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"This is the beginning of something special. This isn’t filler while Glastonbury is off. This is a long term project." Melvin Benn – Organiser of Latitude.

Given the above Melvin Benn probably won’t welcome comparisons, but he said the G word first, so I’m going to make them. It’s good news though, as his new baby in a lovely festival which takes the mature aspects of Glastonbury together with its horizontal look on life, and plonks it on an estate in Suffolk.

The contradiction is that you can tell this is a more genteel and grown up festival by the number of children about. There are many young teens around the relatively compact arena area allowing parents to loosen the reigns whilst their offspring can wander around checking out bands they can out cool their mates with when they get home. At the same time, primary age children are catered for in the kid’s field, separate from the main thoroughfare.

If intellectual stimulation is your bag then this is the place for you. We’ve got Shakespeare and other theatre, poetry, avant garde cinema and literature all set in the most picturesque of settings. The centrepiece is the beautiful lake, complete with gondolier, whilst spray painted ‘cosmic sheep’ graze at the water’s edge – the luminous colours applied humanely we are assured.

In fact, the only things that are missing from Glastonbury are the bits you might like to drop anyway. There is no constant tiresome stream of traffic barging you out of the way, and neither are there any self important men in black cruising the grounds willing you to give them a reason to chuck you out the gate, wrestling your wristband from your arm. There were no police either, which may smack of complacency, but Latitude has captured the Glastonbury feel without the slight edge of menace frequently present at the Pilton festival.

Of course, it helps when the worst you can say about the weather is ‘it was a bit windy on Friday, and the arena is built on a hill which could cause problems if there was rain, but that’s for another year. Even the long drops were of a decent quality, and only truly started reeking late on Sunday night.

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