Festival of the Week: The Big Chill

Where: Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire


When: August 6 to 9

How to get there: Trains will go straight from London Paddington to Great Malvern, with other services stopping at Moreton-in-Marsh for a rail replacement service to Evesham and then on to Great Malvern. National Express and Zombie Bus are also running packages including coach travel to and from the festival. The festival's organisers are urging using public transport, but road directions can be found here.

Capacity: 35,000.

Ticket price: £145 for an adult ticket including camping.

Who's playing: Orbital, Calexico, Gong, Lamb, Magistrates, Alphabeat (DJ Set), DJ Derek, Chris Cunningham, The Ex, Andrew Bird, Noah and the Whale, Emmy The Great, Amadou & Mariam and many, many more.Who's played before: Relatively few leather-clad rock 'n' rollers, as you can imagine, but the past line-up has included Zero 7, Amy Winehouse, Lemon Jelly, Goldfrapp, Talvin Singh, Lambchop, Royksopp and living legend Leonard Cohen.

What's it like: Those who grumble that the UK music festival scene's got a little too middle-class probably won't be fans, but for parents who refuse to give up on a weekend of music just because they've got a pram or two, Big Chill is a godsend. Big Chill prides itself on a family-friendly atmosphere, good and healthy food, and alternative therapies – the Body & Soul Field includes healers, masseurs and other homeopathic helpers.

It started out in 1994 as a series of parties at London's Union Chapel before the first outdoor festivals in Wales and then Wiltshire, under the name The Enchanted Garden. The first events had a capacity of 2,000 but The Big Chill has grown and grown, attracting bigger acts and corporate sponsorship.

What sets it apart: The Big Chill was the first festival to distance itself from the rock, beer and drugs trinity of the average music festival and appeal to the kind of festivalgoer who can't be without the creature comforts of home or an organic fruit smoothie for too long. Expect all-terrain prams, Goa tans, post-Ibiza hedonism happy couples, kids aplenty, picnics and bubbly.

When festival fever sets in: Ramble around Malvern, a British spa town that made its fortunes off the back of mineral water. The Malvern Hills were a favourite of fantasy authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien -- Lewis got the image of the entry into Narnia in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe' after walking with Tolkien on a snowy path down from the hills, so the legend says.