Britain might be famous for Glastonbury & the Isle of Wight festival, but fewer visitors realise that the Brits’ love of festival & the carnivalesque goes much deeper than Hendrix or wading knee-deep in mud with 250,000 other damp Glasto fans. You can’t get a true taste of what a country’s all about just by visiting its mainsteam events & its capital city. While your airline tickets mentality might leave you feeling restricted to one or two cities & perhaps their neighbouring counties, it’s worth realising that Britain has a (mostly) reliable, thorough rail network, & that the country’s real soul can be found at its community gatherings.

Jack in the Green Morris Dancing (May Bank Holiday weekend)

Morris Dancing is one of those bizarre, ancient traditions whose origins are lost to everyone, but somehow perpetuates, usually through the efforts of large men with beards. Morrismen still gather regularly across England to hit each other with sticks with bells on, dance, & drink beer. Morris troupes from all over the country travel to the Jack in the Green (four day) weekend in Hastings, where families & curious onlookers can absorb the folk-carnival atmosphere & even join in a bit. Events include storytelling workshops for children, Celtic story performances for Mum & Dad, traditional folk music & a “Morris Dancers’ breakfast”, in a crypt, of all places.

Hay Literary Festival (May/June)

Every year, established, respected & upcoming writers & performers gather at the 10 day Hay Literary festival to share their work & inspiration with visitors & one another. With dozens of events (many of which are free), visitors can enjoy sitting in on interviews, Q & A sessions, alongside excellent local food, a childrens’ activity programme, & even a whole section dedicated to parents & toddlers. If you feel like exercising more than the grey cells, you can easily step off site & enjoy beautiful walks, swimming, riding & even paragliding. The festival can be reached by car, train, bus, shuttle, bicycle or on foot, & is surrounded by beautiful & affordable B&Bs & campsites.

Rockness (June)

Sometimes genius is nothing more or less than bringing together two things no one else has thought of combining. Peanut butter & jelly; tortillas & cheese; now monster hunting & music (& perhaps some haggis). Rockness takes place every June on the Loch banks of Inverness, a mere stone’s throw from Nessie’s domain. But there’s definitely more to Rockness than Nessie herself. The event, which has won the Best Small Festival Award & Line Up of the Year, features artists both monstrously huge (Groove Armada, DJ Shadow, Chemical Brothers) & fiendishly fresh (Japanese Popstars, Psychmagik). Whether or not you believe in the Loch Ness Monster, there’s definitely something in the water at Rockness.

Notting Hill Carnival (August Bank Holiday)

Started in 1966 by the West Indian Community, the Notting Hill Carnival has since become a full-blooded Carribean festival. Every year in August the largest street festival in Europe brings West London to life in a way only Carnival can. Featuring hundreds of food stalls, twenty miles of impossible to overlook costumes, forty static sound systems & 40,000 volunteers, it’s little surprise that over 1 million visitors come to indulgently bombard their senses & celebrate one of Britain’s best-loved urban festivals.