Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the street, well more accurately in a muddy field, as festival fever hits.

There is a whole host of festivals offering every conceivable genre of music...

FLICKY HARRISON takes a look

WOMAD is just down the road at Charlton Park near Malmesbury and has a host of world music acts from around the globe.

An old friend to WOMAD is returning this year, the Ohio-born singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur.

He was the first American act to be signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World label twenty years ago and has played at many WOMAD events.

The son of a classical music conductor, Tom Hickox, was brought up with the sounds of orchestral strings ringing in his ears but the story telling-style songwriter with his rich baritone voice writes has been compared to such artists as Scott Walker, Randy Newman, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen.

The seven-strong Amsterdam Klezmer Band began life in the mid-1990s as a group of buskers playing traditional Yiddish party music on the streets but have since evolved into an internationally acclaimed touring band.

Duchess of British folk Eliza Carthy returns this year with her latest project, the 12-piece powerhouse that is The Wayward Band.

There is nothing like a bit of Bombay dreaming to conjure up the musical phenomenon that is Bhangra. Gurcharan Mall has been at the heart of the movement for almost half a century, popularising the thunderous sound of the Dhol drums of northern India.

Each year organisers of the festival match up students from Malmesbury School and surrounding primaries to perform with professional musicians at WOMAD.

This year it is Bristol-based global-folk band Sheelanigig, who will be putting the pupils through some groove and stomping rhythms in an original European folk style.

For some it is a huge, life-changing adventure to come to WOMAD. The Tanzania Albinism Collective have never travelled outside Tanzania.

Grammy-winning producer and author Ian Brennan went to northern Tanzania to work with members of the long-persecuted albinism community.

When he arrived in 2016 none of the collective had previously played an instrument or written a song, but eighteen would be singers, ranging in age from 24 to 57, joined his workshop. They came up with a poignant set of songs to perform at WOMAD.

Others on board include: Oumou Sangaré, Benjamin Zephaniah and the Revolutionary Minds, Nick Mulvey and La Dame Blanche but WOMAD is not just about the serious side of world music there is a whole adventure land for the children and a host of culinary delights for families waiting to be tasted.

Yalumba Taste the World stage boasts an array of artists cooking up a storm, a partnership with award-winning Australian wine brand Yalumba, cookery lessons for kids, and a smorgasbord of other treats for festival-goers to try.

World of Children has the theme of Earth, Fire, Water and Air, this year encouraging art and imagination as they create costumes, puppets, masks and flags in readiness for the famous finale procession around the whole festival site at 6pm on Sunday.

The festival runs from Thursday, July 27, to Sunday, July 30. Tickets are £210 for four days from womad.co.uk.

Other local festival include...

  • 2000Trees Festival runs from Thursday, July 6 to Saturday, July 8 and features Lower Than Atlantis, Nothing But Thieves, Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes, Deaf Havana, Mallory Knox, Pulled Apart By Horses and Slaves.

The forest festival is at Upcote Farm, Withington, Cheltenham and tickets are £110 for three days and £90 for two days. Visit twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk

  • Once Upon A Time In The West runs from Thursday, July 13 to Sunday, July 16 and is in its fourth year.

The Grass Roots Award nominated festival features a line-up including Pronghorn, The Guns of Navarone, Cash Converted, Tapioka and local talent 3 Daft Monkeys and Mick O’Toole. The rural festival is in the vicinity of Trowbridge and Westbury in Wiltshire. Tickets are £75 for adults. Visit outwestfestival.co.uk.

  • End of The Road Festival runs from Thursday, August 31 to Sunday, September 3 at the Larmer Tree Gardens, near Blandford, in Dorset.

The festival features Father John Misty, Mac Demarco, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Band of Horses and Bill Callaghan amongst others. Tickets for adults for the weekend are £189. Visit endoftheroadfestival.com.

  • Reading Festival traditionally runs over the August Bank Holiday Thursday, August 24 to Sunday,August 27 and headliners are Kasabian, Muse and Emnem with Liam Gallagher, Blossoms and Ash (pictured) also on the A-lister line-up. Richmond Avenue in Reading plays host to the annual rock extravaganza.

Tickets are £213 for camping weekend.

More details from readingfestival.com.

  • Arctangent Festival will take place from Friday, August 17 to Sunday, August 19.

This year’s two headliners are Converge and Explosions in the Sky. Set on Fernhill Farm, only 10 miles from Bristol, tickets for the festival are £105 for a three day ticket and £87 for two day ticket. More details from arctangent.co.uk.