Some of those fields were a bit brown this year after all the rain, but mud splattered fun was had by all with plenty of highlights to pick out.

There was certainly a bit of something for everyone with music on five stages and comedy on another and this is one event that just keeps getting bigger and bigger with the 70,000 plus attendance on each of the days giving the effect of making the venue appear to be busting at the seams.

It's impossible, of course, to see even half of the acts over the three days, but here's my personal highlights and lowlights:

Best band:
A toss up between Last Shadow Puppets and the Manic Street Preachers.
The Manics had the honour of closing the show on an NME/ Radio 1 Stage made bigger than ever and were as outstanding as always. Perhaps Britain's best live band, they proved they have lost none of the fire with renditions of Motown Junk, Faster and You Love Us that were as powerful as ever. They had the quality in Motorcycle Emptiness and Your Love Alone Is Not Enough, threw in an unexpected cover of Nirvana's Pennyroyal Tea and finished in grand sing-along style with A Design For Life. There has never been a better way to finish a Leeds Festival.

The Last Shadow Puppets, who were second from top of the bill at the NME/ Radio 1 Stage on the opening day, were more of a surprise. And a delight too as their first major gig showed that in the live arena the songs from their Age Of Understatement album sound even better than on record. Alex Turner and Miles Kane's harmonies were spot on and the sight of a full orchestra on stage at the Leeds Festival is certainly a novel experience. Top class.

Worst band:
Not too many howlers this year, but Avenged Sevenfold who walked off the main stage on Friday only four songs into their set probably take the unwanted crown. Their music's not all that hot either.

Best new band:
That honour probably goes to Glasvegas who were moody and magnificent on the Festival Republic Stage on the opening day. They were genuinely taken aback when the crowd started singing their songs back to them and a chorus of soon to be a big hit Daddy's Gone went on long after the band left the stage.

Skeletons and General Fiasco are also worth a mention after their bright performances on the BBC Introducing Stage. Watch out for these two in the coming year.

Best song:
Plenty of candidates here. The above mentioned Daddy's Gone was emotional; the Manics' A Design For Life was the big crowd involvement number; Pendulum's Propane Nightmares brought about mass hysteria; and The Cribs now have their own indie classic with Men's Needs.

Predictably, The Ting Tings had a heaving NME/ Radio 1 tent barking out their impossibly catchy song That's Not My Name while the main stage was about Mr Brightside, still the stand out track in the armoury of The Killers who pulled the biggest crowd of the whole festival on the final night.

Festival "I was there" moment:
The Last Shadow Puppets obviously, but what about Glasvegas in the smallest of the music tents before they go on to much bigger things? Or The Ting Tings who dragged in the biggest crowd ever seen at the NME/ Radio 1 stage - and with such an early 4pm slot. Main stage-wise, it had to be the chance to see a genuine Hollywood star in Jack Black, performing second on the bill to Metallica with his Tenacious D band.

Comeback of the festival:
That has to be from The Music. The Leeds band were on blistering form and took the opportunity to remind everyone just how brilliant they are live. Impressively the new songs from the Strength In Numbers album sounded every bit as good as the old favourites they threw in.

Festival gripe:
Why did they have to pull the plug on The Cribs? They were only running five minutes over in their headlining slot on the NME/ Radio 1 Stage, but just as they launched into I'm A Realist the sound stopped. An impromptu sing-along ensued from those down at the front, but it was not really the big finish the Wakefield lads had intended. Yes, I know there is a noise curfew, but the already recorded, mostly rubbish music blasted out to accompany the fairground rides is allowed to continue long after the acts have gone off. And it's only 11pm we are talking here.

The positioning of the NME/ Radio 1 Stage. Moved this year to the furthest end of the park from the main stage and a huge distance apart, thereby making it difficult to nip in and out of bands. Also, putting it right next to the main walk way back to the campsite was not the brightest idea. Cue, almost knee-deep mud after the rain had come down on the day before the festival. Nice touch, however, to provide five big screens at this stage so people had more chance of seeing what was going on.