Watusi Festival

A boutique-​ish three-​dayer that began life in summer 2010 in countryside near the perimeter of Cardiff International Airport, Watusi is an interesting additional to Wales’s undersubscribed festival season, from a collective of the region’s promoters. Small in scale but big on ideas, the musical policy is on the laidback side, DJs spinning sounds spanning Brazilian, funk, reggae and Afrobeat music, plus live performers dealing in whimsical folk, indie-​rock and audio-​visual sets. The atmosphere is similarly tranquil — midway between hippy jam and refined middle-​class relaxation — albeit sporadically interrupted by its location directly under the flightpath of the nearby airport. It proves weirdly hypnotic, however, as everything from light planes to international commercial aircraft approach to land at regular interviews. You may not be so impressed should your mornings involve sleeping off the previous night’s excesses, of course; compensation is a stunning sea view beyond the festival’s fences. The drinks are heavy on local brewers, commendably reasonably priced for a festival (ordinarily carte blanche to charge extortionate money for generic drainwater), and the food, while not such fantastic value for money, is hearty with good vegetarian options. If you don’t drive, the trip is only a minor inconvenience, less than 30 minutes walk from bus and rail links. Here’s hoping Watusi becomes an annual fixture.