So you want to go to a music festival but you couldn't be bothered putting up with the rain and the mud or risking your life in a Portaloo. Well don't fret help is at hand in the shape of the New Music West festival which takes place in Vancouver from May 14 to 18. To attend you won't even have to leave your beloved computer as it's the world's first ever MMO music festival.

Virtual-Vancouver will recreate the festival in a 3-D virtual world where you can enjoy all of the proceedings in real time for free. The idea seems interesting but the lineup isn't exactly enough to get you out of bed, let alone spend fours days online hanging around.

Also it's not clear if Virtual-Vancouver will be able to recreate the nuances which make festival going so enjoyable, such as hours spent searching for your tent in the campsite only to discover that it's been nicked.

An example of Virtual Vancouver's handiwork