Think of 'proper' festivals, y' know, ones with mud, rain and a great community atmosphere, you tend not to think of the North East of England as a destination for donning wellies and eating curry that could burn a child's face off, but that's all changing with the ever-growing Ignition Festival.

Based at Newcastle Racecourse near Gosforth, the two-day weekender sports a line-up of big names past and present, upcoming nationally-recognized artists and a list as long as your broadband cable of local wannabes - it's a bit of a winner. And it's in August, so the weather should be reliable (well, as reliable as you can get near the North Sea coast!). And they resisted calling it the iToons Festival...well, you never know - there's always next year.

Main headliners on Saturday 6th August are Echo and the Bunnymen, creators of iconic '80s new-wave and chart hits such as "The Killing Moon" and "The Cutter", the hardest-working man in rock, Frank Turner (he's just recently notched up a Top 20 album with "England Keep My Bones") and the party-anthems band of the year thus far, The Go! Team, whose excellent "Rolling Blackouts" album is a summer BBQ/beach rave in waiting. Add in Ocean Colour Scene (acoustic), Flats and Carl Barât and a host of others and you have a great day.

And then there's Sunday 7th August - Currently perched at number 2 in the singles rundown is Calvin Harris with "Bounce", a guaranteed festival banger for sure. He will close Ignition on Sunday night, preceded by Feeder who have a raft of rock and indie fans alike, as well as a string of respectable tunes such as "Save Us", "Tumble and Fall" and "Forget About Tomorrow". You also get Little Comets, Miles Kane and The Whip plus loads more.

Tickets for the entire weekend, with camping, will set you back £70 (or £50 without camping), while each day costs £30 separately (plus the usual fees).