Ben Wilkinson

Yup, it's that time of year again... When those festival goers amongst us with exceptional taste head out to the Suffolk countryside, ready to enjoy three days of the best music, poetry, literature, film, cabaret and comedy this country - and beyond - has to offer. And this year's Latitude Festival , due to take place from Thursday 17 th to Sunday 2 oth July - as impossible a feat as it may sound - promises to be even better than last time around. Regular Wasteland readers (Hello? Hello ...?) will recall that I reviewed the festival for the organisers last year, as part of a team writing reviews, round-ups, features and interviews that were posted on the festival's website throughout the weekend. Back then we were treated to the likes of CSS , Rodrigo Y Gabriela , Patrick Wolf , Bat for Lashes and Canadian alt-rock giants Arcade Fire on the music bill, as well as top comedians including Bill Bailey , Russell Howard and Michael McIntyre , not to mention excellent write...

Back from a fucking excellent weekend at Suffolk's Latitude Festival. Seriously, there's no other way to describe it. Brilliant bands and performers, some of the best comedians around, author readings, electric poetry sets, cabaret, film showings, mutli-coloured sheep... this festival offers everything; everything that goddamn pre-book-8-months-in-advance Glastonbury lacks. There's too many highlights to comment on, really, so check out the website if you're interested in what to expect if you head off this time next year: www.latitudefestival.co.uk . Below is a selection of the reviews I contributed whilst there: Poetry Arena ~ Thursday Poetry Arena ~ Friday Interview: Who is Richard Milward? Literary Arena ~ Saturday Poetry Arena ~ Saturday Bat for Lashes, CSS, Rodrigo Y Gabriela ~ Saturday Literary and Poetry Arena ~ Sunday Clare Pollard ~ Interview (new)

As the weather looks ever more hopeful before inevitably and crushingly turning on us in the truest of British traditions, I'm off to Sussex today before heading on to Latitude Festival this Thursday. Fingers crossed for a dry weekend then. As a result, I won't be scribbling much on this page, but then I suppose that's almost always been the case. I will, however, be posting a fair bit on the Latitude Festival website: www.latitudefestival.co.uk - reviewing and commenting on the Poetry and Literary stages, plus general stuff about the festival and how much you'll be missing if you're not there, as it happens. Still, it's not too late, as I think a few weekend camping tickets are available... Don't save I didn't warn you...