BBC Local Radio reflects the UK festival experience in partnership with BBC Music

Sandals and sunburn - ok so I've not yet had the festival experience of many knee-deep in mud and a leaking tent! However, summer music festivals are all around us with nearly 1,000 different events to choose from. It's not just a pastime for the young either. With many of the 80s bands back on the road like Duran Duran at Common People in Southampton and Oxford and Madness playing Cropredy and Kendal Calling, people of all ages even with young families in tow, are spending their hard earned cash on listening to live music in fields and temporary venues up and down the country.

Sure the likes of Glastonbury and Bestival are the big players in the market but thousands of people each year are flocking to the smaller, bijoux events listening to an eclectic range of music from jazz, blues, world, not to mention emerging and yet to be signed artists. Research for the BBC in 2013 suggests a third of festival goes actually prefer smaller festivals because you can get close to the action and two thirds consider the artists to be as good as or better.

BBC Local Radio has long championed local events, celebrated great live music and through BBC Music Introducing has helped start the careers of new acts like Florence and the Machine and Jack Garrett. However, until now we have not showcased the scale of coverage the BBC gives to music festivals across the UK. In 2015, BBC Local Radio and the Nations collectively broadcast from over 120.

So, between June and September, each BBC Local Radio station with Radio's Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will each be championing one festival under the umbrella of BBC Music. Coverage will be collated into a digital collection on BBC Music alongside coverage of Glastonbury and Radio 1's Big Weekend. BBC Music branding will sit proudly alongside that of our BBC Local Radio Station on digital, radio and TV.

The project is pulling together expertise from across the BBC and demonstrates the real scale and impact we can make UK wide when teams pull together. BBC Music is already proving that the BBC is at the heart of the UK music scene. This summer BBC Music will be at the heart of the UK festival experience too. All we need now is some good weather!

• Read 'BBC Local Radio and BBC Music commit to bringing coverage of 42 UK festivals to audiences this summer' on the BBC Media Centre