Well, rarely has a festival been so eagerly anticipated with our reviewers as this year’s Beat-Herder bash in deepest Lancashire this weekend.

Our man placed last year’s festival in his top three festivals EVER! Read such rare praise indeed here.

Imagine you could mix up all the best bits from every event you’ve ever attended – well you’d end up with something not unlike Beat-Herder; beautiful location, chilled atmosphere, wonderful music, creativity and artiness in casual abundance, great food and multiple classic bars (including a relaxed BYO policy to responsibly drinking your own hooch in the arena), loads of stages and ‘event’ spaces … we counted around twenty last year …. And best of all – some of the finest friendliest folk you could ever hope to meet. Our reviewer really thought it was that good.

Mind you, these things don’t just happen; read an exclusive FFA interview with Nick Chambers, one of the guys behind the event here for just a glimpse of the festival ethos and what’s involved.

One of those rare events where the artists are really secondary to the event itself … but what a line up: Jimmy Cliff, Groove Armada (DJ Set), Booka Shade, Skinny Lister, Chic, Norman Jay, Mr Scruff, etcetera etcetera.

Highlights for FFA include Public Service Broadcasting, The surreal Lancashire Hotpots, and the excellent Monster Ceilidh Band…. Each in their own way illustrating what a wonderfully diverse and cross genre festival this is. There is quality across all the stages throughout the bill with this one.

And don’t be mistaken into thinking it's all about the music; for an event of this size there is loads to do and explore … with imagination that puts some huge supposedly ‘creative’ festivals to shame. They’ve even build a fully featured Victorian village street complete with a boozer and a ‘church’ where they rock in the aisles for goodness sake.

There are more ‘happening’s’ here every few metres than you can shake a stick at.

Before we run out of adjectives….Tell you what – just go! You won’t regret it.

The Beat Herder Festival 2013
Dockber Farm 
Sawley 
Lancashire 
BB7 4LH

Starts: Fri 5th to Sun 7th July 2013
Tickets: Adult camping tickets from £105 

Full details HERE.

Article by Barrie Dimond