Edith Bowman’s Great British Music Festivals – Book Review

Last year I was lucky enough to live one of my dreams – being a guest on a Radio 4 show. I was invited onto Woman’s Hour to talk about taking children to festivals – you can still listen to the show here:

Radio 4 – Taking Children to Music Festivals

To add to that excitement, my fellow guest on the show was Edith Bowman, DJ, festival mum and all round lovely person – we shared festival stories in the Green Room before the show – and she sent me her new book to read and review!

Edith Bowman’s Great British Music Festivals is a long love letter to the British festival scene. It is full of colour photos, information on the history of the festivals, plus advice on attending each one. It reads as both a nostalgia piece, to read and remember festivals you have attended, and a reference to festivals you haven’t tried yet. We’re going to Green Man for the first time this year and so I especially enjoyed reading about the areas, music and stages in that chapter.

Each festival has its own chapter devoted to it, so it’s a good book to dip in and out of. I particularly like the section on Glastonbury giving advice on how to find the secret gigs – something I’m sure all Glasto punters have attempted to do at some point!

Edie’s writing style is fun and interesting, and she brings the festivals to life on the page. She writes best when sharing her own experiences, and I would say that’s the only thing I felt was missing in this book – I was hoping for more fun personal anecdotes – or maybe that is another book?

This book is fantastic souvenir for those of us who have attended and remember all these great music festivals, and would make a lovely present for any of your festival-loving friends.