Imagine a festival that catered more or less exclusively for unsigned, under the radar bands; a festival where you could see all your favourite bands from where you lived, in one day. And imagine that this festival could draw a crowd of 4,000 people. Imagine Glasgowbury.

To celebrate its 10th Birthday, last weekend the finest bands and performers in Northern Ireland came together in the Sperrin Mountains, on a glorious summer day, and shattered the face of the mountain with new unsigned music. It's traditionally regarded as the Northern Irish music scene's big holiday, but there was something in the air this year. With Northern Irish music in arguably its rudest health for years, the assembled masses were treated to a spectacular display of incendiary music.

With BBC Introducing supporting the Small But Massive stage (the main stage, in case you were wondering!) as well as the G Sessions Stage (otherwise known as the second stage!) we were perfectly poised to bring you all the highlights, and a few surprises along the way...

With music thundering out from every direction on the top of the mountain, last year's headliners And So I Watch You From Afar sneaked onto the G Sessions stage, and unleashed their unique brand of sonic devastation. It was a secret performance, but still managed to attract the attention of almost everyone at the festival. They came in their thousands, spilling out as they tried to cram into the hot, sweaty tent, whilst the North coast four-piece proved exactly why they've been called one of the most exciting bands in the country.

Elsewhere, there was something to cater for all tastes. Belfast troubadour Duke Special brought a touch of vaudevillian charm to the mountain, art-poppers Yes Cadets sent shards of angular guitar and synth melodies cascading off the rocks, and mojoFURY scraped the sky with their darkly atmospheric rock assault. With so much to sample, the only complaint uttered was that the stage times for too many top notch acts clashed. And when our only grumble is that we've been spoilt for choice, surely that's the definition of a good day?

Not Squares, Chipzel, Building Pictures, Silhouette, Colenso Parade...there really were too many highlights to mention. And at the end of the day, after the dual onslaught of LaFaro on the main stage and General Fiasco on the G Sessions stage (where they attracted so many people that the sides of the tent were removed to accommodate their fans!), Fighting With Wire headlined the main stage, cementing a relationship that goes back to the very beginning.

As FWW frontman Cahir O'Doherty brought festival organiser Paddy Glasgow and his wife to the stage, it felt like every single person there was glowing with pride at what has been accomplished in the last ten years. With the music fading out into the night, Glasgowbury truly lived up to its "Small but Massive" moniker. As we look forward to its 11th birthday next year, we can but wonder how long that will be the case.

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Entrenched as we are in the summer festival season, things are pretty busy round here at the moment. While Radio 1's Big Weekend, Sonar, Glastonbury and T in the Park are all done and dusted, we've still got two more major events to come in August.

First up, on the 8th, we're heading to Gunnersbury Park with BBC Asian Network for London Mela, the last date in their Summer of Melas calendar. Bobby Friction announced the line-up on his Monday night show this week (listen again here).

Then at the end of the month, we'll be at Reading & Leeds once more, bringing our summer season to a close with a Bank Holiday bang. Stay tuned next week, when we'll be revealing who's on the bill!

Of course, these aren't the only festivals being held this summer. All over the country, there are festivals, fayres and fetes taking place practically every weekend. There's bound to be one in your neighbourhood, so if you or your band are gigging, make yourself known to the organisers and see if you can bag yourself a slot!



As Huw says, playing a small festival is a brilliant way to reach a slightly different audience and build up your live experience:

Right now, we're approaching the peak in festival season, as the school and university summer holidays begin. So let's take a quick jaunt around the country and find out which local events are on the horizon, and who'll be performing.

This weekend, Sheffield plays host to Europe's largest free music festival, Tramlines 2010 (23-25 July). Now in its second year, up to 80,000 people are expected to descend on the city to watch a line-up curated by Radio 1's Toddla T with performances from the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Mystery Jets, 65daysofstatic and Echo and the Bunnymen. There will also be DJ sets from Annie Mac and Mary Anne Hobbs. Check the Tramlines site for a list of participating venues.

Over at BBC Shropshire, Blast Reporter Becki Birch has been talking to the organisers of Telford's CultureFest, which also takes place this weekend (24 July). Young local acts The Yipes and Aimee Lake will be performing at the event, which aims to celebrate cultural and showcase local talent, whilst getting the public involved in a wide range of activities. 

Further north, BBC Tees are getting excited about the Stockton Fringe Festival (30 July - 1 August), where there will be sets from Calvin Harris, The Human League, Lightning Seeds and Mercury Rev. Blast Reporter Glen Keogh has been busy interviewing some of the local acts who'll be hoping to get themselves noticed at the festival this year, including Jimmy & The Sounds, Dirty Weekend and Stockton favourites Russell and the Wolves.



As part of the festival, BBC Tees are holding a session on 30 July to give local bands a chance to pose their questions to a panel of experts, including presenter Bob Fischer and Claire from BBC Introducing HQ!

Finally, if you're based in the Northampton area, check out Festinho, which will be taking place at Hinwick House (27 - 29 August). Crazy though it may sound, the festival aims to bring the spirit of Brazil to the rural Northamptonshire countryside. The organisers are offering one local unsigned band the chance to perform on the festival's main stage. You've got until 9 August to apply and can find out more on the Festinho blog. Good luck!

This week, our Tip of the Week act goes by the name of Smiler and hails from Woolwich in South East London. He started rapping about eight years ago and has already supported the likes of GZA from Wu-Tang and D12. At the weekend, he played on the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park:

Here's Huw with the track in full:

Enza is currently receiving a lot of love from BBC 1Xtra, and Smiler is also one of ten artists who are being championed on Radio 1 this summer. Each week, Radio 1's top honchos will pick an artist from our festival stage to add to their playlist, meaning their tracks will be given a spin on daytime national radio, reaching a massive audience. So listen out for more fantastic under the radar acts like Smilar on Radio 1 in the coming weeks.

Links

https://www.smilermusic.com/

https://www.myspace.com/smilermusic

https://twitter.com/smilermusic

See videos and photos from T in the Park 2010(BBC Introducing stage coming soon)

You can watch Ms. Darks performing at Glastonbury here.

Links



https:///www.myspace.com/msdarksmusic

https://www.msdarks.mfbiz.com/



Listen to Ms. Darks recorded in session at our Maida Vale Weekender, February 2010.

More from the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury 2010.