A SUMMER OF UNDERRATED EUROPEAN MUSIC FESTIVALS.

Friday 25 May 2018

One of my favourite things about summer has to be the plethora of outdoor/daytime music events. There's nothing I love more than dancing (or swaying) away with my favourite people, with the sun hitting my face and a gin & tonic in my hand. Every year there seems to be more and more European music festivals popping up and therefore my list of music festivals I want to go to gets longer and longer. Despite that, I have a total of 0 booked this year, outside of my country anyway! Here's a list of music festivals at/near the top of my list (I've purposely left out Tomorrowland because I'm sure I don't need to tell you guys about that one). 

gibraltar calling

Mysteryland, Netherlands



If you missed out on grabbing tickets to Tomorrowland - then this is like their younger sibling. It still features great international acts, colourful stages and entertainment - just for half the price. We were planning on going to this as it falls on my birthday weekend, but I had to be realistic and have said yes to too many events this summer and will end up being there and being able to afford one drink. 


Dates: Aug 25th - Aug 26th 


Line-Up: Axwell, Galantis, Jonas Blue, Kungs, Robin Schulz. 


Secret Solstice, Iceland



This came up as a sponsored promo on Facebook and I was intrigued. The setting looks amazing and there's something for everyone - electronic, hip-hop, alternative. It's also promoted as Iceland's only cashless festival. So you can top up your wristband online and you're good to go! I've been to a festival where this was the case and it's so handy as you're not having to queue up for tokens or then end up with 10 £1 tokens that you can't do anything with. A study conducted by Data Label showed that 48% of millennials prefer to use 'smart' watch payments whereas 45% of generation X would prefer to use RFID technology wristband entry and preloaded with cash.


Dates: 21st June - 24th June 


Line-Up: Stormzy, Gucci Mane, Clean Bandit, Bonnie Tyler, Steve Aoki. 

Sziget, Hungary



Another cheap and cheerful festival in Europe. This is probably the line-up I'm most fond of and I may try and save all of my blog earnings to try and sneak in this trip. Of course, Lana Del Rey is my favourite artist ever and I'd quite like to see AM, Dua Lipa, Kendrick and Lykke Li. 

Dates: Aug 8th - Aug 11th

Line-Up: Arctic Monkeys, Dua Lipa, Gorillaz, Lana del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, Kygo, Shawn Mendes, Liam Gallagher, Mumford & Sons, Lykke Li

Roskilde, Denmark 


If you're spontaneous and want to plan a trip for next weekend - then head here. They have an eclectic line-up of well known and up and coming artists. In case you weren't sure Roskilde is a place, 35km away from Copenhagen

Dates: 30th June – 7th July

Line-Up: Eminem, Bruno Mars, Gorillaz, Nick Cave& the bad seeds, Nine inch nails, Massive attack, Dua Lipa. 

Exit, Serbia 


I'm very intrigued by Serbia, so I think I'd stay a few extra days to explore Belgrade too. This festival is held in a fortress and has stunning views of the Danube river. You can get flights and accommodation here for under £150 so it's definitely an option if you want something cheap, new and different. 

Dates: 12th July  – 15th July 

Line-Up: David Guetta, Grace Jones, Ziggy marley, Slaves, Solomun, Tale of us, LP, Amelie Lens, Asian Dub Foundation.

Gibraltar Calling, Gibraltar


I obviously had to give an honourable mention to my home country's music festival. We've come along way since 2013 where our only international act was Jessie J. Over the years we've seen everyone from Kings of Leon, Ricki Martin, Steve Aoki, Toploader and Rita Ora. It's definitely a family friendly festival so there's music for all age-groups and you can be certain you won't need to pack a raincoat and wellies for it. Gibraltar's size means you could also walk to the festival if you wanted to from from wherever you're staying. 

Dates: 21st September - 22nd September

Line-Up: Stormzy, Rita Ora, Two Door Cinema Club, Scouting For Girls, Texas.


As someone who studied Events Management, I've always had a keen interest in how festivals are progressing over the years in terms of production,resources and technology (I did write a 12,000 dissertation on them). From holographic concerts to 'doppler labs' where surrounding noise can be reduced and the music bass amplified, festivals are getting cooler and cooler. 


A big thank you to Data Label for collaborating with me on this post and providing the stats/info! Have you guys been to any of the festivals above, what was your experience like? or are you heading to any this year? 

G

european music festivals








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