Offset Festival, Hainault Park, Essex, 3rd-4th September, 2011
Despite being one of the slickest and hippest festivals in the UK, Offset is an independent festival that has its roots firmly in DIY culture, represented by the type of cutting edge acts it attracts, which last summer included O. Children, Liquid Liquid, These New Puritans, Telepath, Factory Floor, Male Bonding and Cluster. If you’re based in London then it’s only 20-40 minutes on the Central Line from wherever you’re travelling, and if you’re from outside, then it’s as simple as a day trip to the capital. Everything is still to play for with the current line up, but if you buy your ticket now, it’ll cost you a mere £49.

Insider Tip: Considering the number of art goths that regularly flock to Offset, and the recent reformation doom peddlers, Swans, it’d be a shock to see that Michael Gira’s band weren’t somewhere on the bill this coming 2011.