The summer festival rumour season has begun.

On The Record must take its share of blame for this with a post on the blog during the week leading to a lot of informed (and uninformed) speculation about line-ups for open-air stages around the country.

As revealed on the blog, My Bloody Valentine are set to play the Electric Picnic in late August.

The band have reformed for a tour, which begins in June with sold-out shows dates in London, Manchester and Glasgow. The band are also to play at the Roskilde (Denmark), Oya (Norway) and Benicassim (Spain) festivals.

Tickets for Oxegen are due to go on sale on March 7th, so an initial line-up of acts will be announced later this month. Expect to see REM, The National, Prodigy, The Raconteurs, The Verve, Ian Brown, The Ting Tings, MGMT, Sons & Daughters and Stereophonics joining the already confirmed Kings of Leon on that bill.

Last summer saw more than 70 festival and outdoor shows in Ireland. There's talk of even more in 2008.

One of the no-shows will be the Midlands festival. The country music festival has had two runs at the magnficent Belvedere House in Co Westmeath, but will not take place this summer.

Stetson wearers looking for a day out in a big field can instead head north for the UTV County Festival, where 50 acts, including George Jones, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Nanci Griffith and a host of country'n' western Irish stars play in Dungannon, Co Tyrone on August 2nd and 3rd.

Many of this summer's big outdoor shows, such as Bruce Springsteen and Celine Dion, have already been announced and are already sold-out.

However, On The Record has learned that several promoters are vying for the rights to shows by The Eagles, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.