DOWN HOME FESTIVAL Church Farm, nr Shoreham Fri 10th – Sun 12th
A rare chance for Sussex citizens to play up to the metropolitan view of us as inbred hillbilly types, the Down Home Festival celebrates Southern English country, blues and Americana under cover of a couple of barns in the Adur Valley. A strong bill of very familiar, rootsy Brighton names (Mudlow, Drookit Dogs, The Laylanas, The Long Goodye et al) will be doing their best to kick-up a dust storm and drink the EC Cider-lake dry. Loop it ain’t. (SH)
REDFEST Redhill Sat 25th- Sun 26th
A gem of a festival for any music and charity lovers; Redfest 2009 graces the rural surroundings of Redhill for its third year to present the best in local talent. The two-day festival which features a main stage, acoustic tent and local bands stage, has gained a reputation for championing new talent while providing excellent food, drink, camping and hell loads of fun. This year, Floors And Walls join Mean Poppa Lean to play the main stage, whilst Crawley BOTB winners A Day After Tomorrow rock the local stage. Previous acts have included Newton Faulkner and Blood Red Shoes and at only £15 for the weekend ticket and half the proceeds going to Oxfam, this is a festival not to be missed. (CC)
WHITE AIR Madeira Drive Sept 18th – 20th
If chucking yourself about on tiny wheels, leaping off things and hurling yourself into the sea is your bag, then come to White Air in September. After twelve awesome and high-fiving summers on the Isle of Wight, Britain’s premier ticketed extreme sports and music festival is coming to Brighton. There are 40 sports on display offering various levels of extremity, all with a come and have a go element to them, including high diving, jet skis, scuba diving, martial arts, and quiet sofa sitting (OK, the last one’s a lie). The live music includes The Cribs, British Sea Power and White Lies. Set across almost a mile stretch of the beach east of the pier, they’re expecting 60,000 people to attend. (NC)
OUT OF THE ORDINARY Knockhatch Farm, Hailsham Sept 18th – 20th
When you think about festivals in the traditional sense, like the pre-corporate hell days of Glastonbury, you picture an altogether more innocent time when it wasn’t all just pilled-up idiots blaring out gabba on a shiity stereo at five in the morning. OOTO promises a rare and timely antidote to all of that, with a great and green family vibe in the shape of circus skills, healing, poetry, dance and workshops, as well as a diverse live music bill including Eat Static, Banco De Gaia, PRJCT MYHM and the enticingly named Weird Sleeping Kittens. As you’d expect, there’s good eating at the ethical market with local food, wines and ales. (NC)
BEACHDOWN Devil’s Dyke Aug 28th – 31st
Brighton’s only residential festival, Beachdown returns for its second year after 2008’s polite inaugural success. It should be busier this year. You really can’t beat the setting – miles of beautiful South Downs on every side and a layout that means any rain just runs away, preventing any quagmire problems. There’s an admirable step away from the usual shit-in-a-tray festival catering in favour of Brighton businesses serving food you recognise from our own streets. In fact there’s a definite for Brighton, from Brighton vibe to the whole event, with the half bands boasting a BN postcode including SOURCE cover stars Heels Catch Fire as well as Mean Poppa Lean and Gloria Cycles. Outsiders gracing the stage include Grace Jones, The Zutons, Super Furry Animals and Saint Etienne. (NC)
