RELAX
Restival, Arizona
14-19th and 21-26th September
Sometimes festivals feel a bit more like an endurance test than a break. Well, that’s not the case with Arizona’s Restival, which gives you a taste of traditional Navajo life in a contemporary setting. Try your hand at Navajo language sessions, art classes and astronomy, or settle for some yoga and meditation.
EXPLORE
Dimensions, Croatia
30th August-3rd September
Everyone knows that the setting for Dimensions (an abandoned fort on the coast) is incredible, and the line-up (Grace Jones, Theo Parrish, Gilles Peterson, Ben UFO) just as good. But it also gives you a chance to extend your holiday and explore the rest of Croatia at the same time – like the amazing Krka National Park and Zlatni Rat beach.
ESCAPE
Field Maneuvers, London Location TBC
1st-3rd September
Too often these days, festivals are synonymous with crowds, queues and long drives. ‘Dirty little rave’ Field Maneuvers changes all that. Limited to a capacity of only 700 people in a secret location, it’s all about intimacy and good vibes. With residents Ben Sims, Santi Celeste and Midland and a Funktion-One system, it’s gonna be a good one.
WORK OUT
Balance, London
12th-14th May
If you want to totally eschew the traditional festival activities of drinking, partying and eating all the carbs available to you, then go for London’s Balance festival. Fitness heavyweights Barry’s Boot Camp, Boom Cycle and Frame join clean-eating gurus Detox Kitchen and the Mindful Chef to make sure you leave feeling better than when you arrived.
EAT
Wilderness Festival, Oxfordshire
3rd-6th August
As well as having a stellar line-up (Bonobo, Jackmaster, Nightmares On Wax), Wilderness Festival have seriously upped the festival food game this year. Forget the burrito truck and opt for one of their long table banquets for communal feasting with Yotam Ottolenghi, Nuno Mendes and Thomasina Miers.
Lifestyle: Lists
Top 5: Festivals with a Difference
Time to shake up your festival season
