Festival Frenzy: Where to Stay When the Summer Sessions Kick Off…

As we crowd-surf our way towards festival season, tickets are selling like hot cakes and so is the accommodation! Visitors aren’t always guaranteed a pitch at their favourite events, so Pitchup.com has put together a round up of some of the biggest UK names on the festival calendar, complete with accommodation options.

1) Festival:  Parklife – 09-10 June 2012, Manchester

Returning for another mammoth carnival at Manchester’s Platt Fields, this summer’s showcase sees the likes of Labyrinth, Dizzee Rascal, Kelis, Nero and Pendulum take to the stage over the course of the weekend.

Camp:  With no camping facilities available on site at Parklife, visitors need a place to crash out when the party is over. And what better than their very own carpeted, camping pod at Moorlands, where they can sleep snugly and soundly, just a short 20 minutes from Manchester’s city centre. With a selection of country pubs on the doorstep, visitors can stave off heavy heads with a delicious lunch.  Each pod can sleep up to three adults and pods are priced from £40 per night.

2) Festival:  T4 on the Beach - 01 July 2012, Weston-super-Mare

This year sees T4 celebrate an entire decade of their prominent beach party, popular amongst younger revellers. The line up for this year’s Weston-super-Mare based shindig is soon to be announced and we can bet it’ll be a good one…

Camp:  The day-long beach party can be combined with an overnight tipi stay at nearby Court Farm Country Park. The traditional, roomy tipis sleep up to six people and are well kitted out with a double bed and four roll mats. Tipis priced from £60 per night.

3) Festival:  The Isle of Wight Festival - 21-24 June 2012, Isle of Wight

The first of several summer events on the Isle, the renowned Isle of Wight Festival is welcoming rock legend, Bruce Springsteen, to the main stage, as well as Jessie J, Feeder, Tinie Tempah and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Camp:  For a little more space and luxury away from the festival site itself, revellers can stay in the Wight Bells of the Old Barn Touring Park in one of their spacious bell tents. Each tent benefits from its own deck with outdoor seating, and they even have their own electricity supply for fairy lights, charging mobile phones and making a cuppa. Tents are priced at £200 for three nights over the festival weekend.

4) Festival:  Latitude - 12-15 July 2012, Suffolk

Latitude festival takes place in Henham Park, Suffolk and is said to be the most similar event to continental European festivals. As well as a super impressive bill of musicians, bands and artists across four stages, the festival comprises elements of theatre, art, comedy, cabaret, poetry, politics, dance and literature.

Camp:  Visitors can escape the hustle and bustle at the end of the festival and pitch up at Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre, a quiet orchard campsite that doesn’t just welcome ‘horsey’ guests. With new showering facilities, guests will find the site the perfect place to get clean, chill out and bed down under the stars for the night. Pitches priced from £12.50 per night.

5) Festival: The Edinburgh Fringe Festival – August 2012, Scotland

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world, taking place every August for three weeks in Scotland’s capital city. Each year sees thousands of performers take to stages all over the city to present shows for every taste, including theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, music, exhibitions and more…

Camp:  The perfect vision of a Scottish hideaway, Balgair Castle Holiday Park sits outside of the city in Stirlingshire. Rivers bursting with salmon, hills and dales a-plenty, this holiday park has great new facilities for summer including a brand new outdoor pool and on-site bistro. Pitches are priced from £20 per night.

6) Festival:  V Festival - 18-19 August 2012, Staffordshire

The penultimate weekend in August sees V Festival hit central England at two parks in Staffordshire simultaneously - artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. Stone Roses and The Killers are headlining this year’s line up.

Camp:  Tickets are sold out so this one is going to be popular and busy. Those lucky enough to have a ticket can escape the crowds and stay at Forestside Farm. The site has been featured in "The Rough Guide to Camping" as a “little pocket of camping bliss”. There are complimentary showers and fab washing-up facilities for camp-fire cuisine. Stay in one the site’s comfy camping pods, sleeping two people and priced at £35 per night.

ends

Issued by Flagship Consulting

For further information on other festivals and events and where to stay, or for any other media information, please contact:

Lewis Shields   020 7886 8449 lewis.shields@flagshipconsulting.co.uk

Laetitia Redbond 020 7886 8457 laetitia.redbond@flagshipconsulting.co.uk

About Pitchup.com

Winner of the Travel Journalists’ Award for Best UK Travel Website of the Year at the British Travel Press Awards 2011 and Best Travel Information Site at the 2010 Travolution awards, Pitchup.com is the most comprehensive website in the camping and caravanning sector. Launched in July 2009, the site features 5,000 campsites and holiday parks in the UK and Ireland, including many in hard-to-find locations. The website enables users to search and book using more than 80 search criteria to fine-tune their holiday requirements, and features mapping technology to make getting there simple too. The site also lists accommodation near nine National Parks, hundreds of beaches, 17 World Heritage Sites and the main UK festivals and can view nearby Good Pub Guide pubs, National Trust properties and National Cycle Network routes. Website owners can also add custom Pitchup.com listings to their site.