Primavera to Coachella: 12 overseas music festivals worth checking out
Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival in Indio, California, is just one of a number of impressive overseas festivals. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty)
- May 31-June 3 at Parc Del Forum, Barcelona; June 7-June 10, Civitas Metropolitano, Madrid
- Headliners: Pet Shop Boys, Blur, Halsey, Kendrick Lamar, Depeche Mode, Rosalia
Last year, Primavera Sound returned with a 10-day extravaganza across two weekends in Barcelona, which might have broke attendees in more ways than one. This year it’s expanding in a different way, staging the festival in its traditional Parc Del Forum location before moving it all to Madrid a week later. The lineup is unparalleled, with big hitters and undeniable up-and-comers across the weekend(s), and the music running until 6am - just catch the metro home, have a nap, and repeat the next day. Simple and very effective.
Full weekend from €325, day tickets from €125
Flights from Dublin to Barcelona
- June 2-4, Nuremberg
- Headliners: Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, Limp Bizkit, Tenacious D
Like Reading and Leeds festival at the end of summer in the UK, Rock Am/Im Ring in Germany has the same lineup rotating at two sites across one weekend. The festival was embroiled in controversy a few weeks ago as Pantera were dropped from the lineup due to outry over past claims of racism - frontman Phil Anselmo had been filmed, a few years ago, doing a Nazi salute and shouting “white power”. They were replaced by Foo Fighters, who might well be the ultimate festival rock band.
Weekend camping from €229
Fly Dublin to Frankfurt Hahn (Nurburgring is 90 minutes’ drive away); Fly Dublin to Nuremberg, or Cork to Munich (Nuremberg is 2.5 hours’ drive away)
- June 8-11, Donington, UK
- Headliners: Bring Me the Horizon, Metallica (two sets), Slipknot
Despite how busy the festival season is in Ireland, one fan who is always left disappointed is the metal aficionado - you might get the odd big show, but there’s rarely a full weekend of raucous riffs and studded denim jackets. Thank the metal gods, then, for Download, which is celebrating 20 years this June with a unique Metallica two-set outing over the four days. They promise no songs will be repeated on the Thursday and Saturday outings.
Weekend camping from £325
Fly Cork/Dublin to Birmingham (Donington is a 40-minute drive)
- June 9-11, Beenkse Bergen, Netherlands
- Headliners: The 1975, Alex G, Alvvays, Aphex Twin, Arlo Parks
There’s nothing secret about this stellar lineup. The festival says: “We’re here to connect people, cultures and disciplines through music. From sounds to art to food to friendships to all kinds of expressions, we bring them together in the same place to create synergies and magical moments.”
Weekend camping from €255
Fly Dublin to Eindhoven
- June 21-25, Worthy Farm, Somerset
- Headliners: Elton John etc
The grandaddy of them all, Glastonbury seems to somehow get bigger every year (tickets this year were certainly up, an increase of about £50 on last year). This year’s coup is having Elton John close out the festival as the Sunday headliner - his last-ever UK show (or so he says, anyway). The rest of the headliners will be announced soon. Every Glasto-goer’s experience is unique - there’s over 100 stages across 900 acres - but the view from the couch, thanks to the extensive BBC coverage - is usually the best, and guaranteed free of mud.
From £335 (sold out)
Bristol is the closest airport, with flights from Dublin, but there are bus connections to many UK cities
- June 28-July 1 at Gdynia, Poland
- Headliners: Arctic Monkeys, Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, Lil Nas X
Taking place on the north coast of Poland - on a former military air base - Open’er has been running for over 20 years and has a capacity of over 100,000. Last year it was hit by stormy weather, with sets by the likes of Dua Lipa cancelled. Hopefully it survives the summer thunderstorms this year. Perhaps its most eye-catching feature is the catwalk running right through the humongous main stage area - expect Lizzo to make great use of it during her set.
From 949zt (€200), camping included
Flights from Cork and Dublin to Gdasnk Lech Walesa Airport
- June 28-July 1, Roskilde, Denmark
- Headliners: Blur, Burna Boy, Christine and the Queens, Lil Nas X, Rosalia
Roskilde is a 30-minute drive west of Copenhagen, with the festival promising music, art (it’s all over the city), activism, camps, and freedom. It’s been running since 1971 - a year after Glastonbury began - and has always curated a lineup for all kinds of tastes. It’s been compared with Burning Man in the US, with camping a particular standout highlight of the festival experience. The Naked Run is also an annual highlight of the event.
From DKK 2400 (€320) including camping
Dublin to Copenhagen Airport
- August 18-20 at Biddinghuizen, 70km from Amsterdam
- Headliners: Billie Eilish, Florence + the Machine, Bicep, Underworld
Lowlands boasts the largest solar carport in the world, covering 35 hectares and consisting of 90,000 soclar panels, which means that about 10,000 households can be supplied with green electricity - the equivalent of the power consumption of about 100 Lowlands weekends per year. Along with a stellar music lineup, it offers standup, street theatre, literature, and visual arts, all across 12 stages on a stunning site. There’s also a barber’s and sauna to help with the recovery.
€300 (includes camping)
Fly Cork/Dublin to Amsterdam, with plenty of public and shuttle bus/train services to site.
- Indio, California, April 14-16 and 21-23
- Headliners: Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean, Bjork, Gorillaz
The highest-profile American festival has a dizzying array of acts spread across two weekends. The 125,000 people attending each weekend will be hoping that temperatures don’t match the 41° C of the 2012 event.
There’s quite a range of ticket prices, with various parking and accommodation bundles. Lotto-winners might be tempted with the Safari on-site camping experience, with golf-cart transportation etc for $4,500 a head. Otherwise, a non-camping weekend pass cost about $550 (€515).
- May 6, Las Vegas
- Headliners: Nelly, Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men
- May 13, Rose Bowl, Pasadena California
- Headliners: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, M83, The Walkmen, The Bravery
These two nostalgia festivals might well hint at what’s coming in years to come, with ageing audiences preferring to revel in what they already know rather than sitting through another hotly tipped newcomer. Lovers & Friends is for the RnB lover, Just Like Heaven is tailor-made for people who devoured Meet Me in the Morning, the oral history about the Strokes-addled New York scene at the turn of the century. There’s also the aptly titled pop-punk festival When We Were Young in Las Vegas in October.
- June (various dates), across 12 US cities
- Headliners: LCD Soundsystem, Boygenius, Steve Lacy
The US has a history of travelling festivals (see: Lollapalooza), and Re:Set is the latest that’s touring the nation this summer. Presented by a corporate sponsor (another growing trend in touring - Taylor Swift’s world tour presented by a bank), Re:Set is also artist-curated, so each night’s headliners has picked their supporting acts. Boygenius is bringing Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange; LCD Soundsystem has Jamie xx, IDLES, Big Freedia, L’Rain, and more. Steve Lacy is taking James Blake, Toro y Moi, and Fousheé on the road.
