A Guide to European Music Festivals
Thankfully Europe has a lot more to offer the music world than just Eurovision. If you're into music and want to travel into the continent for an international flavour to your festival, then you should check out some of these great venues. They're all a great excuse to head somewhere new.
Hit Belgium for a surprisingly vibrant summer music scene. For rock that's worth writing home about, including Kings of Leon and Queens of the Stone Age, head to Leuven at the very end of June. One of the great things about this is how easy it is to travel there; a ticket for the festival means free travel on all trains to the venue. Another great Belgian offering, perhaps for a more grown-up crowd that still want to have fun, is Couleur Caf. This runs in late June, and has loads of world music alongside big time stars like Snoop Dog.
Europe does heavy metal and all-out rock music really well, and a good testament to this is Sonisphere. There are venues ranging across a whole host of countries, including Spain, Finland, Turkey and England, and a good range of rock too. Each event has different headliners, but the ones to watch in England are Gary Numan and Alice Cooper, for some legendary retro tracks.
Hungary is a place that's increasingly popular with tourists as a whole, thanks to its generally cheaper costs for amenities, and the great atmosphere of historical Budapest. Sziget festival makes full use of the grand nature of its venue, with classical music sitting alongside ultra-modern rap and rock. This is a massive event, with 55 stage, and tones of people flocking there each year. Apparently 75% of festivalgoers are from different countries too, so you're sure to meet plenty of interesting characters.
That's just some of the places on offer if you're thinking of hopping across to the continent. There's loads more great places to choose from, and every type of music you could want.
Hit Belgium for a surprisingly vibrant summer music scene. For rock that's worth writing home about, including Kings of Leon and Queens of the Stone Age, head to Leuven at the very end of June. One of the great things about this is how easy it is to travel there; a ticket for the festival means free travel on all trains to the venue. Another great Belgian offering, perhaps for a more grown-up crowd that still want to have fun, is Couleur Caf. This runs in late June, and has loads of world music alongside big time stars like Snoop Dog.
Europe does heavy metal and all-out rock music really well, and a good testament to this is Sonisphere. There are venues ranging across a whole host of countries, including Spain, Finland, Turkey and England, and a good range of rock too. Each event has different headliners, but the ones to watch in England are Gary Numan and Alice Cooper, for some legendary retro tracks.
Hungary is a place that's increasingly popular with tourists as a whole, thanks to its generally cheaper costs for amenities, and the great atmosphere of historical Budapest. Sziget festival makes full use of the grand nature of its venue, with classical music sitting alongside ultra-modern rap and rock. This is a massive event, with 55 stage, and tones of people flocking there each year. Apparently 75% of festivalgoers are from different countries too, so you're sure to meet plenty of interesting characters.
That's just some of the places on offer if you're thinking of hopping across to the continent. There's loads more great places to choose from, and every type of music you could want.