The festival camping experience is a fixture on many people cultural calendars, but it's not the only way to add entertainment to your summer. Dale Berning picks the best cultural campsites and events
Camp Bestival
Lulworth Castle, Dorset
It's not every day you get permission to camp in the grounds of a 17th-century mock castle. So you should take advantage of Camp Bestival, a gentler, more child-friendly version of its big brother Bestival on the Isle of Wight.
There are four camping areas, each with their own car park, amenities and eating area. They range from basic pitch-your-own to boutique Gypsy caravans, with a dedicated Tangerine Fields area of pre-pitched tents (tangerinefields.co.uk), tipis and yurts from a number of companies, a campervan section and, new for this year, little huts called podpads.
And when you stagger out in the morning, you'll find live music from the likes of Laura Marling, Katy B and Blondie, with this year's Sunday stars now confirmed as Primal Scream. And the music is only the tip of the iceberg ? there is also a huge fun-machine for the kids, with face-painting, dressing-up, storytelling, and Amoeba to Zebra ? a modern rock opera/natural history musical.
There are author readings, offerings from the English National Ballet, comedy acts, how-to workshops, a delectable selection of eateries and drinking holes ? enough to keep you occupied all day and night for four days straight.
28-31 Jul; adults �170, students �160, 11-17 �85, under-10s free (but ticket required), campervan �65, advance car parking �10, Thursday camping ticket (1 day earlier): adults �10, 11-17s �5, under-10s free (but ticket required), camping plus (reserved camping space) �120 per 70sqm plot; 020-7379 3133
Port Eliot Festival
Port Eliot, Cornwall
The Port Eliot organisers set out to start a literary event, which has now become a festival of ideas with the feel of a big music bash. July will see the ninth edition of the Port Eliot event take over this majestic, wooded domain on the Rame Peninsula in south-east Cornwall.
There are 6,000 acres of beautiful parkland to camp in, be it in your own tent or caravan, or in something a bit more special: there are pre-pitched tents, Airstream vans and fully furnished yurts and tipis, and then there are the bell tents and the traditional Gypsy bow-top caravans complete with Liberty-print curtains.
The lineup for this year is yet to be confirmed but there's bound to be a bounty of words and sounds to inspire you.
21-24 Jul; adults �140, 8-15s �70, under-7s free, campervans/caravans �20, Gypsy bowtops �750, Tangerine Fields tents �60-�400; 01503 232783
Green Man festival
Crickhowell, Powys
This festival is a great camping experience in itself. They let you turn up four days early so you get some time to enjoy the beauty of the Brecon Beacons countryside before the mayhem begins.
The festival itself attracts all flavours of out-there-sound fans and this year, as Green Man turns nine, it's just as independent and as exciting as ever. Despite the fact that it now welcomes 10,000 people, instead of 2003's 300, the feel is still intimate and other-worldly.
Seattle-based lyrical magicians Fleet Foxes will headline this summer and there will be the usual bonfires and all-night musings over pints of bitter in the End Up bar.
The festival takes place near Crickhowell at the Glanusk estate ? a rambling expanse of woods, grass and bubbling streams. The main stage is set up in a natural amphitheatre with open sloping banks, so you can hear and see without impediment.
There are food stalls, hot showers and lots of things for kids to do. Camping is available in three areas: general, family and disabled. This year's live-in vehicle permits are already sold out, but tents are welcome. Tangerine Fields are around to make it all that much easier with their pre-pitched tents. Options include up to eight-person tents, tipis, turquoise Gypsy caravans, and all the requisite accessories. The holiday ticket is �40 with a weekend pass, and this is what you'll need if you want to come four days early to enjoy the countryside.
19-21 Aug; adults �135, students �115, teens �60, under-12s free, Tangerine Fields tents �60-�400, tipis �520-�660, Gypsy caravans �640
Wood festival
Braziers Park, Oxfordshire
Hidden away in this pretty corner of Oxfordshire lies Braziers Park, a community residential college and Grade II-listed country house that's also home to the UK's greenest festival. An early summer celebration of music and nature, Wood was started partly to raise environmental awareness following the 2007 Oxfordshire floods, which cancelled the nearby Truck festival. It is entirely run on renewables ? there are composting toilets, showers heated by wood-burning stoves, a solar-powered stage and a bicycle-powered disco. Children, especially, have a wonderful time here with face-painting, making musical instruments from junk, dancing, storytelling ... you name it.
As for the music, it's always something special ? Willy Mason and the Eliza Carthy Band are this year's stars. It all takes place in a low-key, leafy setting of family-picnic dimensions. There is a car-lift scheme and the excellent Woody bus from Oxford to make getting there by public transport a doddle and as green as can be. You can bring your own tent or campervan (places are limited) or alternatively rent an onsite yurt for extra comfort. A real camping-with-friends experience ? great food, local beer, cider and perry and hearty music to sink into as night falls.
20-22 May; adults �95, teens (13-17) �65, under-12s free, parking �10 plus �5 tax on cars that aren't full, �5 refund on parking ticket for cars carrying more than four people)
End of the Road festival
Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset
Down a country lane in the mystical woodlands of north Dorset each year, the tiny End of the Road festival takes place at the Larmer Tree Gardens.
The campsite, with its resident macaws and peacocks, is divided into four areas: general, family, disabled and camper/caravans. Tangerine Fields pre-pitched tents, tipis and Gypsy caravans, as well as Fairlove Yurts, are available too, to make things that little bit more special.
All the caterers onsite are there by invitation only ? their local (and organic where possible) produce and excellent beers are bound to delight.
You might discover pianos to play in the woods, glades to dance and play in, as well as a Healing Field and a cinema tent.
Clean showers, proper lighting, water and litter points dotted all over ensure that you stay safe and clean and ready to go ? because there is exceptionally good music to go to. This year, Megafaun, Bo Ningen and the Fall are playing alongside Laura Marling, Mystery Jets and Beirut. Moments to be treasured forever.
2-4 Sep; adults �145, teens (13-17) �120, children (6-12) �55, under-5s free, campervan /caravan pass �50, parking �5
Gwerniago Farm
Aberdyfi, Powys
They're a musical bunch in this part of mid-Wales, and each August the Gwyl Machynlleth festival is held. It caters to all tastes, from Welsh triple harpist Robin Huw Bowen to Poland's premier string quartet Szymanowski Quartet and jazz bassist Kyle Eastwood.
Gwerniago Farm is perfectly situated to make the most of it. The tiny campsite has space for only 20 tents and a dozen static caravans, and more often than not you'll be the only ones around. Amenities are simple, but that's part of the attraction.
Red kites and ospreys are frequent visitors in the skies above this working farm, where children can go for pony rides and help out with the lambs during the lambing season.
Nearby lies Clough Williams-Ellis's eccentric village of Portmeirion, the set of the cult TV series The Prisoner ? where on a fine day it's easy to imagine you're in Italy.
Another cultural hotspot is the The Tabernacle in Machynlleth, a vibrant centre for music and performance. The Museum of Modern Art next door promises to show the best in contemporary Welsh art with forthcoming exhibitions by Susan Adams, Christopher Hall and Bruce Cardwell. For vision and challenge of a different kind, head to the Centre for Alternative Technology for interactive displays and exhibits on sustainability, renewable energies and organic living ? inspiration for children and adults alike.
Mar-Oct; �12-�14 per pitch per night (2 adults), �5 per extra adult, �3 per child (4-16); 01654 791227
Calgary Bay
Isle of Mull
On 3-9 July the Isle of Mull celebrates the Mendelssohn on Mull festival of romantic music. Here musicians from all over the world are invited to perform works by Schumann, Schubert, Brahms and other masters of the elegiac and the rhapsodic, in equally stirring locations ? the castles of Duart and Glengorm, Salen Church and Craignure Hall and even Iona Abbey.
The north-western shores of the Isle of Mull, and Calgary Bay in particular, are increasingly renowned spots for wild camping. The protected machair grassland that runs alongside the beach is perfect for tents (no caravans allowed), so long as you abide by the general wild-camping rules and take care of this special habitat. Despite this being an informal site, there are adjacent public toilets and washing facilities, as well as existing hearths for campfires (use only driftwood or bought wood, and don't light fires on the machair grass). This simple setup will allow you to experience Mull in all its ethereal beauty.
While Iona ? one of the most ancient and culturally significant Scottish heritage islands ? might prove a more challenging evening outing than your usual beach holiday would allow for, it is an unmissable daytrip.
Torosay Castle on the south-east coast of Mull is another gem to discover with a picnic basket and plenty of time. It is a 19th-century Scottish Baronial building by David Bryce with extensive formal gardens filled with unusual plantlife and fine views out over the bay.
Open all year: camping free
Holme Valley Camping and Caravan Park
Holme Valley, West Yorkshire
Philip and Hazel Peaker renovated this abandoned mill in the mid-80s, and what a thing of beauty it has become. Former dispatch yards and storage sheds are now open fields and wooded glens with the river Holme running gently by ? just the place to return to for quiet evenings after days spent exploring the cultural riches of the neighbouring valleys.
At the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, a 30-minute drive away, you'll find statuesque wonders including sculptor Barbara Hepworth's deconstructed columns, Barry Flanagan's drummer-boy hare and a fearsome bird-headed totem pole by Native American Hesquiat artist Tim Paul.
Holmfirth, setting for Last of the Summer Wine, is four minutes down the road, and seems just as it was in Nora Batty's time (watch out for old men hurtling downhill in tin baths). And, for a gripping trip into the bowels of the earth, the National Coal Mining Museum is a few miles further on.
Open all year; from �5 per pitch per night; 01484 665819
Rockness
Near Inverness, Highland
The recent winner of the NME best small festival award, Rockness must be the only one to have a resident monster. It certainly has the world's most breathtaking backdrop, sited as it is on the banks of Loch Ness.
The campsite has a number of options, from general self-pitching (or parking your own van) in a sea of mad revellers, to tipis, cloudhouses and yurts in the calmer luxury area. Whatever your accommodation, you will be within minutes of the pebbled beach of the loch and its mysterious, murky depths.
This is thorough rock, pop and thrills territory, with Kasabian, the Chemical Brothers and Paolo Nutini as this year's main attractions, alongside the mighty DJ Shadow, Glasvegas and the Cribs ? among many others. Entertainment is woven into the campsite too, with Rob da Bank's "Nesstival" additions, including the Bollywood bar.
There are plenty of food and drink options (you can't bring glass on to the site), shops for all the little things you might have forgotten and a lost-and-found for those you've mislaid. The days are long here at this time of year ? all the more reason for the fun to last for ever.
10-12 Jun; adults �149, students �135, under-5s free; Go Green ticket �145 (includes free coach travel from all major UK cities), VIP �189, campervan �60, yurts from �265, Tangerine Fields �60-�400 per tent
Lovelane Caravans
St Keverne, Cornwall
If art is your thing, then you'll fall in love with Lovelane, situated as it is within s day-trip's distance of the creative centre of St Ives and its Tate gallery, and the Newlyn art gallery in Penzance. You can even catch a spot of outdoor drama at the Minack near Porthcurno, a stone theatre built quite literally into the side of a sea cliff.
One of the best things about Lovelane is that you don't need to bring anything. Simply choose from one of three classic English caravans, the two hippy buses, the shepherd's hut or the old colonial tent.
Brightly coloured and beautifully equipped with everything from patchwork quilts to flower vases, all the accommodation is set in a green meadow on Roskilly's, a fully functioning organic ice-cream dairy farm. There is also an additional Gypsy wagon with a wood-burning stove and gold-tapped bathtub nearer to the farmhouse. Since these are the only camping options available, numbers and noise are kept to a peaceful minimum.
Nearby places to visit include Trebah and Glendurgan gardens ? two subtropical botanical treasure troves.
That said, you might find you don't want to go any further than the fields and beaches within walking distance of Roskilly's itself.
Apr-Oct, Gypsy wagon open all year; from �180 (2-berth caravan, 3 nights off-peak) to �435 (5-berth hippy bus, peak); 01326 340406
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/apr/16/10-best-campsites-culture
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