Mandrea Festival
Lake Garda, Verona, Italy
5/5

Britain may fly the flag for music festivals of all varieties but many of them simply lack the glorious surroundings of those across the rest of Europe.

Mandrea, a small reggae-dub festival in its fourth year set on the foothills of the Italian Alps in the Dolomites range north of Verona, is a case in point. Not to mention the cheap Prosecco.

Headlined this year by one of the few surviving Jamaican reggae legends, Max Romeo, there’s plenty of room for politics among the partying.

The 70-year-old veteran, dressed in red, is joined by backing singers and a full brass band as he struts around on stage and renders a pitch-perfect run-through of classic ’70s album War Ina Babylon, originally recorded with The Upsetters.

There’s his timeless Uptown Babies with its refrain “uptown babies don’t cry, they don’t know what sufferin’ is like/uptown babies don’t cry they don’t know what hungry is like,” giving a nod to how the extent of life’s struggle is so often decided at birth with the poorest always worse off.

Then there’s the harmonious Stealin’ which advocates “stealing in the name of the lord” in response to a hypocritical society where the well-off and protected look down their noses on the poor who are forced to commit crimes out of necessity.

Dub producer Mad Professor, known for his work with Massive Attack, was also in attendance to deliver spacier vibes.

There’s plenty of DJs on top of the live acts too, ranging from the traditional reggae of collective Deep Forward to the techy dance of local DJ Roby M Rage.

While the music takes time out during the day, the selling point of a festival site that sits right next to the Alps and the majestic Lake Garda, Italy’s largest, is the many daytime activities including plenty of opportunities to go rock climbing, canoeing, mountain biking, diving, kayaking et al.

There are of course some teething problems as can be expected with any small independent festival, including disorganisation with the scheduling of acts that one artist blamed on the toking of too much weed.

Getting to the festival site itself once in one of the two scenic nearby towns of Acra, with its ancient hilltop castle, and Lake Garda also proves more difficult than you’d anticipate.

A sporadic festival shuttle bus or an expensive taxi are the only options if you’re not driving. However, a four-day festival for little more than £50 should be seen as a bonus in an area of Italy where many would choose to go for an away break.

An adventurous attitude is advised.

• For more information about the festival visiten.mandreafestival.com/