Life's a Beach! Plan Your 'Great Escape' to Brighton - Early Birds for 2010 Shindig Available

The Great Escape

One of the most-eagerly awaited and fervently attended three-day festivals returns to the South Coast in May for another blast of today's (and tomorrow's) most interesting and exciting young bands and acts from around the globe (but mainly the UK).

The Great Escape Festival 2010 is indeed just that - oodles of music pumped live from numerous venues, many of which are still to be confirmed. However, this year's initial announcement from the organizers suggests that they have their head's well and truly screwed on and at £45 for Early Bird Tickets (allowing you access to the gig venues via a special wristband), well you can't go wrong (unless you end up in Hastings or Bognor of course). Dates are May 13th to 15th.

First out of the traps are the current darlings of the critics (and rightly so) Delphic, grimy-junglist break-beaticians Chase and Status, charming pop hopeful Ellie Goulding (is it me or she EVERYWHERE this summer? She is probably also available to do your tax returns and sing your kids to sleep for a small fee), spiky nu-punksters Broken Social Scene, Japandroids, Cold Cave and sinister Bansheeisms from Esben & The Witch. Loads more will get announced in the coming weeks - there are normally over 200 music acts, galleries, discussions and a Ones To Watch stage on the seafront. Kasabian turned up last year as well - not a bad pull eh?

Let me remind you again - £45 for 3 days of top-notch acts. 2008 featured Black Lips, Black Mountain, Bon Iver and Bombay Bicycle Club whilst 2009 gathered Big Pink, Brute Chorus, British Sea Power and Broken Records - and that's just one letter of the alphabet catered for! Brighton is dead easy to get to from London, Lewes and Chichester, so you can easily cover all three days entertainment at half the price of camping in a field full of cow-poo and listening to some hapless singer-songwriter blathering on about how great life is when it teems with rain (yeah, great thanks).

[Three day 'Delegate' passes cost £150, giving you access to all of the great gigs as well as the conferences and seminars, networking events and the delegates' bar - Ed]

• Delegate Pass

Paul Pledger