Dreaming of summer music Festivals on the Isle of Wight in 2018

There is probably a better way to express this, but I am currently freezing my bits off on a dreary January day. The thought of digging out my shorts and sandals seems like a distant dream. 

Regardless, there's been a flurry of announcements recently about summer festivals for 2018 on the Isle of Wight.

The biggest one will be the Isle of Wight Festival in June which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Of course, it all went a bit quiet from 1971 - 2001 and the venue has changed but it's still an occasion worth celebrating. The headliners (Kasabian, The Killers, Liam Gallagher and Depeche Mode) are - in my opinion - an excellent selection.

Kasabian have appeared a couple of times before (2007 and 2011) and The Killers headlined in 2013 whilst the others are making their first appearance.

My test for gauging a festival line up is to ask my mother if she has heard of the headliners. Her musical taste starts and stops at Cliff Richard whilst her TV viewing is limited to Sunday evenings. 

She had heard of one and a half of the headliners, which is pretty good going (she knows who Liam Gallagher is and gave a half to Depeche Mode). 

Some mainland friends have inconsiderately decided to get married at the same time, so I now find myself wondering if I could hire a helicopter to get me to at least some of the festival.

Eklectica

Elsewhere, it is great to see the return of Eklectica at Robin Hill in September 2018, which started up when Bestival set sail for Dorset last year. 2017's festival was battered by terrible weather so I'm pleased to see they're giving it another go.

So far, the lineup includes The Fratellis, The Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls and Toploader. Last year's main stage was made up of tribute acts so I personally think it's a step up (let's not forget that the first year of Bestival was considerably smaller than its later peak. Anyone expecting Snoop Dogg or Elton John to appear on the lineup for the first year of a festival is a bit naive in my opinion). 

Jack Up The 80s

Another returning festival is Jack Up The 80s in August, which has recently announced T'Pau, Leo Sayer, Toyah, Chesney Hawkes, Jaki Graham and 5ive.

Admittedly Chesney Hawkes is more of a 90s act and 5ive now appear to be Thr33 in the promo photos but it's exciting to see another mid-sized festival with big plans for 2018. 

Also confirmed...

According to organisers, Fairweather Festival will also return in 2018 and will expand to two days at the end of August/start of September. We don't have any lineup details yet but they managed to persuade Professor Green to get on the ferry last year so hopefully it will be pretty decent. 

Rhythm Tree festival has also been confirmed for 2018 (July 13-15), although there are no lineup details as far as I can tell.

Ventnor Fringe has confirmed its dates for 2018 (August 7 - 12) and is currently inviting acts to apply.

Our full list of festivals and major events on the Isle of Wight in 2018 can be found here....