Looking back 2014’s finest festival moments

Give up. There’s no point denying it. Put that tent away. Store it in a smelly cupboard for a few more months, because there’s fat chance of it coming out again anytime soon. Festival season is done. Well, almost done. Fair enough, there’s still a fair few exciting city-wide fests to run through, like Southsea Fest, and plucky punters with unlimited funds might still be jet-setting off to places like Utrecht’s Le Guess Who?. But these aren’t muggy, field-based, hangover-centric affairs. That’s over. Bestival and Festival Number 6 are bidding farewell to disgusting un-showered music fans right this second, and even the cows on Worthy Farm have been let out to nibble on whichever patches of grass went left untouched at this year’s Glastonbury.

This isn’t reason to get down, mind you. Weekends of sipping booze out of a mangled, grass-stained wine box might be finished, but those memories - oh those wonderful memories - still remain. 2014 witnessed the usual festival bravado, only these moments were way more intense.

Headliners stepped up to the plate, and new bands stole the agenda on their blitzing route to the top. Festival season began with city get-togethers, where fresh faces played ridiculously crammed venues on windy seasides and excitable town centres. Then the big guns arrived, with Glastonbury enjoying its best year for some time, Dolly Parton and all. Now that it’s coming to a close, it’s time to dig back through the archives and the faded memories of a few weeks back to pick out the highlights. Below, you’ll find our favourite moments from festival season 2014.