SPRING has sprung so it is time to get your music festival plans for this year into gear.

With a mixture of the world's finest on show at the various events across the country during June, July and August, including; REM, The White Stripes, Coldplay, Blur and Linkin Park, choosing the right festival for you is essential.

So, if you are having trouble deciding where to spend your hard-earned cash, check out ManchesterOnline's guide for the lowdown on who's playing where, when and how you can be involved.

First up at the end of June is Glastonbury, not only the most famous but also the biggest greenfield music and arts festival in the world.

With increased security and several measures taken to cut out profiteering and fraud prior to the event and petty and serious crime during it - it should be their safest year yet.

And although the official line-up is still to be confirmed, several bands have independently confirmed their appearance, including; Radiohead, REM, The Coral, Moby, Suede and Idlewild.

Sharing the mid-July weekend are the Move and T in the Park festivals.

Now in its second year, Move has once again attracted some of the biggest acts in the world and in fact shares one of its headliners REM with T.

The premier Scottish festival, T in the Park at Balado Activity Centre in Kinross always seems to hand-pick the best acts from all the other events in the summer to put together an eclectic line-up.

In August comes V2003 and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. Similar in that they both have line-ups which swap venues over the weekend. This year, each offers the best in rock, indie and pop.

Finally, for those of you keen on following the hot local acts before they hit the big time, then 24 Rock Fest, a three-day show for the city's unsigned acts starting on June 20, could be the event for you.

So take your pick and enjoy!

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