Festivals 2009

It's getting to that point where it is almost getting warmer and people are starting to think of what to do for the summer or I am at least. As I have just purchased my ticket for my chosen festival I thought I'd give you the low down of some the best festivals in Europe this year.

BENICASSIM FESTIVAL

When? 13th to the 21st July
Where? Benicassim - 50 miles from Valencia,Spain.
Who's playing? Oasis, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, Paul Weller, White Lies, Friendly Fires, Boyz Noize are the bands confirmed so far.
What's it like This is the only festival out of this line up I've been too and I love it. It is a ten day party in a village on a beach in Spain. Lots of barely dressed attractive people which I always find a plus and the line up is always varied with rock and indie acts to some of the best Djs and electro acts around which could be why Benicassim is called the "Spanish Glastonbury".Cheap as tickets are £150 for ten days camping and 4 days of music but the only thing I will say it that it does get very hot.

The main stage at Benicassim.
Inside one of the dance tents.

Sziget Festival

When? 12th to the 17th August
Where?Budapest,Hungary
Who's playing? No one has been announced yet but expected are Arctic Monkeys, P.O.D and The Prodigy.
What's it like? A 5 day party on an island in Budapest and this festival is known to be messy and with an eclectic mix of bands as last years headliners were Iron Maiden,Jimiroquai, R.E.M and The Sex Pistols anything goes at this festival but for that reason it is also more dangerous than alot of European festivals so be wary but it still can be a lot of fun. This festival gets half a million visitors a year so that must be for a reason.

The crowd at Sziget.


Outlook festival

When? 27 - 30th August
Where? Pentcrane, Croatia
Who's playing? A mix of dub step,reggae and drum and base DJs yet to be announced.
What's it like? Dub step on a beach in Italy for £50 hard to go wrong. A lot of places are doing ticket and coach deals for £100. A brand new festival but still has a large turnout of around ten thousand people. Worth for people who are a fan of electronic music but do not want to put up with the trek to EXIT festival.

The edge of a stage at Outlook.

ROCK WERCHER

When? 2-5th July
Where? Belgium
Who's Playing Oasis, Coldplay, Placebo, Bloc Party, The Killers, Elbow, Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Kings Of Leon, Franz Ferdinand.
What's it like? Ok the line up for this is pretty bad ass,but this is too much like a British Festival for my liking and the tickets cost around £200 and it is in Belgium. The weather is one of the reasons I go abroad to a festival and Belgium is not known for its beautifully sunny sky. The line up does make up for it but you may aswell goto reading or Glastonbury.



I hope I have narrowed down some of your festival choices this year. I personally will be going to Benicassim festival because I like the beach basically but there are so many new festivals popping up I'm sure everyone can find something they'll like.