We all have our personal reasons for travelling: some take a vacation to rest from work, others to explore unfamiliar places and take on new adventures. There are also those who enjoy music as much as travelling, go abroad for concerts and music festivals. Since summer is already here, the latter option is becoming more and more appealing. So, where to go this summer to enjoy some quality music concerts? Luckily for us, we have plenty of opportunities all around Europe.
1. Tomorrowland – Belgium | July 17 - 19, July 24 - 26 2020
Tomorrowland is an electronic dance music festival held in Boom, Belgium since 2005. The attendance of the festival reaches up to 400,000 people, which makes it one of the biggest music events worldwide. Endorsed by United Nations Secretary Ban Ki-moon and composer Hans Zimmer, the festival promotes the value of unity in diversity and respect. It stretches over 2 weekends and usually sells out in minutes, bringing the world’s best-known DJs together to create one incredible show. Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is also a partner with Tomorrowland, one of the biggest music festivals in the world, to offer special ticket sales with pre-sale prices and unique moments to unite at the festival to the international students.
2. Montreux Jazz Festival – Switzerland | July
If you are a Jazz person and camping seems like an unnecessary evil that most music festivals include, you might want to go to Switzerland at the beginning of July. Montreux Jazz Festival events will be lining up one after another in a few different venues for a couple of weeks, including not only jazz but various genres of music and names such as Alt-J, Usher, and The Roots, The 1975, The Kills, and others. Some of the festival events will be free of charge, some might bite your wallet a bit. However, since not all of the festival acts are pushed to just a few days or a weekend, you can spend the spare time exploring the beautiful town of Montreux, visiting Geneva and Bern, perhaps even Lyon (France), or hiking in the Alps.
3. Rock for People – Czech Republic | June
Czech Republic might not be the first country that you associate with music but after visiting Rock for people with headliners such as Paramore, Evanescence, Three Days Grace, or Foster the People, it definitely stays in mind as such. It can be because of the rich festival tradition going back all the way to 1995 which attract the well-known names of music industry. Maybe it is the place itself, diverse zones and stages, themed bars, unique festival activities and games. Or it could be the chill way Czechs do things in their country. Either way, if you love rock and good music in general, this festival might be something to czech out this summer. Moreover, the city of Hradec Kralovė where the festival will take place is barely 100 kilometres away from the country’s capital city Prague. And if you haven’t visited Prague yet, it is probably on your bucket list, isn’t it?
4. AirBeat One – Germany | July
Not much of a rock fan but still love to dance? Not a problem. Opportunity to dance until you drop is just as essential part of the summer festivals as overdosing great music. Therefore AirBeat One festival, taking place in a small town of Neustadt-Glewe in Germany between Hamburg and Berlin, will gather Armin Van Buuren, Axwell^Ingrosso, Hardwell, Tiësto, Galantis, Lost Frequencies, and many more established names known to every dance music lover. That’s all just to give you the ultimate summer festival experience in the middle of July. By the way, did I mention Berlin and Hamburg are not too far from there..?
5. Lollapalooza Paris – France | July
As if there are not enough reasons to visit Paris already, international music festival Lollapalooza is going to rock the city at the end of July this year. Alt-J, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Alan Walker, Imagine Dragons, Lana Del Ray, Milky Chance, The Weeknd, and Walk of the Earth are just a couple of names from the line-up but already enough to assure the festival will be one of your biggest regrets if you miss it. Suitable for friends, families with children, and it wouldn’t be Paris if it was not a place for couples. As the festival is not as long as others might be, there’s more time to explore France and the capital of love. You know you want to.
6. Granatos Live – Lithuania | August
If you prefer less ‘touristy’ countries than France, why not go to the Baltic countries? Ellie Goulding, Anne-Marie, Kungs, and Alan Walker are just a couple of artists you can hear live this summer in Lithuania. Summer music festival Granatos Live taking place for the fifth time in a row already earned the name of the biggest music festival in the country. Apart of an amazing and diverse setlist, the festival has a unique and summerish location: open air museum enclosed by a lake and a forest. Bonus, the town where it takes place is less than one hour away from the two biggest cities in Lithuania: Vilnius (the capital) and Kaunas (student city). Both of which have airports, so getting there would not be complicated. You could explore the cities and experience an incredible live music concert.
7. Sziget – Hungary | August
Ever wanted to go back in time and visit Woodstock? Well, visiting Sziget Festival in Hungary can be a fairly close experience. We’re inviting you to join ‘the island of freedom’ for seven days, this festival is about to gather half a million participants from more than a hundred countries this August. International? Very. Must-visit? Totally. A wonderful opportunity not only to explore one of Europe’s most beautiful capitals – Budapest – but also to see first-hand how one of the biggest, most artistic and most loved music festival in Europe looks like. And let’s not forget the most important part – music: Chainsmokers, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Billy Talent, P!NK, Clean Bandit, Breaking Benjamin, Wiz Khalifa, The Pretty Reckless, and many more names are in the line-up for the musical experience of a lifetime. Or annual one, if you are lucky enough to attend this festival every year.
8. Reading Festival – England | August
Town of Reading in Berkshire is famous not for inhabitants reading a lot but for being the home to the oldest pop music festival in the world. Reading festival had a chance to host a huge number of talented artists and musicians ever since its first editions back in 1971 and is nowhere close to stopping now. Want to listen to Eminem, Muse, Bastille, Kasabian, You Me At Six, Milky Chance, Cigarettes After Sex, Bily Talent, Breaking Benjamin, or a few more hundreds of artists during the bank holidays in the end of August? This is the place to be. The town is located quite close to London and Oxford in case you feel like travelling in the UK a bit more.
And you know what is the best part? The above-mentioned music festivals are just a couple in the sea of options we have this and every summer. Choose a country you want to visit, choose your favourite music genre or musician(s) and you will see that with each of these you could probably travel all around Europe hopping from one festival to another. Summer festivals and holidays might not last long, but luckily for us, every country can be explored at any point of the year. After all, every country is worth a visit.
Have an adventure-and music-filled summer!
