The Green Man Festival is due to kick off once again today at the Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell for the 18th time in a venue that has become a home from home for the festival writes Nancy Cavill.

Music fans will be treated to a line-up ranging from Nottingham’s politically spiky Sleaford Mods to the ‘pogo punk’ of California’s the Osees to the brooding intensity and authenticity of Tyneside’s Nadine Shah.

And of course they will also find an eclectic mix of musical genres. There’s no compulsion to go dark and moody with the music. If the fancy takes you, you can catch a flavour of Kinshasa’s nightlife with Congolese KoKoKo! Or why not experience the sheer joy and energy of the Mercury award-winning Ezra Collective from south London? Dancing shoes (or wellies) definitely required.

A lot has changed since the Green Man festivals of 2003-2005 which were held in first the Swansea Valley and then at Baskerville Hall near Hay-on-Wye. Those early festivals were put together with spirit but weren’t always technically perfect. Anyone remember the power cut during Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy in 2005?

Green Man’s capacity has gone from a few hundred intrepid souls to the 25,000 sell-out crowd who will attend this weekend’s event. Not to mention all those staying the week at the ‘Settler’s’ area which is such a great boost to local tourism and businesses.

But having been to those initial festivals the one thing that hasn’t changed is the sheer variety of music on offer and the creativity which spills from every stage. This includes the non-music arts element of the festival. It’s hard to explain to non-festival goers and locals but you can technically do a whole festival weekend of entertainment without watching a single musical act (I know someone who has done this but, personally speaking, why would you want to?).

If talks and laughs are your thing you can head to the ‘Babbling Tongues’ comedy and literature tent, the sometimes baffling science area ‘Einstein’s Garden’ or watch artists perform aerial acrobatics.

This year the festival will play host to a 12-foot high puppet called ‘Little Amal’. She represents a 10-year-old Syrian child as a symbol of global human rights. ‘Amal’ has visited the UN, the European Parliament and met the Pope, but this will be her first time in Wales. It will be fascinating to see how she resonates with the Green Man crowd - I’m sure she will be welcomed with open arms.

Parents will want to / have to take excited kids to the ‘Little Folk’ area for under-12s with face-painting, exploring, music-making and more - it’s a honeypot for the young ones.

There are people who go to Green Man who don’t even make it to one of the three main stages - they dance their nights away in the ‘Chai Wallahs' tent until late. Or they sit around the fireplace chatting to strangers, because friendliness is the festival’s shtick. Not everyone has to partake in the ‘heat-bathing’ that some took a shine to last year - clad in bikinis on a chilly mid-Wales evening.

This year I’m looking forward to the aforementioned Nadine Shah, the Jesus and Mary Chain who I last saw playing acoustically in a chapel in Talgarth, This Is The Kit, the Mysterines and a whole lot more. Comedy-wise - if you can squeeze into what is usually a packed-out tent - Wales’ own Kiri Pritchard-McLean would be my top pick.

But mostly I expect to find the unexpected, to be amazed and awed by the atmosphere and to bump into friends old and new during what looks set to be a joyous weekend in our own backyard in the beautiful Usk Valley. What’s not to like?