We've been promised rain for the whole weekend but the weather gods show mercy and allow us to erect the tent beneath the Louth sun. A stiff breeze hinders things a little but not too much. There's a 20 minute queue to get in and it provides a good opportunity to get to know our fellow festival goers. It's a compact festival with only a few minutes between the tent, the toilets and any of the stages. Some curry cheese chips from the food stalls give us the energy we need to flit between the three main stages.

Our first foray into the main area sees the delightful harmonies of Sonnets And Sisters light up the shady Woodland Stage. The arty pop of We, The Oceanographers is the first must-see on our list. They play with downbeat electronic backing, Kevin Shields-guitars and trip hop bass guitar. They share  vocal duties and provide witty, effecting lyrics.

On the way to check out the main stage we get distracted by an enormous drum. We are handed sticks and halfheartedly join the group with doubts about such hippie tosh. What initially seems like a chaotic beat coalesces into something magical and the half heart becomes whole. It's an uplifting bonding experience. Everyone who is drumming becomes a friend and inhibitions are shed as we dance and whoop at each other. You can even lie underneath the drum while it is being played, looking up at the vibrating skin. It is more relaxing than it sounds. Maybe the hippies were on to something after all.

Few bands get us as excited as Hvmmingbyrd and the Woodland Stage is the ideal venue for them. The sun streaming through the treetop canopy dapples the wood chip strewn clearing. Their mellow electronica and sweet inventive harmonies fill the sonic spectrum and entrance all ages at the gig. A group of young children get up and dance at the foot of the stage to the delight of the band. It's their third show of four this weekend and they are noticeably more comfortable on stage as a result. They converse confidently with the audience and play with supreme self assurance.

We've seen Vulpynes before, doing an unplugged set but now we get to see the hard rock duo in their natural environment. The sneery vocals and chunky low-end distorted guitars of Maeve Molly and Kaz’s visceral drumming co-opt cock rock staples for Vulpynes more personal agenda, in the vein of L7. They finish their main stage set with an epic tune that teases with two false endings. They've obviously made an impact and there are numerous cries for more as they pack up.

Monaghan's Sun.Set.Ships are an electro rock trio who mix heartfelt lyrics and danceable beats. The laptop, synths and guitar bolster songs that are influenced by hip hop, rock, and traditional Irish airs. The result is something that sounds new and unique but leaves you amazed that no one else is doing it. For the first time today, the dance floor erupts in an ecstatic display of movement. Tomorrow night's headliners Nix Moon turn up en masse to support their Monaghan neighbours. Their closing number is a cover of Caribou's 'Can't Do Without You'. This version pisses all over the original and is a stone cold classic in the mould of Candi Staton's 'You Got The Love' and it deserves to be heard all over the world. When they finish, the crowd chant their name in recognition of a performance worthy of a headline slot. We had a chat with the band after their set and you can read that shortly here on Musos' Guide. Come back tomorrow to see Mongrel State, Makings and Nix Moon.

For many, the fact that Newcastle’s Maximo Park are still massively active more than ten years since their inception is crazy. While so many bands of their era have either stagnated in to obscurity, or reached the dizzying heights of worldwide renown, theirs is a career of celebrated consistently, of which the 2000 people in attendance this evening are a testament.

Any argument against the band’s current relevancy however, prove unfounded when their most recent album Risk to Exist is brought in to the mix. Far more politicised than their previous records, it’s this material that forms the backbone of tonight’s set, though despite the overt politics of said material being both timely and heartfelt, its sincerity does little to dampen the convivial atmosphere felt inside Manchester’s Albert Hall.

Opening with a double team of new material in the form of ‘What Did We Do To Deserve This?’ and the eponymous ‘Risk To Exist’, it’s clear from the outset that the new material speaks volumes to the band’s fans, as if it’s been a staple of their sets for years and not, in fact, a matter of months.

Of course, while the politics are both welcome and necessary, the inherent romanticism of Maximo Park is what earns them fans, and indeed keeps them coming back. Tonight, it’s present in spades. From long-time favourites like ‘Books From Boxes’ to more recent offerings like ‘Leave This Island’ the band’s ability in extracting beauty from desolation, and in making the mundane appear poetic is second to none.

As they tear through a 20 strong set-list, complete with expected acrobatics and countless “thank yous” from the band’s affable frontman Paul Smith, it’s clear that despite the vastly varied crowd, Maximo Park are a band that bring people together. And though each song might well mean something different to each person present tonight, their importance is impossible to ignore.

As they exit the stage following an energetic airing of ‘Girls Who Play Guitars’ those on the Albert Halls wooden balcony begin to stamp their feet in unison, shaking the fixtures and adding to an atmosphere already amplified by the deafening roar that only gets louder as the band return to the stage for a deserved encore.

An impassioned outing for ‘By the Monument kicks things off, followed in quick succession by ‘Apply Some Pressure’ and new track ‘Get High, (No, I Don’t)’, but really, it doesn’t matter what they play. Maximo Park gigs are bigger than the sum of their parts, and the band themselves far bigger than their none-existent ego. And though the new album provides an insight in to their leftist politics, they were a band of the people long before any serious politics entered the equation. And long my they continue to be so. 

With a heavy head and tired feet we drag our carcasses out for the final day. The excellent Great Escape app alerts us to a surprise outdoor gig outside of the Brighton library and we head here first.  

To our complete surprise it’s the massive talent of Rag 'N' Bone Man. And though announced very last minute, it pulls in a huge crowd and as it's outdoors in the baking sunshine, it is certainly a wonderful start. As he knocks out his hits the word gets around and by the end of his short set he has a huge audience. As the crowds fade away we stay to catch the brilliant songwriting talents of Vince James, whose honest, in-depth storytelling lyrics are bound to project this guy to bigger and brighter things.

Next up is Flamingods a five piece from Bahrain who are multi-instrumentalist consisting of drummers and guitarist. They show of their skills by swapping after each track.  There swirling Middle Eastern rhythms meet psychedelic guitars in a wonderful mixture of world sounds.  Continuing the world music theme we plump for Sarathy Korwar an Indian artist of traditional folk music who has just been signed to Ninja Tune. The blend of beats, folk and jazz are continuing to grow his reputation on the back of his new album which we highly recommend.

We pop across to Brighton marina to catch some more beats in the form of Blue Lab Beats. These two guys have produced and remixed many artists including the aforementioned Rag n Bone Man.  After gaining reputation as remixers they decided to go alone and breakout on their own to huge effect.  We march to catch The Parrots in the blazing sunshine and the hideous weather of previous days is now a distant memory. These Spanish indie rock and rollers are great fun and bring a wonderful energetic sound. We now have a short few hours break from the afternoon sessions until we attack our final night. We start off with the wonderful Daniel Wakeford. He gained fame via the Channel 4 tv show The Undateables. And now he’s a singer at the festival. He is simply wonderful and the huge outdoor crowd roar and scream their appreciation for a man whose warmth and love of music and performing is undeniably infectious. 

We feel we need a calming softer act to refuel so we plump for Julie Byrne, a country acoustic artist who transports us to a front porch of the deep south with her wonderful melodies of the mysterious of love. She is also a wonderfully talent guitarist and we are suitably calmed and relaxed. Ayia are an Icelandic electro pop three piece who serve up post-apocalyptic, intimidating, glichy, abstract dance music.

Jane Weaver is an intense artist that demands your immediate intention with her intense haunting voice that we were lucky to catch as she drew a huge crowd. Even bigger crowds come to see Baloji who comes highly recommend. He has so many talents from poetry to filmmaking and he wows us with a visual and sound display of epic proportions. There was a rumour of a secret gig in the same venue and to our absolute delight it’s the incredible John Grant. We are treated to very intimate performance and judging by the sheer size of the crowd it wasn’t that big a secret. He is such an intense and wonderful performer with a wonderful sense of humour. 

We race to catch a bit of Brighton’s own The Magic Gang with their lovely cross over sound. Relaxed indie yet a larger vocal presents is how we would describe them. We are running out of time so we plump for a final bit of urban in the form of Ryan De La Cruz. He is simply sensational with a wonderful crowd interaction and boundless energy. This is followed by the equally excellent Stefflon Don who loyal fan based packed out the venue. She finished with an impromptu stage invasion where half the audience join her.  Our Final act of the three days were Pom Poko from Norway a geeky four piece punk pop band who sum up the brilliance of this festival. Multi layers of genres throw together from acts all over the world who all come to celebrate the amazing thrill of live music.

Vantastival kicks off the festival season in Ireland this coming weekend. Now in its eighth year, the festival returns to Beaulieu House for two days of music over the bank holiday weekend. As usual, campervan passes are free and we’ll be livetweeting both days from the @musosguide account on Twitter. Tickets are still available from the festival website here.

Andy Smith (ex. Portishead), The Eskies, Fish Go Deep and Blood And Fire Sound System feat. MC Brother Culture are among the main acts at this year’s festival. London-based DJ Andy Smith made his name as Portishead’s international tour DJ and his sampling formed the basis of the band’s unique sound. Since the Portishead tours Andy has established himself as an underground producer of some of the most irresistible hip-hop breaks-based music around and has a strong cult following. He will close the woodland stage with a late night set on Saturday 3rd June.

The Eskies have been busy bringing their unique brand of folk noir/gypsy jazz/sea shanty and swaggering stage spectacle to venues across Europe over the past couple of years, and will have their first opportunity since 2013 to perform at Vantastival on Sunday night, 4th June.  Blood And Fire Sound System will also play on Sunday night, featuring original Rasta MC Brother Culture, while producer duo Fish Go Deep from Cork will headline BackwardS, a new late night area in the woods at Beaulieu, where DJs will keep revellers dancing till the very early hours.

Vantastival’s impressive line-up also includes The Riptide Movement, Overhead, The Albatross, Lankum (formerly Lynched), Kíla, New Secret Weapon, MINDRIOT, Cat Dowling and a host of other Irish names with the usual focus on up-and-coming unsigned acts. The Glasshouse Stage is another new addition to the site, an intimate acoustic experience featuring solo slots from singer-songwriters including Keith Plunkett, Grainne Hunt and Niall McGuigan (ex. Speedking) among others. Meanwhile Dun Laoghaire College of Further Education will bring back the popular DFEi Music Stage, run by students and featuring a line up of former and current DFEi students. With still more acts to be announced, this year’s festival will be a veritable feast for music fans.

And, of course, some of Musos’ Guide's favourites will play the Firestone Stage. Over the course of six weeks, competing against eleven other acts, Nix Moon have prevailed victorious at Firestone’s Battle of the Bands Competition. The final took on Thursday the 11th of May in Odd Mollies, Drogheda, where the band battled it out against four other acts. As well as headlining the Firestone stage at Vantastival, the prize consists of a €1,800 voucher for Musicmaker, Dublin, and three days recording time at world renowned Grouse Lodge Studios, Co. Westmeath. Joining them will be fellow finalists Grand, Makings, Accidents In The Workplace and Lowlight Ensemble, with Sun.Set.Ships, We, The Oceanographers, The Periods, Pine The Pilcrow and The Future West also popping up on our clashfinder.

Vantastival 2017 will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June at Beaulieu House & Gardens, Drogheda. Other attractions will include art installations, fire performances, drum circles, festival traders, an Alice in Wonderland-themed kids’ camp and much more. Vantastival has something for everyone, with or without a campervan. Weekend tickets are on sale now at €85 + booking fee for two nights camping. Day tickets cost €40.