaporate almost as soon as they go on sale, and this year perhaps more rapidly so than ever given that there’ll not be a festival next year, so you’d have to wait until 2013! But if you were going this year you’d be treated to the headline acts of U2, Coldplay, Beyoncé, The Chemical Brothers, Queens of the Stone Age, Wu-Tang Clan, Friendly Fires, and no end of other incredible acts. Take a look at the website for a better flavour, and there’s even a film about the festival that you can check out!

The Big Chill (Eastnor Deer Park, Herefordshire)

OK, now yes I’m a little biased on this one given that it’s a stone’s throw from where I grew up, practically my back garden, but it is brilliant and dearly loved. Saying that, the festival has lost a lot of its regular crowd following a change in ownership, and it’s certainly taking on a younger vibe, moving away from the supremely chilled family atmosphere of before. With one of the most exciting line-ups of the summer, this year’s edition of The Big Chill boasts big guns like The Chemical Brothers, Rodrigo y Gabriela and Calvin Harris, with an exclusive headline set from Kanye West, plus other highlights such as Robert Plant & the Band of Joy, and the UK debut of multimedia electropera The Bullits, featuring Jay Electronica and Lucy Liu. Plenty to look forward to.

Reading & Leeds (Reading and Leeds)

Now every young Englishman’s got to start somewhere and go through the gruelling initiation of the festival experience full of amazing live music… uh, rain and mud, collapsing tents, more mud… and for many teenagers that first adventure comes in the shape of the Reading and Leeds festivals. It’s basically two locations, three days of rock, pop, indie and electronic music, and the bands simply swap places between the two cities, much like Spain’s Summercase in Madrid and Barcelona. Reading was perhaps my first festival, and I only went for a day, and well, seeing Ash, then Muse (in the rain), topped off by the Foo Fighters (the crowd was steaming by that point), it was an incredible night. And I’m glad to see that Muse are back this year, joined by Elbow, Friendly Fires, My Chemical Romance and the dance outfits Simian Mobile Disco and 2 Many DJs, but surely generating the most excitement is the triumphant return of Pulp and The Strokes! What better way to spend the long 3 day August Bank Holiday?

Victoria Park, London (Lovebox / Underage Festival / Field Day)

Right, this isn’t a mistake above with the festival and location in the wrong places, I’m just cheating for this one(!), and I’m going to nominate one of the coolest spots in London when it comes to festivals, and that’s East London’s Victoria Park. First up, founded by Groove Armada, you’ve got Lovebox (15th-17th July), which this year boasts the likes of Snoopdog, The Wombats, Metronomy, Scissor Sisters, Blondie, Robyn and Kelis. And then come August you’ve got a little something for everybody, beginning with one especially for those aged between 13-17, being Underage Festival (5th Aug), featuring Bombay Bicycle Club, Crystal Fighters, Miles Kane and Brother. Growing up overnight, the park then plays host to the blissful Field Day (6th August), bringing you some of the hottest indie bands around including Mount Kimbie, Anita Blay, James Blake, Baio (Vampire Weekend) and Erol Alkan. And then, mixing the kids and the adults, these two are followed by a family-friendly day of music and arts on 7th August called The Apple Cart Festival. Fun for all the family!

Bestival (Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight)

Last but by no means least, this one rounds up the festival season with a huge bang and always a super fun line-up. Now I used to go to the Isle of Wight (yes, an actual island, you gotta catch a boat!) when I was a young boy, and my family used to love going to the theme park Black Gang Chine, but only once did I go to Robin Hill Country Park, and boy should I get myself back there sometime… preferably for early in September, especially if I fancy catching the likes of The Cure, Pendulum, Primal Scream, PJ Harvey, Crystal Castles, Diplo, Katy B, Kelis, Public Enemy, DJ Shadow and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. And if that’s not fun enough, each edition of Bestival has a fancy dress theme, and the dress code for 2011 is ‘rock stars, pop stars and divas’!

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