HAPPY MONDAYS

 

…WELL, THE BANK HOLIDAY ONES ARE ANYWAY. THE BIG AUGUST BREAK IS LOOMING, SO MAKE IT A CORKER WITH THESE GREAT IDEAS

By Laura Dixon

 

FESTIVAL ON THE COMMON

London’s Clapham Common is turning into a festival site for the bank holiday. On Saturday August 23, it’s home to South West Four (South westfour.com), an outdoor dance event headlined by Carl Cox, Erick Morillo and John Digweed. Then Sunday it’s Get Loaded in the Park (Getloadedinthe
park.com), with Kate Nash and The Hives.

Info: Tickets for South West Four cost £40 each, Get Loaded in the Park tickets cost £35, both from Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.co.uk, 0870 534 4444).

BE A RALLY DRIVER

Budding Penelope Pitstops should sign up for the kooky Sucata Run, a junk car touring rally that runs from France to Portugal over the bank holiday weekend. The only rule is that your banger has to cost £250 – or less. So dig your old VW Beetle out of the garage and put together a team of four for the four-day drive. It’s a great cheap thrill at just £50 per person and it’s all for charity. Just make sure one of you knows what to do if you break down (the AA won’t come to the Algarve)!

Info: The Run starts on August 21. Call 020 7702 9627 or visit Sucatarun.com for details.

PARTY ON THE BEACH

Brighton’s Beachdown Festival offers films, comedy, laid-back sounds and luxury camping – all with a view of the sea. The boutique festival has a capacity for only 10,000 people, and as well as the music – this year it features De La Soul and The Young Knives – there’s organic food, free deckchairs, beach balls, and alternative health treatments. Even the inevitable bank holiday rain won’t spoil it – the chalk cliffs soak up even the heaviest downpour so you won’t wake up to a mud-fest!

Info: Beachdown Festival is on from August 22-25 at Devil’s Dyke, Brighton. Tickets cost from £85, including camping. Visit Beachdownfestival.com or call 0844 567 0635.

CHUCK YOUR MOBILE - FOR FUN!

Estonia is playing host to the quirky ninth Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships this bank holiday. Try combining this unusual competition with a weekend break among the winding cobbled streets, castles, towers and cathedrals of the capital, Tallinn. How long before phone throwing is an Olympic event? Er… can I put you on hold while I find out?

Info: The Championship takes place on Saturday August 23 at Narva Castle, Estonia (Savonlinnafestivals.com, 00 3585 0555 3602). You can fly to Tallinn with Easyjet (Easyjet.com) from £112 return, and stay at the cheery Hotel Inger (Inger.ee) in Narva, where double rooms cost just £50 a night.

GO BOG SNORKELLING

If you were in any doubt that we’re a nation of eccentrics, this event will confirm it. Yes, it’s the annual Bog Snorkelling Championships in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales. Participants get to swim in a mask, snorkel and fins through 60 metres of peat bog. Lovely! Apparently the contest was dreamt up in a pub, which explains a lot. All proceeds go to charity and it’s all very silly, with participants wearing fancy dress costumes and scores of spectators all whooping and cheering in a windswept Welsh field.

Info: The World Bog Snorkelling Championships take place on August 25 at Llanwrtyd Wells. Visit Llanwrtyd-wells.powys.org.uk/bog.html or call 01591 610666 to find out more.

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY, GETTY, LANCTON, SCOPEFEATURES.COM. All prices correct at time of going to press.