The Nottingham City Pulse music festival returns with 3 days of retro mania from Saturday 23rd May to Monday 25th May in Nottingham’s market square.

This fantastic FREE festival runs over the Bank Holiday weekend features 3 days of rock, soul, samba, ska, jazz, blues and ballroom based around Nottingham’s market square – Nottingham City Pulse 2009 Map.

Headline acts include The Merseybeats, Dave Berry and the Cruisers, The Manfreds, The Neville Staple band, The Earl Jackson Band, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Eddie Floyd with Sounds Force 5, Todd Miller and the Joe Loss Orchestra, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Pete Molinari and James Hunter to name but a few. For details of all dates, venues and acts visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk for more information, or download a programme below.

This Bank Holiday weekend is set to be a scorcher, so don’t forget your sun block! One of the best options is a “once a day” lotion like Riemann P20, which with one application, will provide up to 10 hours protection.

In conjunction with Nottingham City Pulse there are a host of city centre restaurants and bars with some fantastic special offers for the Bank Holiday weekend – so make the most of it! You can download the full Nottingham City Pulse 2009 Programme here.

Today saw the start of the Hay Literary Festival at Hay-on-Wye which runs from 21st – 31st May.

Attendance is already up on last year for the first afternoon of the Festival with the organisers expecting around 100,000 visitors for the duration of the Festival compared with the 80,000 attendees last year.

The Hay Festival has been running for 22 years and is hosted in the picturesque town of Hay-on-Wye on the border of Herefordshire at the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Hay-on-Wye is affectionately known as the “Town of Books” and it’s easy to see why with over 30 bookshops tucked away in the town.

This year sees appearances from distinguished celebrities such as Sophie Dahl, Alan Bennett and Stephen Fry amongst many others. However, perhaps most notable, is the first public appearance of the new poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.

With the primary focus being books, it is worth remembering how important reading glasses are to those that needs them. Therefore it is always worth carrying a spare pair of travel reading glasses for emergencies.

For more information visit the Hay Festival website, or download the Hay Festival Programme 2009.

Madness return to London’s Victoria Park on Friday 17th July as they bring Madstock back to the East End after an 11 year break.

As well as hearing the timeless unique Madness classics the crowd will be treated to tracks from the new Madness album, “The Liberty Of Norton Folgate” which marks thirty years since Madness released their first single.

Also appearing with Madness will be the Pogues, Man Like Me, Bjorn Again and Hayseed Dixie amongst a host of others.

Tickets are priced at £35 (subject to booking fee) and are available from the band site at www.madness.co.uk.

If you cannot make Victoria Park in London the other Madness gigs are:

30th May 2009 – Newbury Racecourse, Berkshire

13th Jun 2009 – Norfolk Showground, Norwich

26th Jun 2009 – Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire

18th Jul 2009 – Broadlands, Hampshire

19th Jul 2009 – Splendour Festival at Wollaton Park, Nottingham

Make the most of it and go prepared with a Festival Day Survival Kit, full of some of the festival essentials for a day of music.

Madstock Victoria Park London 17th July

RockNess 2009 takes place at Dores near Inverness starting on Friday 12th June and culminates on Sunday 14th June 2009. The campsites will open at 10am on Friday 12th June for the hardened festival goers who want to get there early and start to soak up the atmosphere get the party started nice and early.

Tickets range from £45 for the Friday sessions right up to £160 for the full-on 3 day VIP camping tickets.

Don’t forget your sturdy shoes or boots to keep the mud at bay (if it turns that way), waterproofs and suncream (just to cover both eventualities) and some insect repellent (just in case) – that way nothing will get in the way of the music and the fun !

With our Festival Weekend Survival Kit in your hand, the only other thing you will need is the Festival Dates for 2009, so here they are:

• Glastonbury Festival – Wednesday 24th to Sunday 28th June. With over 40 different venues from the impressive and majestic Pyramid Stage to the small stages in cafes. The line ups include top acts such as Kings of Leon, The Fratellis, Editors, The Gossip, The Feeling, KT Tunstall, The Subways, Kate Nash, Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse, Manu Chao, The Raconteurs, James Blunt, Crowded House, The Verve, Leonard Cohen, Goldfrapp, Neil Diamond, John Mayer and many many more.
• Reading Festival – Friday 28th August to Sunday 30th August. The ultimate August Bank Holiday weekend extravaganza in the South with a stunning line up including bands such as Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Radio Head, Kaiser Cheifs, The Prodigy, Block Party, Placebo, Maximo Park, Fall Out Boy, Ian Brown, Vampire Weekend, Deftones, The Courteneers, Brandnew and many more.
• Leeds Festival – Friday 28th August to Sunday 30th August. The ultimate August Bank Holiday weekend extravaganza in the North with a stunning line up including bands such as Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Radio Head, Kaiser Cheifs, The Prodigy, Block Party, Placebo, Maximo Park, Fall Out Boy, Ian Brown, Vampire Weekend, Deftones, The Courteneers, Brandnew and many more.

Don’t forget to be “sun aware” and take your sun protection! If you do not want the hassle of carrying a bottle of sun lotion around with you try one of our stylish Piz Buin Sunbands available in 3 cool colours.