Summer festivals back on track after rainy start to season

After a week full of sunshine, suddenly summer festivals seem like a good idea again.

Happily, the deluge that washed away so many seasonal events looks to be over – and there are plenty of outdoor festivals to look forward to before summer fades.

Music fans can look forward to a series of exceptional events, including V Festival, at Weston Park; Shrewsbury Folk Festival and Shrewsbury Fields Forever, at the County Showground, in Shropshire. The Green Man Festival, in Mid-Wales, also has an exceptional bill.

There will also be Shakespeare at Wightwick Manor, near Wolverhampton, on August 20, as well as numerous fringe events across the region.

V Festival, which takes place on August 18 and 19, is shaping up to be a one of the most successful in its history, with The Stone Roses, Killers, Snow Patrol and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds among the headliners.

The event will also feature comedy from Sean Lock, Milton Jones, Tim Minchin and Doc Brown as well as music from David Guetta, Ed Sheeran, Example, Keane, James Morrison, Emeli Sande, Nicki Minaj, Tinie Tempah, Tom Jones, Nero, Rizzle Kicks and Newton Faulkner.

The Green Man, which is planned for Glanusk Park, in Powys, will feature the best of alternative and Americana, with sets from Van Morrison, Feist, Mogwai, Metronomy, The Walkmen, Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks, Yann Tiersen, Dexys and Jonathan Richman, among others.

Shrewsbury Fields Forever is also shaping up to provide high class entertainment on September 14, 15 and 16, with The Wombats being joined by Ms Dynamite, Utah Saints, Simon and Oscar from Ocean Colour Scene, hometown heroes The Sunshine Underground and other up-coming Shropshire bands including Fight The Bear and Arcade Parade, who were the winners of Shropshire's Next Big Thing.

Shrewsbury Folk Festival will feature one of its strongest ever line-ups from August 24-27 with KT Tunstall, Richard Thompson, Kate Rusby, Show of Hands, Treacherous Orchestra, Dervish, Anxo Lorenzo, Blowzabella, Plainsong, Vin Garbutt, Vamm and Jonathan Byrd.

Moseley Folk Festival will also give fans a taste of indie, roots and acoustic music, with Echo & The Bunnymen lining up on August 31 and September 1 and 2, alongside Roy Harper and Steeleye Span. There will also be sets from Cara Dillon, Julian Cope, Jonathan Wilson, Guillemots and Simon Fowler's Merrymouth.

There will also be sets from Beth Jeans Houghton and The Hooves of Destiny, The Destroyers, Abigail Washburn with Kai Welch, Dark Dark Dark, Richard James, Laura J Martin, Gentle Good and Golden Glass.

Outdoor theatre will also be featured at Wightwick Manor Gardens, near Wolverhampton, on August 24, with Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The production will be led by Folksy Theatre and the play will tell the story of two young lovers, Claudio and Hero, who are to be married.

Marriage, meanwhile, seems inconceivable for the bantering Beatrice and Benedick, two of Shakespeare's wittiest and most loveable pair of reluctant lovers, whose endless sparring threatens to keep them apart. Families can take along picnics, blankets, folding chairs to enjoy a production filled with live music, laughter and passion.

Full details for all events are available online, or from respective venues.