All Tomorrow's Parties is a small scale music festival in East Sussex on the south coat of England, at the Pontin's holiday park. Each year a band is chosen to host the event, and they choose the bands that perform. The accommodation is quite strange for a festival - rather than tents, the camp's chalets are used. To the average festival goer like myself who's more used to Glastonbury, this is a distinct break from the norm, and can be a little odd. The bands play on the two indoor stages, and there's an on site pub. You even get a TV in your chalet, where the curating band gets to put on films and programs of their choice. The small size and unique location present a rather iconoclastic and civil experience compared to the mayhem of a festival such as the legendary Glastonbury. There's even a nice sandy beach a few hundred metres away.

When I first went, the populace was a rather curious mix of geeky art students and fans of the bands who were playing - mostly experimental or techno orientated. The studenty types were the regulars, having been to previously far more indiepop line-ups whereas the fans of the bands were into glitch, noise, ambient, techno, hip hop or experimental, reflecting the bands who were on. Quite an assortment. The audience numbers are low - around two thousand at the most.

It began as a festival called the Bowlie Weekender, organised by Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian, and was then re-named as ATP. The ATP festival has been hosted by Tortoise, Mogwai, Shellac and Autechre. There are also ATP festivals in the US, in NY and LA. These have been hosted by people such as Sonic Youth and Matt Groening, of Simpsons fame.

Bands of note that played the 2003 UK festival: