This year’s summer music festival season is in full swing. While the unwashed look (and smell) doesn’t appeal to everyone there are plenty of people who are happy to embrace it to experience the music, atmos-phere and entertainment on offer, writes Sheena Grant.

But paying for the privilege of sleeping on what passes for a bed in a lumpy and perhaps muddy field is not cheap - tickets for many festivals can cost several hundred pounds if you go for the whole weekend.

I’ve done a few festivals in the past.

I love going but I also love coming home at the end of the weekend.

It really makes you appreciate little things, like soap and hot running water.

I haven’t got tickets for any festivals this year as I really can’t justify the price.

But there could be another way.

There are, apparently, many free festivals out there that could help you enjoy a carefree summer of great music, food and (if you’re lucky) sunshine. The website, moneysaving expert.com, has even put together a free tool to help you find them, which you can find here.

In this region over the next few weeks there are free festivals listed in King’s Lynn and Norwich- headliners include KT Tunstall and Busted and Norwich.

And if you’re prepared to travel, there are even more opportunities to enjoy live music on a budget.

If you’re a more discerning type who wants to see a specific band or type of music and not just take whatever’s on offer, just because it’s free, all may not be lost, even if you are on a limited budget.

Some festivals that usually have an entrance fee can be free if you volunteer to give some of your time to help out.

One example of this is the Latitude festival, held at Southwold, volunteers work in a variety of roles there.

There’s also the chance to volunteer through Oxfam, so you not only gain free entry to the festival but support the charity’s work too.

Volunteers are also needed for a variety of roles at FolkEast, a three-day festival held at Glemham Hall, near Saxmundham, in August.

To find out more click here