AS thousands begin to flock to the Solway coast for the musical festival, here's a round-up of everything you need to know from the entry times to the weekend's weather. 

Solfest at North Lakes Country Park, Silloth this weekend (August 24-29). The 19th annual Solfest music festival is expected to attract 10,000 attendees, featuring performances by acts like Ocean Colour Scene, The Libertines, and The Futureheads.

With 10 music stages, Solfest boasts the largest kids area for a festival in Cumbria, offering various workshops, activities, storytelling, and cinema.

There will be fairground rides, a healing area, sensory area, steam room and sauna to enjoy.

Festival day splits:

For those heading to the festival today (Aug 24), festival-goers with early-door tickets will have the chance to see Peter Hook and the Light, Utah Saints, Slamboree, Beans on Toast, Holy Moly & the Cracks and Oh My God! It's the Church.

Friday's main acts include Ocean Colour Scheme, The Undertones, Hollie Cook and Redlight.

Saturday's main acts include Wilkinson, Band of Skulls and Sigma.

Sunday's main acts are The Libertines, The Futureheads, BC Camplight and Goldie.

What time does Solfest start?

For those with a Thursday camping ticket, both the campsites and car parks will open at 10am and close at 8pm. The campsites and car parks will reopen on Friday at 9am.

For Thursday bolt-on ticket holders, the main arena opens at 6pm, for the rest the main festival arena opens at 1pm on Friday.

You can buy tickets on the gate (if they have not sold out by the time you get there!)

Will there be a cash machine at the festival?

Solfest plans to have cash machines, but if they can't, a shuttle bus to nearby towns like Aspatria and Silloth will be available. There may be an additional charge for the shuttle bus.

Contactless payments will be accepted at the bar and concessions. Some traders may offer cash back.

Weather:

It will be a cloudy start today with some rain but should become drier by the afternoon with some sunnier spells developing. It will be feeling slightly cooler, wiith a maximum temperature of 20 °C.

Sunny spells and showers are expected from Friday to Sunday. Showers will be most frequent on Saturday where they could turn heavy at times, carrying the risk of thunder. It should be feeling fresher and breezier.

Travel:

For those traveling by car from Carlisle, they should take the A595 south until reaching the Thursby roundabout, then turn onto the A596 signposted Workington/Aspatria.

After approximately 10 miles, they should take a right turn signed Langrigg/Westnewton and continue on Gillmorend Brow for around 3 miles until reaching the junction with the B5301. From there, a right turn will lead them to the Solfest site.

Those traveling from the north should exit the M6 at Junction 41 and take the B5305 signposted Wigton. They should then make a right turn and continue on the B5305 signposted Town Centre.

After 0.3 miles, at the Monument, they should turn left onto the B5302 and follow it to the junction with the A596. Turning left onto the A596 signed Aspatria, they should drive for approximately 4 miles before taking a right turn signed Langrigg/Westnewton.

Continuing on Gillmorend Brow for about 3 miles will bring them to the junction with the B5301, where they should turn right and follow the road for approximately 1.8 miles to the Solfest site.

Travelers from the west or south of Cumbria can take the B5301 signposted Aspatria or A596 to Aspatria from the A595. They should then turn left by the Petrol Station and follow the B5301 for around 4 miles to reach the Solfest site.

For those who prefer to use What3words for navigation, the location of the Solfest site can be found at ///losing.months.brave.

In terms of drive times, it takes approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach Solfest from Newcastle, 2 hours and 5 minutes from Glasgow, 2 hours and 25 minutes from Manchester, and 2 hours and 40 minutes from Edinburgh.

The nearest train station to the festival site is Aspatria. From there you can either take our bus shuttle or grab a taxi.

Travel Times:
Lancaster – 1hr 45mins
Edinburgh – 2hrs 5mins
Glasgow – 2hr 15mins
Newcastle – 2hrs 15mins
Manchester – 2hrs 50mins

Solfest is just 15 minutes on the dedicated shuttle bus from Aspatria Railway Station to the festival.

The short trip from Aspatria Railway Station to Solfest is roughly 5 miles, and a standard taxi usually cost between £15-£20. It may be extra depending on the time of day, number of passengers and ammount of luggage.