Woodstock is the iconic modern-day music festival that shaped the future of music and festivals. Half a million revellers gathered in rural New York to watch Jimi Hendrix, the Who and Janis Joplin perform. Woodstock was dubbed the pivotal moment in music history and thanks to that awesome weekend of love, there are some fantastic music festivals out there this year;
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, Somerset, UK, 28 – 30 June 2013
The mother of all music festivals needs no introduction! Running since 1970 on a dairy farm in rural Somerset, entry used to cost a mere £1. With a capacity of 150,000 festival-goers there is a real excitement around for 2013 as last year’s Glasto didn’t go ahead (it was suggested there weren’t enough portable toilets available what with the London Olympics on!) Glastonbury 2013’s lineup is somewhat under wraps right now but rumours suggest that Radiohead, Lady GaGa, Mumford and Sons and the mighty Rolling Stones may perform. And with tickets long gone your only option now is to check out ‘Glastonbudget’ which has a stellar tribute band lineup.
Confirmed line-Up; The Glastonbury lineup has just been revealed with the mighty Rolling Stones, Mumford & Sons and the Arctic Monkeys headlining! Also performing will be Jake Bugg, Dizzee Rascal, Rita Ora, Enter Shikari and Vampire Weekend in a somewhat eclectic lineup – it’s going to be huge!
Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago, USA, 2 – 4 August 2013
Expect three days of awesome mainstream and indie music at 2013’s Lollapalooza in Chicago and although the lineup is still a closely guarded secret, insiders predict that Kanye West, Muse, The Killers and Pearl Jam may make an appearance! More than 160,000 festival fans will attend Lollapalooza, which was originally set up in 1991 as a farewell tour for Jane’s Addiction. Today there are spin-off festivals at Lollapalooza Chile and Lollapalooza Brazil.
Benicassim Festival, Costa Azahar, Spain, 18 – 21 July 2013
The unassuming Spanish east coast resort of Benicassim will host international music artists over a four day festival extravaganza which will attract some 50,000 music lovers. All musical genres will be represented at Benicassim, which is just north of Valencia in the Castellón region in Costa Azahar.
Confirmed line-up; The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age and The Arctic Monkeys are confirmed as headline acts, Dizzee Rascal, Palma Violets, Azealia Banks and Jake Bugg also confirmed.
Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, UK, 18 – 20 July 2013
Now in its eighth year, Latitude offers so much more than ‘just’ music with theatre, comedy, cabaret and dance also on offer. Latitude has a real eclectic European feel to it and an expected 35,000 revellers in 2013 will enjoy a diversity of artists.
Confirmed line-up; Musical acts include Bloc Party, Kraftwerk, Foals, Alt-J, Jessie Ware, The 1975 and many more. Comedy acts include Seann Walsh, Josh Widdicombe, Dylan Moran and Mark Watson and many more.
Coachella, Indio, California, USA, 12 – 14 April 2013 and 19 – 21 April 2013
One of the very first big music festivals on the annual calendar is Coachella which in 2013, its thirteenth year, will be held across two weekends in the Californian Desert. In fact things get pretty hot with temperatures often hitting 43 degreesC.
Confirmed line-up; The lineup is the same on both weekends with Alt-J, Fedde Le Grand, New Order, Biffy Clyro, The Stone Roses and Bat for Lashes all performing.
Miami Winter Music Conference, Miami, USA, 15 – 25 March 2013
If you want to know what’s going to be huge in the dance music arena in 2013 – head to the Miami winter music conference. With live DJ sets, performances and after-set parties, this is the place to be seen this spring. Now in its 28th year, around 100,000 attendees will shape and predict the future of dance music. Although I’ll bet that not many could have predicted how big Psy’s Gangnam Style would be last year!
Download Festival, Donington Park, Leicestershire, UK, 14 – 16 June 2013
This loud rock and heavy metal festival will have to go some way to beat last year’s lineup of Metallica AND The Prodigy no less! And the three day event which is now in its eleventh year will host some mighty metal bands!
Confirmed line-up; Slipknot, Iron Maiden and Rammstein will headline, with performances from Thirty Seconds to Mars, Korn, Bullet For My Valentine and Motorhead.
Sasquatch! Festival, George, Washington State, USA, 24 – 27 May 2013
Indie rock bands and singer songwriters will be amply represented at the annual Sasquatch festival which is held each Memorial Day weekend in Washington State.
Confirmed line-up; The 2013 lineup includes Mumford & Sons, Bloc Party and Solange.
Roskilde Festival, Denmark, 29 June – 7 July 2013
Denmark’s biggest festival has been running since 1971 and is expecting 110,000 festival-goers in 2013. The four day event, held just outside Copenhagen, is run as a non-profit organisation to support and develop culture, music and humanism. The crowd tends to be pretty young and from every corner of the globe.
Confirmed line-up; includes the mighty Metallica, Rihanna, Angel Haze and Slipknot.
Bestival, Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight, UK, 5 – 8 September 2013
Right at the end of the UK festival season comes Bestival which is held on the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England. 60,000 people are expected to attend in 2013 with various acts taking to the main stage, big top, ‘Psychedelic Worm’ tent and Arcadia, and open-air DJ arena. Confirmed line-up; There is live music and DJ sets from Elton John, Snoop Dogg, M.I.A. and Franz Ferdinand.
