The best festival is one that considers ALL its customers regardless of age, gender, ability or attention span. I'm sick of festivals that have nothing for the older child/young teenager, or for the older, less active adult, or where the differently abled will be accepted and encouraged, rather than tolerated or shunned.

Regretably, I'd have to say that the best festival I've been to that covered all that wasn't in Britain, but Belgium/France. Dranouter festival is sponsored by the premier radio station in Belgium, so it can afford to do the things that maybe we in the UK can't do. It has a huge variety of music, several "pubs" (beer tents) on site, at least 2 huge concert tents, smaller concert/dance venues, a large variety of food at sensible prices, soft drinks at child-affordable rates, decking for buggies and wheelchairs to ride on, a children's area for ages 0-14 with a vast array of activities for all, a greater variety of craft stalls (so many of the UK stall holders do a set pattern of festivals - if your pattern coincides, you never see anything different), a 'chill out' zone for teenagers, local participation rather than tolerance and so many more places to sit! The only drawback is that there are very few places where you can join in and share your own music... it's almost all 'laid on' and sessions are not really encouraged on site. Leastways, I've never found one yet.

But each year is different.... what was the best festival for me personally this year, isn't the same one as last year, and for totally different reasons. Sometimes I want to participate, sometimes I just want to enjoy. You ask 50 people what the 'best festival' is and you'll get 83 different answers.

LTS