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The festive season is upon us again – the music festival season that is, so it’s time to chip the mud off last year’s wellies and unfurl that stinky tent. For something smaller and more personal, there is the Knockanstockan Independent Music Festival, which takes place on the shores of Blessington Lakes in Wicklow on July 23rd to 25th.

The festival was originally little more than an excuse for a large bunch of musicians to decamp for a weekend of music and mayhem. Now in its fourth year, it has three stages, more than 100 acts (including And So I Watch You From Afar, Spook of the 13th Lock and Prairie Dawgs). The organisers (and there are lots of them, right) seem to beg, borrow, steal and pull every favour owed to them to get this little gem organised each year, all of which means the admission price is an eminently reasonable €75, including camping. Intrigued? You should be. knockanstockan.ie.