Festivals are often compared with holidays, and certainly the price you pay to see your favourite bands and sit in a muddy field could well be spent on sunning yourself in a hot destination.

However you just can’t beat that festival experience; with many festival fans believing they are worth every penny. The V festival is no exception to this. Over the years, it has played host to the likes of many musical greats such as: Ian Brown, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Muse and Paul Weller, to name a few. Generally known as the more mainstream/ commercial’ festival option, V is now successfully in it’s fourteenth year running, with one of the most diverse line-ups, and a brilliant party atmosphere.

V prides itself as the original British festival to be simultaneously held at two different venues. The making of this two-day music extravaganza began in 1995, when Brit-rock band Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker (see page 14) shared his vision of playing two different outdoor venues over two days. When, eventually, Pulp organised a gig in Victoria Park Warrington and Hylands Park Chelmsford, the idea grew and grew, resulting in other bands playing and the opportunity for people to camp. The event was a success, expanding in size and population to the V festival we know today, based in both Chelmsford and Staffordshire.

Ultimately, V never pretends to be something that it is not. The fact that this festival is openly and shamelessly commercial, boasting the cream of pop’s guilty pleasures, is the main attraction for many of its fans. This is not for festival fans who are looking to discover new bands, or quirky, unique acts. Virgin’s previous owner Richard Branson admitted this too, supporting the selling point that you don’t have to “rough it” at V. By creating an event that takes place over just Saturday and Sunday, festival goers get a sweeter, shorter-lived experience of camping in a muddy field with thousands of people. It’s like an action movie with all of the dull, talky bits edited out.

V consists of the typical features and layout found at most festivals, with a number of different stages for the ‘something for everyone’ appeal. The festival provides some of the biggest music headliners around, this year it being rock legends Oasis and The Killers headlining as the main attraction. However what makes V truly special is the liberal sprinkling of pop music’s finest. With the likes of Katy Perry, Lady Ga Ga, Lemar, and The Saturdays all hitting various stages throughout the weekend, V has the extra glitz pop factor that many festivals fail to feature. Nevertheless, even if you’re not pop’s biggest fan, Vs line up still boasts other great genres and unmissable acts from the music industry; with Elbow, Peter Doherty, The King Blues, Biffy Clyro and 2 many DJs also set to storm the stages this August. And if that’s still too mainstream for your music ears, V offers the ultimate dream for unsigned bands. Their competition ‘Road to V’ gives unsigned acts of all genres the opportunity to be the very first act to perform on the main stage, with the winner being chosen by the public and fans. The contest helps to promote and discover new and upcoming bands, with previous acts such as Young Knives and Johnny Foreigner winning.

The more varied line up change has helped V to become one of the most popular and well-known festivals within the UK. This was proven in 2006, the most popular V to date, when box offices sold out in a tremendous three hours, bringing in 158,000 festival attendees. This record-selling year had the most varied line up to date, ranging from Radiohead to Girls Aloud, and Art Brut to Kano. Where else can you see acts like these under the same roof (ok, I mean sky)? The ever-growing trend among festivals lately has been to include other features in the parks, such as silent discos, fairgrounds and exclusive cinema screenings; with Reading and Leeds, Latitude and Glastonbury all offering music lovers the chance to experience other art forms at their festivals. Yet with V, the event sticks to what it knows best, and generally what we pay £150 for, the music. What V may lack in other areas of festival fun, can definitely be made up for in the huge variation of music in the line up.

Exclusive to V Festival, is The Bacardi Arena and Strongbow bowtime Bar, both available to be experienced in both Chelmsford and Staffordshire’s parks. These unique features offer live music, relaxing seating areas, and exciting games, all in the good company of a bar offering your standard festival drinks, with the added extra of cocktails available. Bars are also operated through a token system, making the ‘waiting at the bar’ process a speedier, easier affair. And if you don’t happen to use up all your tokens, you can go back to the machine and exchange them back to the good old pound coin. For the festival goers wanting to get up and close with their favourite bands, the NME signing tent is an absolute must. If you’re willing to stand in a (usually) long, hot queue, the opportunity to get a photo or autograph from some of the acts performing over the weekend is an exciting experience. And of course, there’s the chance to practice your best rock moves with Guitar Hero World Tour, with the popular music game being brought to the festival, giving all rock star-wannabes the chance to show off their skills.

V is the only place where you can mosh to Pendulum, only to be moments later swaying your arms to the mellow melodies of Will Young. Recommended by many as the ideal first festival, you can experience the much-dreaded port-a-loos, finally test out those newly bought wellies, and check out music’s finest acts. This friendly, fun festival will make you wonder why you never went sooner...

Words > Kathryn Lewsy