DIG out your tent and wellies, the festival season kicks off this Friday with the Isle of Wight Festival.

Even in the current climate of economic hardship, Dorset will see a bumper summer crop of music festivals all vying for our hard earned cash.

These include the recently sold out Isle of Wight Festival, Camp Bestival at Lulworth, Endorse it in Dorset at Sixpenny Handley, Larmer Tree Festival, End of the Road Festival, Bestival at the Isle of Wight, Best of Dorset Music Festival at Milborne St Andrew, Swanage Blues Festval and many more.

It’s all down to location according to James Shepard, organiser and founder of the Larmer Tree Festival.

“Dorset seems to be the festival capital of the world! It’s a beautiful area to hold a festival and there’s a big demand,” says James.

So before you hammer in that first tent peg, here’s a roundup of the biggest local music festivals to choose from:

The Isle Of Wight Festival, June 12-14:

Originally held from 1968 to 1970, this iconic event was the UK’s answer to Woodstock and saw legendary performances from The Doors, The Who and Jimi Hendrix.

Unfortunately its popularity proved to be its downfall, as fears for public safety resulted in the festival disappearing until 2002.

The revived Isle of Wight Festival continues to attract major artists including The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, R.E.M, Paul Weller, The Sex Pistols and The Who again.

This year sees an energetic line-up featuring The Ting Tings, Basement Jaxx, Prodigy (main picture), Stereophonics and Neil Young.

Larmer Tree Festival, July 15-19:

The festival organiser James Shepard fell upon the Larmer Tree Gardens whilst out jogging on Cranborne Chase in 1990.

Several years later and the Larmer Tree Festival had firmly established itself on the festival circuit, with a loyal and enthusiastic audience.

It has now expanded into a five-day festival for 5,000 people and for the last 14 years, weekend tickets have sold out with numbers strictly limited to protect the intimate atmosphere cherished by devotees.

Acts to look out for this summer are Dreadzone, The Imagined Village and comedian Sean Hughes.

Camp Bestival, July 24-26:

Returning for its second year at Lulworth Castle, the family-friendly “boutique” music festival has just announced its 2009 line-up.

On the bill is Kid Creole, Will Young and Bridport singer PJ Harvey - plus a fancy dress theme of Animal Magic.

Endorse it in Dorset, August 7-9:

It was a birthday party in a barn that sparked off The Endorse it in Dorset Festival an event that inspired members of the band Pronghorn to start a festival, bringing local and international music to their home county of Dorset.

The fifth Endorse-it in-Dorset music festival will take place near the village of Sixpenny Handley in the beautiful setting of Cranborne Chase.

Bands include Pronghorn, Attila the Stockbroker and veteran punks Sham 69.

Bestival, September 11-12:

The three-day music festival is held at Robin Hill Country Park on the Isle of Wight and is rapidly growing out of the shadow of the much larger Isle of Wight Festival.

Bestival began life in 2004, organised by BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank and is an off-shoot of his Sunday Best record label and club nights. Besides being generally smaller, Bestival is considered more alternative and diverse from its larger festival rival.

This year has a fancy dress theme of space and the line-up includes Massive Attack, Kraftwerk, Elbow, MGMT and Lily Allen.

End of the Road Festival, September 11-13:

Held at the Larmer Tree Gardens, this will be the fourth End of the Road Festival. The spirit of the event is in championing new and unsigned talent at the festival.

Bands to watch out for include The Mummers who recently release their eagerly anticipated debut album, Tale To tell.