Features

"I had a dog. He died about a year ago. His name was Boss. This is for my dog. I miss my dog."

Crazy Suffolk weather here at Latitude today (July 19): Fiercely hot sun, followed swiftly by fast paced mini 'storms' of rain, plus a rainbow! Plenty of running back and forth to tent to switch from wellies to flip-flops! The festival is being swayed by the sounds of Sigur Ros, Elbow and The Coral, but here are a few snapshots to give you a taste of what it's been like...

A 5.30pm slot at a summer festival can be a bit of a graveyard slot: by that time of the day, festival-goers tend to have had their fill of daytime acts, and are waiting impatiently for the main attractions.

While John seems to have found his Latitude highlight, I've got to say I've found mine, too. Nicholas Parsons, come on down. Oh, and Sheffield's finest enjoy a Man Balancing Ball On His Head race down at the lake.

Guest blogger Terry Staunton has been eavesdropping on the conversations of others to discover just what Latitude punters are talking about...

Back here at Latitude, then. We’ve been burned today. We’ve been drenched today. We’ve accidentally seen a bit of Beth Rowley as well. But – and this is purely my personal opinion – I’ve also just seen the best band of the festival thus far.

So, as ever with Latitude, there's as much fun to be had after the official events of the day have wound down...

Since, with a fairly grim inevitability, I'm the first of the Uncut massive to be up and about, the first highlights top ten of the festival falls to me, it seems.

There’s something vaguely ironic about a group from a predominantly arid country like Mali attracting a massive crowd because it starts raining. But Amadou & Mariam deserve nothing less. Over on the main stage, Franz Ferdinand are battling on as the rain gets steadily heavier.

I must admit, I find it hard to throw myself willingly into the arms of Martha Wainwright. This isn't necessarily anything to do with her song craft -- which is sleek, consummate, and delivered with commendable laser precision. She is, I guess, part of a lineage of perfectly respectable quality singer-songwriters who can find an equilibrium between a more benign, FM Radio 2 friendly audiences and those searching, perhaps, for something that's clearly in tune to profound emotional feelings.