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Festivals Lunar Festival Umberslade Estate, Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire, Fri 6 - Sun 8 June After a successful debut in 2013, Lunar returns to Umberslade Estate for the second time. Set in the spiritual home of Nick Drake and based on sister festival Moseley Folk, this three-day event prides itself on creating a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere. A variety of dance and craft workshops can be enjoyed throughout each day, as well as a kids’ climbing wall and a separate family camping area. Musically, the line-up boasts a strong collection of alternative rock, indie and folk bands - British Sea Power (headliners), Tim Burgess, Lanterns On The Lake and Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, to name but a few. The arrival of evening finds the festival offering more of a clubbing environment, with the main bar becoming the centre stage for household DJs to keep Lunar alive into the early hours. Holi One Colour Festival The Rainbow Arena, Digbeth, Birmingham, Sat 28 June This over-eighteens event is said to be inspired by the original Indian Holi fest - but rather than promoting religious aspects, it’s instead promoting the ideas of togetherness and the colour of everyday life. Every hour, on the hour, natural, non-toxic, coloured powder will be thrown in celebration. International DJs including Florian Kunicke, Richard Grey, Eddy Karmona and Mauro Pierotti present throughout the day, ensuring the arches of Digbeth are filled not only with brightly coloured powder but also the sounds of house, electro, funk, hip-hop, breaks and plenty more. Food and drink are available to purchase on site. Attendees are encouraged to wear white clothing. Ludlow Arts Festival Ludlow Caste, Ludlow Square, Shropshire Sat 28 June - Sun 6 July Having been running now for over fifty years, Ludlow Arts has arguably earned itself a reputation as one of Shropshire’s most prestigious events. This year’s festival, as always, features an impressive line-up of drama, comedy, music and family entertainment. Eleven-piece contemporary folk ensemble Bellowhead headline on 5 July, with ’70s legends David Essex, Showaddywaddy and The Bay City Rollers taking their place in the outdoor concert line-up on the 6th. Multi-award-winning comedian Milton Jones and master ventriloquist Paul Zerdin also appear (2 July), with family favourite The Sooty Show kicking things off on the festival’s penultimate day (5 July). Bellowhead Call me unique BASS14 Festival Various Birmingham venues, Sun 1 - Sat 14 June ‘Made In Britain’ provides the theme for BASS14, two weeks of celebrations which highlight the quality of Black arts, music and entertainment in the Midlands. Award-winning record producer Curtis Lynch kicks off the festival with his challenge to produce the BASS14 theme tune in a twelve-hour period and using only local talent. Curtis’ aim is to go live on air with his Made In Britain theme song by 8pm. Fingers crossed! BASS14 programming includes: The Bass Informs sessions, providing a platform for young artists to learn from some of the biggest names in the industry (2 June); a screening of ’80s movie Babylon, followed by a Q&A session with Aswad frontman Brinsley Forde (4 June); an evening of laughter from Drum regulars and two of Britain’s ‘finest’ comedians, Curtis Walker and John Simmitt (6 June); and visual art with a difference, when Birmingham-based artist Sweaty Eskimo is tasked with creating a largescale painting in just seven hours at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (10 June). Musical contributions to the festival come courtesy of Grime Unplugged. Demonstrating the versatility and range of the music and artists, BASS14 is also going acoustic with some of the biggest artists in the genre, including Ghetts, Blizzard and Eyez... For full details of all festival events, visit, www.bass14.co.uk Download Festival Donington Park, Castle Donington, Derby, Fri 13 - Sun 15 June Aerosmith Seen as the spiritual home of rock, Donington Park has played host to this major festival for more than ten years. Organised by Live Nation, Download regularly attracts the creme de la creme of rock, heavy metal and punk, with more than one hundred-andforty acts this year scheduled to appear across three days and five stages. American rock takes top billing, with Avenged Sevenfold headlining the main stage on the Friday. Linkin Park take centre-stage on the Saturday, while Aerosmith close the festival on the Sunday. Fall Out Boy, Status Quo, Alter Bridge, Trivium, The Pretty Reckless, The Offspring and Twisted Sister also feature in an impressive line-up. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 49