12 festivals happening in April 2016

1) Lost and Found Festival
March 31-Apr 3
Malta
Price: various
Radio 1’s Annie Mac heads off to sunnier climes, in the company of a DJ set-plying Disclosure), Lady Leshurr, Mark Ronson and Hudson Mohawke, Seth Troxler, Stormzy, DJ EZ, Eats Everything, Maya Jane Coles and The Martinez Brothers.
www.lostandfoundfestival.com

2) ATP 2.0 Curated By Stewart Lee
Apr 15-17
Prestatyn, North Wales
Price: £100 (accommodation not included)
Splendid to see ATP re-booted to full effect, not least because no other leftfield-leaning event came close to replicating its immaculate programming during its absence. Stewart Lee is the curator handpicking the acts this time around, and has included the likes of Roky Erickson, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sleaford Mods and The Fall. “Bring a bucket, spade, swimwear and an open mind,” says Lee.
www.atpfestival.com/events/stewart-lee/view/eventinfo

3) Coachella
Apr 15-17 & 22-24
California, USA
Price: $399 w/e
California? In a few of weeks’ time? Yep, fair enough, unlikely to register too highly in Read Listing/Make Booking conversion chart, but we could hardly ignore Stateside’s biggest hitter. Among the vast bill you’ll find Calvin Harris, A$SAP Rocky, Grimes and a reformed – if that’s the right word – Guns N’ Roses.
www.coachella.com 

4) We Love The 70s
Apr 15-18
Butlins Minehead, Somerset
Price: £68 w/e
Brotherhood of Man. Mud II. Les McKeown’s Legendary Bay City Rollers. Them’s the headliners. And if they really are what you loved in a decade of Bowie, Bolan, Roxy and the Clash, well, the ’70s were wasted on you. Over 18s only, so at least there’ll be no corrupting of kids’ ears.
www.bigweekends.com/your-break/147967

5)ATP 2.0 Curated By Drive Like Jehu
Apr 22-24
Manchester
Price: £100 w/e
Drive Like Jehu take over the programming spreadsheet from Stewart Lee, filling it with names such as Omar Souleyman, Rocket from the Crypt, The Ex and Diamanda Galas.
www.atpfestival.com/events/drive-like-jehu/view/eventinfo

6) Porthcawl Jazz Festival
Apr 22-24
Porthcawl, Wales
Price: individually priced, many free
Not the most excitingly programmed jazz fest on the calendar, in all honesty. On the other hand, unlike so many similarly titled festivals, they do at least put on, like, jazz. Expect plenty of swing, Dixie, big band and precious little to properly take the breath away.
www.porthcawl-jazz-festival.com

7) Cheltenham Jazz Festival
April 27-May 2
Cheltenham
Price: various, lots free
Guy Garvey, Ibibio Sound Machine, and Beverley Knight. Not, perhaps, the first names to trip off the tongue when giving thought to the biggest names in jazz, though they certainly serve their purpose as attention grabbers. In fairness, the festival rightly enjoys a reputation as one of the premier ‘proper’ jazz fests in the country, with some genuinely cutting-edge acts appearing on the bill alongside more established names. Thus, endlessly innovative New Yorker Tim Berne, the from-opera-to-beatbox vocals deployed by the Rom Schaerer Eberle trio, modern Brit jazz royalty Courtney Pine in collaboration with Zoe Rahman, and Dave Brubeck’s son, Darius, mixing up South African jazz with his pater’s back catalogue. Cheltenham also justly prides itself on being an accessible entry point for the jazz curious, with tons of free events in the none-more-relaxed environs of Montpellier Gardens, not to mention all the kid-centric events in the Take Five Family Tent.
www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz  

8) Groovefest
Apr 29-May 1
Malta
Price: £89
Previously known for its shindigs in the Dominican Republic, Groovefest hits the Med for a weekend of house and techno music, via a line-up featuring the likes of Andrea Oliva, Art Department, Jamie Jones, Laura Jones and Doorly.
www.groovefestevents.eu 

9) Handmade
Apr 29-May 1
Leicester
Price: £40 w/e
Celebrating all things DIY in the fields of music, comedy, art, film, performance and photography. Names stitched into this year’s line up include Chris T-T, Robin Ince, She Makes War and We are Scientists.
www.handmadefestival.co.uk  

10) Food Connections
April 29-May 7
Bristol
Price: free
Third outing for the quite literal feast of scoffular delight. Expect a welter of butchers, bakers and cheese-on-stick makers to show their wares in all manner of established sites and pop-ups, with organisers determined to bring the whole city into a conversation about food: production, education, preparation and, best of all, consummation. The BBC will be all over this, too, in their biggest showing in the city since 6 Music fest.
www.bristolfoodconnections.com

11) Bristol Folk Festival
Apr 30-May 1
Bristol
Price: £60 w/e
Lukas Drinkwater and Tobias Ben Jacobs head this year’s lengthy line-up, with the Bristol Ram on Park Street offering a handily placed new stage between the event’s main focal points in St George’s and the Folk House. All your regular folk fest side orders are here, of course, namely morris sides, ceilidh bands, sessions, workshops, plus the splendidly named folkyoake and the obligatory silent disco.
www.bristolfolkfestival.co.uk 

12) North Devon and Exmoor Walking Festival
Apr 30-May 7
Various locations
Price: various
16th running – well, walking – of a festival that will take you slowly, steadily, through some of the most glorious scenery in the kingdom. Routes and durations to suit all levels of fitness/keenness, including such self-explanatory delights as West Somerset Mineral Line Explore, Bird’s Eye View of Dunster, and, downright lyrically, A Meander Along the Barle.
www.exmoorwalkingfestival.co.uk

Main photo: Ellie Goulding at Coachella