Tired of pitching up tents in muddy fields? With seemingly endless sunny days, balmy temperatures and world-class acts, the buzzing festivals which pop up all over Europe during the summer offer the perfect holiday for music-loving travellers.
From live performances in historic castles, DJ sets on sun-soaked Mediterranean coastlines and lyrical sounds in leafy meadows, here’s where to soak up the best of the European summer festival scene.
Dimensions (and its sister festival Outlook) takes the cake in offering one of the most breathtaking settings of the European music festival scene. Living up to its name, ravers are invited to enter another world and cut shapes to underground electronic music in a 200-year-old fort. They can then spend the day sunbathing on a sandy beaches or cooling off in the Mediterranean. Organisers have announced that 2019 will be their final year at Fort Punta Christo, so this is definitely one to catch while you can.
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Primavera has been attracting globetrotting festival goers to the Catalan capital for a heady concoction of sun and sounds since 2001. This year they’re bringing serious heavy hitters to stages across Barcelona’s beach with wrecking-ball singer Miley Cyrus, sultry-voiced James Blake, mind-bending performer FKA twigs, Spanish songstress Rosalía, and ultimate queen of cool Solange. Channel your inner Vicky Cristina Barcelona and experience one of Europe’s best lineups this summer.
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For a more spiritual festival experience, head to the remote Bulgarian village of Polkovnik in the verdant Rhodope Mountains. Find your zen with yoga classes, cacao ceremonies, and plant medicine workshops to compliment dance sessions with a diverse lineup of experimental music and DJs. The festival seeks to build strong connections with the local community, so expect to be serenaded by a village choir of local ‘babas’ dressed in full traditional attire.
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What exactly is a ‘boutique’ festival, you ask? This new breed of festival aims to turn the mammoth scale model on its head by seeking out intimate locations and promoting more niche acts. Kala delivers this on a beach on the sunny Albanian Riviera with an eclectic lineup which eschews big names for more grass roots DJs and musicians. Take in sea views by staying in one of the nearby hotels or beach huts in the coastal town of Dhërmi.
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Curated by indie darlings Belle and Sebastian, The Boaty Weekender brings guitar-filled magic onto, you guessed it, a very large boat. Hop aboard a 2,500-passenger luxury cruise liner and journey from a Barcelona port to the sparkling shores of Sardinia listening to bands like Django Django, Camera Obscura and Hinds. Large, comfortable rooms cater to all audiences so young travellers and families can all enjoy smooth sailing.
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Combine Rembrandt and raving by heading to the Dutch capital this summer. The Dutch have got the city festival model down with Dekmantel's woodland site in Amsterdam Bos easily reached from the centre of town. The festival is somewhat of a pilgrimage for cutting edge electronic music lovers with acts like techno-punk legend Andrew Weatherall, Barcelona producer John Talabot and a DJ set from Japanese producer Shinici Atobe set to shake things up in the forest.
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With a 60,000-strong crowd of attendees, Pukkelpop is one of the biggest festivals in Europe, inevitably attracting some of the biggest names in music to their main stage. This year, the festival has booked teenage superstar Billie Eilish, smooth singer-songwriter Post Malone and British grime artist Stormzy as headliners for the dancing droves.
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This Hungarian hedonist fest is offering a stellar lineup featuring Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters, Macklemore, and Florence the Machine, all on an island on the Danube river. But at a week-long festival, you’ll want to pace yourself, so take a break from the maddening crowd and immerse yourself in their performance arts programme which includes psychedelic circus acts and hypnotic contemporary dance.
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Rototom is the festival celebrating all things reggae on the beaches of Benicàssim. But whilst it boasts the title of biggest ‘reggae’ festival in the world, the programme also includes many of the genre’s offshoots like dub, dancehall, and Afrobeat. See amazing headliners like Ziggy Marley, take part in world dance classes, enjoy delicious Spanish and Jamaican street food or sip a sangria in your swimsuit on the shores of the Costa del Azahar.
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Rotterdam proves itself as a serious contender against Amsterdam’s festival scene with its annual North Sea Jazz Festival. Holland's second city attracts avant-garde sounds from all around the world with swing, bop, blues and hip hop also permeating the line-up. They’ve also booked some of the most exciting mainstream headliners this summer with a session with Chance the Rapper and a rare and widely-anticipated performance from Ms Lauryn Hill.
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