Top 12 Festival Favourites

Ah, the great British summer, upon us once again. A time for sitting in the sun, taking a break from football and enjoying another British failure at Wimbledon. But wait, there's more.

Music festivals are becoming a bigger part of our summer life. No longer the preserve of a few men and women lying around in a field in rural England on a weekend, festivals now take up an important place in the music calender for bands and fans alike. From Glastonbury to The O2 Wireless festival and Wakestock, hardly a weekend passes without large numbers of the nation's youth converging in some muddy field in the country to listen to their favourite bands play the hits.

From long established festivals, like Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds to smaller, newer events such as Kendal Calling and the Truck Festival, everyone is getting in on the act. At Glastonbury, you can enjoy the sound of Jay-Z (unless you're Noel Gallagher, that is). Mark Ronson and his Version Players will be setting the Wireless festival in Hyde Park alight with his own brand of retro funk. The Zutons will be playing the Lovebox Weekender and have already played the Isle of White Festival, in support of their latest album You Can Do Anything. British Sea Power and Scottish newcomers Glasvegas will be serenading Kendal Calling with their own unique brands of Alternative Indie-rock.

And it's not just new bands that fans want to see. For all you grownups, older, more established acts such as The Sex Pistols, Leonard Cohen and Lee "Scratch" Perry are getting in on the act, proving that there is an appetite for a wide variety of music from the Great British public.

If you're a bit of a literary buff and fancy a bit of culture to go with your music, then hop over to Latitude, in Suffolk. Billed as "More than just a music festival", they have a cornucopia of writers such as Irvine Welsh, Hanif Kureshi and Iain Banks along side a Theatre Arena and a Poetry Arena. If this isn't your thing, then go to check out bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and Sigur Ros instead.

If you fancy venturing further afield, there are many great music festivals taking place accross Europe this summer. Early 90's shoegazers My Bloody Valentine make a long anticipated live return, playing at Benicassim, Spain in July. Exit Festival in Serbia boasts a stellar line up of acts, including MIA, Afrika Bambaataa and Gossip.

So if you're heading off to festival over the next few months, before you pack your tent and spare pair of socks, get yourself in the mood: sit back, pour yourself a Pimm's and check out We7's Essential Playlist from the bands who will be soundtracking your summer.