One of the oldest and best festival sites, it started as the original Glastonbury website before widening its horizons and becoming www.efestivals.co.uk. Now with an even simpler name, the site is the best for accurate rumours throughout the year about who is likely to play what festival (categorising rumours by likelihood to happen, they are usually the most accurate for Glastonbury before it is announced), as well as providing full details of festivals across the UK, including free and relatively unknown hippy ventures.

www.virtualfestivals.co.uk

Another old-timer, Virtual Festivals has a good funky design and covers a lot more then the standard listings and news. It has quite comprehensive coverage of festivals around Europe to cater for the masses who are combining a festival overseas with their holiday. Other features include galleries, competitions and the chance to buy some essential camping gear online (a good reminder not to forget your 5-litre water carrier or waterproof suit in a bag this year).

www.nme.com/festivals

The website of the UK's teen and independent music bible, the New Musical Express, is one of the best for festival news, as well as hosting its own festival microsite. With the paper's vast resources, it is able to send back plenty of live reports and pictures from festivals. Those covered include the previously notoriously technology-free Glastonbury, so you get more than the BBC's pitifully mainstream TV coverage if you miss out on going.

www.whatsonwhen.com/pages/summerfests

This travel and entertainment website covers the whole range of music, and their music festivals section lists events around the world, from Istanbul's international classical music festival, to blues in Chicago, desert and world music in Essouira, Morocco, electronica in Barcelona, and the usuals such as Glastonbury. And that's just in June.

www.scarletmist.co.uk

Missed out on V or Reading/Leeds tickets? This site was set up last year to beat the Glastonbury e-bay touts. Glastonbury has tightened up its act since, with photo ID required for entry by the original named person at point of sale, and e-bay sale tickets cancelled, but there's a whole host of sold-out events that you can try for. It is a free service whereby decent sellers who only want face value for their spare tickets are introduced to people in the same area who want to buy them.

www.thegumtree.com

Starting life as a site aimed at backpackers in the UK who needed to find places to stay or flog things, it now has massive listings including gig and festival tickets for sale and swap. One for those who don't mind paying over-the-odds from the type of cads who buy extra tickets to make a killing. Then again, you may get lucky and pick up a last-minute bargain to trump the touts.

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