Latitude Festival

Tucked away in deepest sleepy Suffolk, through a shady, sweet-smelling pine wood and across a wooden bridge, is Latitude, perhaps the best-curated and most smoothly run of the new breed of boutique festivals in the UK. It never gets too crowded, the music is superb (recent acts include Arcade Fire, Patti Smith and The Zutons), there are some brilliant poetry, comedy and literary draws (Bill Bailey, Dylan Moran and Roger McGough, for example), as well as a film tent and a cabaret section. A very civilised veneer floats over this gently debauched and wildly varied festival: small enough to be relaxing, Latitude still manages to offer enough to keep you occupied – and excited – all weekend.

Highlights

Latitude has managed to pull in big-name acts from the off, so the headliners will be worth wiggling down to the front for. Away from the centre stages, though, settle down in the poetry tent with a mug of cocoa or a hot toddy: you’re guaranteed to see at least one absolute gem of a performance.

In The Know

Head Count

Around 15,000 tickets are sold for the weekend.

Meeting Point

The huge tree that's about midway between the two stages.

Packing Tips

Take sunscreen, as most of the site is unshaded – on the whole, you’ll be able to forage for most of what you need at the festival (there’s even a grocery shop).

Escape

Scoot off into nearby Southwold for a paddle along the sandy shore with its neat row of beach huts.

Dos and don'ts

• Bring bug spray if you tend to attract midges – the sunny, grassy site and meandering river attract sociable squadrons of flying critters at dusk.
• Visit Walberswick, just a stroll away from Southwold, if you get time. It’s a quintessential English seaside town, set in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• If you go down to the woods at night… there’s usually an impromptu gig going on somewhere beneath those pine trees.
• Don’t plan too much: Latitude has so much going on apart from the headline acts that half the pleasure is peering into tents to see what random act you discover.

Need To Know

Children

It’s a perfect festival for young folk and their parents, with no dark scary corners, and good facilities. The children’s playground looks like so much fun that you’ll see childless festival-goers glancing over jealously, and there’s plenty for the kids to enjoy among the music, film and spoken-word performances.

Parking

There are plenty of parking spaces on site.

Disability Access

Access is good, but most of the site is grass with no hard-surface paths. Many disabled ticket-holders are eligible for a ‘plus one’ ticket for a friend to help them during the weekend (see the website for details). There are viewing platforms for wheelchair-users, plenty of accessible toilets, and disabled festival-goers have access to the VIP area if they have a weekend (rather than day) ticket.

Food & Drink

When your tummy rumbles, you’ll have plenty of choice: high-quality food is plentiful at Latitude, and whether you want to nibble organic salads, lap up home-made ice-cream or wolf hefty pies, you’ll find the offerings here are much fresher and tastier than your usual music festival fare. There are gallons of good drink to be quaffed, of course, and waiter service during the day – so you don’t even have to get up from your warm patch of grass to fetch that gin and tonic. If you want to head off-site and eat with metal cutlery off a real plate on a proper table, try the excellent fresh food at the nearby Westleton Crown Inn, where the menu is equal parts tradition and innovation (01728 648777; www.westletoncrown.co.uk), or go to the Flora Tea Rooms on Dunwich beach for perfect fish’n’chips by the sea (01728 648433).

Sleep

Tangerine Fields, a company that will pitch a tent for you before you arrive, operates at Latitude and charges from £45 for a two-person tent (www.tangerinefields.co.uk). If you don’t fancy sleeping under canvas, you’ll find no room at ‘the Stables’ of Henham Park: they’re strictly reserved for the festival organisers. However, Chequers, a stylish, sweet B&B near the village of Woodbridge, half an hour away, is just the place from which to launch your Latitude excursions. Another Smith-approved joy is Tuddenham Mill, which has a tranquil mill stream and is about a 90-minute drive from the festival. On a somewhat larger scale (well, much larger, actually) is Ickworth, a National Trust property just outside Bury St Edmunds. It’s 80 minutes from Henham Park, and you’d be hard pushed to find a grander place to stay than this Georgian stately home: it’s set in almost 2,000 acres of land, and has two pools. For more information about these hotels, and to book rooms, go to www.mrandmrssmith.com or ring 0845 034 0701.

VIP

There's a small guest area reserved for those involved in the running of the festival, but most of the fun here goes on in the main public areas.