Name: Leeds Festival.

Occupation: Yorkshire’s biggest rock gathering, run by Festival Republic.

Where: Bramham Park, near Wetherby, also the home of the equine form of three-day eventing.

When: Today until Sunday.

Tickets: Sold out… again. Anyone without a valid ticket will not be admitted.

What headline acts will the great unwashed of Yorkshire be watching? Canadian media darlings Arcade Fire make their Leeds Festival debut tonight, plugging new album The Suburbs in one of only two UK festival shows this summer; Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker play Leeds and Reading Festivals as their exclusive British festival shows for this year, topping tomorrow’s main-stage bill; Axl Rose’s 2010 version of Guns N’ Roses close the festival on Sunday. They last played Leeds in 2002 and again Leeds and Reading are their only UK festival outings.

The big talking point: Aside from the will-they-won’t-they-turn-up speculation surrounding Guns N’Roses, another controversial act take up the gossip: the reunion of Carl Barat and Peter (or is he back to Pete again?) Doherty in The Libertines. Essential viewing on the main stage tonight.

The safe bets: Today, main stage, rapper and talent show judge Dizzee Rascal, Wakefield’s The Cribs, Mystery Jets and The Futureheads; NME/Radio 1 stage, Pendulum; Festival Republic stage, Ash. Tomorrow, main stage, Paramore, Cypress Hill; NME/Radio 1 stage, Klaxons, Band Of Horses; Festival Republic stage, British Sea Power, Helmsley’s One Night Only; Sunday, main stage, Queens Of The Stone Age, Lostprophets; NME/Radio 1 stage, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Mumford & Sons, Delphic; Festival Republic stage, Marina & The Diamonds.

Alternatively: Chance your arm today on Crystal Castles on the NME/Radio 1 stage; Bad Religion on the Lock Up Stage and Villagers on Festival Republic stage. Tomorrow, try out The Wild Beasts, Los Campesinos! and The Drums on NME Radio 1 stage; Four Tet on the Dance Stage; and comedian Emo Philips on the Alternative stage. Sunday, catch Biffy Clyro and Gogol Bordello on the main stage; Yeasayer and New Young Pony Club on the NME/Radio 1 stage; Adam Green on the Festival Republic stage; and Jason Byrne and Andrew Lawrence on the Alternative stage.

What are the traffic plans? Ideally, don’t go by car; do go by shuttle bus to and from York or Leeds railway station or Leeds bus station straight into the site. For more information and timetables of the shuttle buses, visit leedsfestival.com or phone 0113 263 9491.

If you insist on taking the car, please note: Travel to the A1, M1 or the A1(M), whether you are coming from north, south, east or west, and then follow the signs from the motorway. No access from the A64 travelling eastbound out of Leeds; instead you will meet a roadblock. No access from any of the old routes, ie Junction 46 off the M1, or from the ring road, or from the A58.

Festival information: leedsfestival.com


Festival with 100 bands... and ales

ONE hundred bands spread over four “genre-defying” stages and 100 different real ales, lagers, ciders, scrumpy, parries and wines make up the 2010 Forest of Galtres Festival this weekend at Crayke, near York.

Ian Broudie’s Lightning Seeds headline tomorrow’s main-stage bill at 9.45pm, while Birmingham ska legends The Beat top Sunday’s line-up at 9.30am at the festival run by James Houston. Further national names are Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls of The Wonder Stuff tomorrow at 7.45pm, and Nineties’ power-pop trio Dodgy on Sunday at 7.45pm.

York musician Chris Helme, late of The Yards and The Seahorses, will be playing at the festival for the first time. He will headline the acoustic Oxman stage tomorrow night at 8.45pm, and also perform a half-hour set with the Arts Barge Orchestra from 6pm on Sunday, when he will be joined by Andy Stones and guitarist Nick Walker to create “some sunshine festival goodtime singalongs”.

The Arts Barge Orchestra will be among the festival’s busiest contributors, also playing sets with The Jitters, Andy Stones and Littlemores.

Consult galtresfestival.org.uk for the festival running order, but here is a list of some of the performers: Aimie J Ryan; Mambo Con Rumbo; Buccaneers; GT Turbo; Jess Gardham; Keegan Snaize; Carissa Broadwater; People: In Airports; Sarah Horn & James Cudworth; Alvin Purple; Simon Snaize & Heather Findlay; David Ward MacLean; The Dilfs; Edwina Hayes; Honeytone Cody; Holly Taymar; Ryan Spendlove; One Way Street; The Syndicate; Trophy Club; Mantra; Yorkulele; Dorien Starre; Rinkadon and Friends; Lost From Atlas; Mundo Rendezvous; Arthur Rigby and The Baskervylles; The Federals; Dave Smith; Glass; Copasetics; We Could Be Astronauts; Young Believers; Tears Of Ishtar; Catch It Kebabs; and Jiggawatt.

A further attraction is the Festival of Fun, featuring traditional fairground rides; songwriting workshops; Bollywood dance with Salma; storytelling with Adrian Spendlow; and the Funky Junk Trio performances and workshops.

• The festival takes place at Crayke between Mosswood Lane and Crayke Lane. See the website for ticket details and festival times.


Limetree Festival, Grewelthorpe, near Ripon

THE Limetree Festival lines up big names and regional artists from the worlds of jazz, funk and soul in the natural conservation area and spiritual sanctuary of Limetree Farm, Hutts Lane, Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, from today until Sunday.

Blessed with its own stone circle and Iron Age round house, the groovy, green and serene, the family-run festival offers a long Bank Holiday weekend of traditional festival fare with a hip, contemporary feel in its third year.

This summer’s festival line-up includes punk stalwarts The Blockheads; jazz specialists the James Taylor Quartet; international reggae star Rocky Dawuni from Ghana, fresh from recording his fifth album Hymns For The Rebel Soul; and Limetree favourites, soul and funk outfit Chunky Butt Funky.

For the first time, the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show on BBC 6Music – which supports many of the bands performing at the festival – will be broadcasting live from Limetree tomorrow night.

Bands play in one of three areas. The Green Man stage shows many of the headline acts. This year alongside The Blockheads, James Taylor and Rocky Dawuni will be folk duo O’Hooley & Tidow, Huddersfield’s Kava Kava and Geordie funk duo Smoove and Turrell.

Jason Rae, The Haggis Horns saxophonist and husband to Corinne Bailey Rae, was part of the Leeds music scene until his premature death in 2008. In honour of their friend and colleague, Limetree founders Sean and Karen Birdsall named a stage after Jason and use this as a platform for regional and national talent.

The diversity of the northern music scene will be represented by eight-piece hip hop funk band Mouse Outfit; dubsteppers the SubMotion Orchestra; dance DJ legends Utah Saints; and Afrobeat space jazz musicians The Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra.

After its debut at last year’s Limetree Festival, Queerinspace returns with music, comedy and film in its Bet Lynch tent, home to singer-songwriters Ella Edmonson and Rodina; harpist Fiona Katie Roberts, who plays, designs and builds her own harps; Madam Laycock and her Dabeno Pleasures’ burlesque show; and ragtime revellers The Devil’s Juke Box.

Watch out for stewards running around collecting rubbish to Yackety Sax, the Benny Hill theme tune, which will be played at random intervals.

Craft areas, face painting, workshops and nature trails will be going on throughout the weekend for children of all ages, and there will be special areas set up for family camping. Co-founder Sean Birdsall says: “I love the fact that simply through starting this festival we’ve created the chance for people to get together and make friends, many of which are lasting. “All we want is to create something pure and beautiful where good people are and good people come; that’s why it is so important that those who come to our festival feel completely at home – and that Limetree is like being in your friend’s back garden, only with better music.”

See limetreefestival.co.uk for full festival line-up and ticket details.