It's very simple. Festivals abroad are cheap and sunny. When you can pay £50 for a four-day shindig in the sunshine, swap wellies for flip-flops, a cagoule for a bikini and a tarpaulin for a beach towel, why pay £150 for a two-day mudfest that starts and ends with hours stuck in traffic? If you don't fancy camping you can hire an air-conditioned flat. Even including the price of the flight it will almost certainly cost less than its British equivalent.

I am aware that dancing around in the mud is fun, and that the festival experience doesn't simply boil down to weather and price. However, the quality of sound systems abroad is usually higher, the rules and regulations not as strict, and health and safety haven't put their oar in. Allowing the DJ to continue his set for 15 minutes longer does make all the difference. Selling beer, water and food for reasonable prices will make me come back next year. Emptying and spraying the Portaloos every morning with disinfectant makes everyone happier, healthier and much less smelly. It's these little things that Europeans get and we don't.

Foreign festivals aren't without problems. The line-ups don't always compete with British festivals, and “discovering great foreign music” is a bit of a myth - there's a reason why electro-heavy metal fusion bands with names such as I Love Death haven't made it over here. Return journeys can be stressful. After four days of two hours' sleep, grappling with a foreign bus timetable can be challenging, as can four hours in the sun trying to find someone to change Serbian money into Croatian. However, people become resourceful, and the struggles provide hilarious memories. What foreign festivals can lack in organisation they make up for in character, atmosphere and a different mix of people. One of my favourite memories of the EXIT festival in Serbia last year was a bunch of locals throwing their arms around us and thanking us for coming to their country. Bucketloads of feelgood factor, right there.

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