The Abattoir Blues Festival at The Castle Hotel

If braving the camping at Leeds Festival across August Bank Holiday weekend isn’t your thing (and, frankly, whose thing is it?), The Abattoir Blues Festival may well be the ideal alternative to getting your festival kicks one last time, without a muddy field in sight. Rather, Abattoir Blues Records are setting up camp in the more intimate surroundings of The Castle Hotel to bring the best blues-inspired acts from around the country. With acts both signed to the label and from further afield, the line-up boasts a host of exciting talent including Black Ribbons, Dr Butler’s Hatstand Medicine Band (pictured), Old Hands, Tyler Hatwell, Tom Elias and Death Vignettes. Taking place over two days, a weekend pass is just £7, meaning you can come and go as you please, safe in the knowledge that at the end of the day you can return to the comfort of your own home instead of a stuffy, overcrowded tent.

Sat 24 – Sun 25 Aug, The Castle Hotel, 66 Oldham Street, M4 1LE, Tel: 07593867634, weekend wristbands £7, day wristbands £4, www.ticketline.co.uk