Music festivals make a great excuse for someone to travel that might not have before. Europe sees a huge influx of travelers to attend their many festivals. While the Netherlands and Ibiza are household names, there are a lot of options in many different countries for people that want to wander off the beaten path.
These 5 international music festival experiences will be a welcomed distraction from the 9-5 by giving people an exotic judgment-free place to let loose.
Exit Festival, Serbia
A truly one of a kind experience, Exit Festival is a world-class party in the Petrovaradin Fortress overlooking the Danube river.
Fans from all over the globe make the trek to Serbia for an exceptional festival experience. The truly diverse crowd combined with an award-winning festival experience and a lineup set up for music lovers of all genres. These artists are performing on stages connected with old-time cobbled streets, ramparts, and tunnels.
Dancing with 20,000 people as the sun rises over fortress walls is truly a life-changing experience. Every moment over the several days is a perfect escape from the real world. This year’s lineup is already shaping up to be one of the best ever, with acts including David Guetta, Grace Jones, Migos, Fever Ray, LP, Ziggy Marley, Adam Beyer B2B Ida Engberg, Alice Merton, Maceo Plex, Nina Kraviz, Richie Hawtin, Slaves, Solomun, Take Of Us, Idles and many more are set to appear. This already stacked lineup continues to grow with each new announcement. With a ton of artists yet to be announced, this year’s EXIT Festival will be the best one to date.
Listen to Maceo Plex’s Boiler Room Berlin Set:
Listen to David Guetta below:
Lowlands Festival, The Netherlands
Set in the beautiful countryside about an hour outside of Amsterdam, Lowlands is the ideal festival to disconnect and truly enjoy the moment.
The experience of a township with thousands of inhabitants arising from nothing in the countryside for three days in August is one of a kind. Lowlands features heavyweight headliners, incredible installations including the brand-new armadillo featuring the famous chimneystacks and at least twelve stages (including Alpha, Bravo, Heineken, Lima, Juliet, X-Ray, Echo).
Offering a unique selection of film, stand-up comedy, visual arts, literature, and street theatre, this festival will make anyone feel like they are a part of a society separate from anything else in the world allowing them to forget their responsibilities and cut loose. Every single stage is covered so come rain, sleet, hail or snow the show will go on. As day changes tonight, the atmosphere intensifies making the performances more breathtaking than ever.
Hosting artists from a wide variety of genres, the festival undeniably has something for everyone. Boasting a star-studded lineup including Gorillaz, Kendrick Lamar, N.E.R.D, The War On Drugs, Dua Lipa, James Bay, Bonobo, Patti Smith, Rag’N’Bone Man, Richie Hawtin, Stormzy, Tom Odell, Charlotte De Witte and many more 2018 will be a festival for the record books. Lowlands takes place August 17-19, 2018.
Listen to Bonobo’s Essential Mix:
Positivus Festival, Latvia
On the picturesque Baltic coastline surrounded by Eastern European woodlands, the Positivus Festival is the perfect space to separate from the real world.
Positivus offers a wide variety of activities alongside mainstream headliners, up-and-coming underground talent, visually stimulating art, and dance stages with the beautiful backdrop of the forest and the Latvian coastline- the perfect storm of enjoyment.
Attendees can swim in the Baltic Sea, absorb the stunning atmosphere and feel a part of nature lounging on a hammock among the trees. Also, the arts and crafts market and a food court offer the best an amazing visual and culinary experience anyone will love. This European staple of the festival season continues to be a fan favorite.
This year’s Positivus will see performances from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Prodigy, Years & Years, Tove Lo, Mura Masa, Lauv and many more. Positivus takes place July 20-22, 2018.
Listen to Tove Lo’s collaboration with Flume:
Sea Star Festival, Croatia
Taking place on the striking Croatian coastline on the Mediterranean, Sea Star Festival is the perfect event to relax and unwind.
This beachfront event encourages tranquility and rejuvenation. The sunsets alone would be worth the trip to this amazing part of the world making this festival in a league of its own.
Surround yourself with like-minded electronic music fans and immerse yourself in the music with this stacked lineup. Acts including Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Robin Schulz, Paul Van Dyk, Francois X, Luke Slater and Tommy Four Seven plus performances from artists including Hurts and Disciples. This combo is set to make an unforgettable music experience paired with one of the prettiest locations in the world. Sea Star takes place May 24-27, 2018.
Listen to Robin Schulz Tropical House Mix:
Listen to Dimitri Vegas:
Secret Solstice Festival, Iceland
Iceland’s stunning natural beauty is the perfect setting for a life-changing festival experience.
Secret Solstice festival is the perfect event for the music fan with a love of nature. Every year this festival treats attendees to main stage sets, glacier raves, lava tunnel shindigs, midnight sun boat parties, and secret lagoon blowouts. Outside of the parties tourists are treated to volcanic beaches, epic midnight sunsets where daylight reins for 24 hours a day, Game of Thrones filming locations, jaw-dropping waterfalls and the infamous Blue Lagoon.
Never failing to bring an epic lineup including multiple genres, Secret Solstice in making it’s way to the top of the must-attend festival list. Held during the summer solstice when the sun never sets, hence the name, the festival is an experience that cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world. Come experience this surreal phenomenon combining festival and nature in a way you’ll experience nowhere else.
The 2018 lineup features big international names as well as local talent including Slayer, Stormzy, Gucci Mane, Clean Bandit, Bonnie Tyler, Death From Above, Steve Aoki, Goldlink, J Hus, Skream and A-Trak, Dreamwife, IMADDB and more.
Secret Solstice takes place June 21-24, 2018.
Listen to Stormzy:
