#213 - 5 UK Music Festivals This Summer And Their History
Glastonbury Festival
Originally called the ‘Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival’, the first Glastonbury festival took place on 19 September 1970 with an audience of 1,500 – tickets were just £1! Now it is one of the UK’s biggest music festivals, with 140,000 attendees last year. It has hosted many big names such as David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, Metallica and The Smiths. This year it will take place 21st - 25th June.
Reading and Leeds Festival
Reading and Leeds Festival started life very differently in 1961 as The National Jazz Festival. The festival found it’s permanent home in Reading in 1971 and the name was changed from ‘The National Jazz, Blues and Rock Festival’ to ‘Reading Rock’ in 1976. Due to popularity, the sister festival in Leeds started in 1999. Recently pulling crowds of over 300,000 people between them, Reading and Leeds fesitvals continue to be a great success. This year it will take place 25th - 27th August.
Isle Of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival was built as a series of festivals between 1968 and 1970. Over 600,000 people attended in 1970 to watch the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors and Joni Mitchell perform. However, the festival was banned by Parliament in 1970 in fear that the growing numbers and wild partying would negatively impact the island. The festival was relaunched with great success in 2002 by John Giddings. This year it will take place 15th - 18th June.
Parklife Festival
Founded in 2010, Parklife is an annual two-day music festival in Manchester. The festival predominantly features dance and electronic music, as well as pop and hip-hop artists. It has previously hosted acts such as Snoop Dog, Rudimental, Two Door Cinema Club and Lewis Capaldi. This year it will take place 10th - 11th June.
Victorious Festival
Starting in 2011, Victorious Festival is a large family-friendly festival for music lovers. Alongside its unbelievable music line up such as Paolo Nutini, Madness, Bastille, Sam Fender, Victorious plays host to amazing comedy acts. Family is at the heart of Victorious; you’ll find a kid’s stage with its own line up of Children’s book and TV favourites alongside tonnes of completely free activities to keep young ones entertained. This year it will take place 25th -27th August.
