If you like to travel and love music, summer festivals are the place to be! Here you can definitely link both. The next few months are packed with an extensive variety of musical events. So we want to showcase some of our favourite summer festivals in Europe 2018 and make your selection process a bit easier.
Are you the type of person loving music festivals so much that you travel halfway around Europe to attend them? You are not alone. For all the festival seekers, here we go: The 2018’s calendar of the best summer festivals in Europe.
Great Britain
Download Festival
The first summer Festival in Europe 2018 is…the Download Festival! Organised in Castle Doningtom, Derby, this is the largest British heavy metal, punk rock and alternative rock festival. It is also the most popular British summer rock festival and there have been quite a few big, big names like Motörhead, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Guns n’Roses. Find out what the festival will offer this year.
WHERE: Donington Park, Derby
WHEN: June 8 – 10, 2018
LINE-UP: Guns n’Roses, Thunder, Ozzy Osbourne, Avenged Sevenfold, Marilyn Manson, Shinedown.
WEB: https://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight is home to this legendary festival since 1968. Although cancelled in 1971, it was brought back in 2002 and is now organised every year at Seaclose Park, in the outskirts of Newport. This year will be the 50th anniversary. Check it out.
WHERE: Seaclose Park, Isle of Wight
WHEN: June 21 – 24, 2018
LINE-UP: Kasabian, The Script, Chase and Status, Rita Ora, Depeche Mode, Jessie J, The Killers, Rothwell, Judas, The Wombats and more.
WEB: https://www.isleofwightfestival.com/
Bestival
If you’re looking for an all-round bonanza with an eclectic offering of rock, pop, indie, folk, RnB and electronic bands, this is your festival. It lasts four days and is held in the south of Great Britain. This festival has got a few awards: UK Fesival Award for best Major Festival as well as the MORE Award!
WHERE: Lulworth Estate, Dorset
WHEN: August 2 – 5, 2018
LINE-UP: London Grammar, First Aid Kit, Grace Jones, Django Django, Charlotte De Witte, Kelela and more.
WEB: https://www.bestival.net/
Spain
Primavera Sound
Primavera Sound is one of the largest independent music festivals: hundreds of artists and thousands of fans gather in the Forum park once a year to enjoy this unique and exciting event. Ranging from indie and experimental, to hip-hop and folk…this festival is a must, especially if you enjoy alternative music!
WHERE: Barcelona
WHEN: May 30 – June 3, 2018
LINE-UP: (Sandy) Alex G., A$ap Rocky, Here lies Man, Omni, OsoLeone, Panda Bear, Jay Som, John Maus and more.
WEB: https://www.primaverasound.com/
Flight + 4 nights in a hotel in Barcelona from May 30th until June 3rd
✈️+? to Barcelona from London from £389
Sonar
It’s the largest Festival of electronic music in Europe! They promote artists that link creativity, new media and technology with music. It’s definitely the place to be if you’re a fan of electronica!
WHERE: Barcelona
WHEN: June 14 – 16, 2018
LINE-UP: 2manydjs, A-Trak, Absolute terror, Agoria Live, Cornelius, Cyber, Dabrye& Kadence, Bonobo and more.
Flight + 3 nights in a hotel in Barcelona from June 14th until June 17th
✈️+? to Barcelona from London from £279
FIB – Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
A four day festival hosted in Benicassim in the Valencian Community. The FIB combines indie, pop, electronica artist and rock music with other activities such as theatre and short film. You can also see fashion shows here. The festival has a really good reputation when it comes to festivals in Europe. It is actually supposed to be among the best international festivals!
WHERE: Benicàssim
WHEN: July 19 – 22, 2018
LINE-UP: The Killers, Travis Scott, Liam Gallagher, Bastille, Melenas, Wolf Alice, The Vaccines, Shame, Everything Everything, Two Door cinema club, Justice and more.
Bilbao BBK
The festival takes place on top of a hill with a breathtaking view of the city. It’s known for energetic live performances, great atmosphere and equally cool line ups.
WHERE: Bilbao
WHEN: July 12 – 14, 2018
LINE-UP: Alt-J, Aneguria, Anteros, Temples, Yonaka, Let’s eat grandma, Noel Gallagher, Eme, Florence + the Machine, Sohpie and more.
WEB: https://www.bilbaobbklive.com/en-us/home
Arenal Sound
Ready for sun-drenched and sand filled summer festival madness? Dance for 6 days to the sounds of rock, pop and electronic, dive into the sea or indulge in the food around the area. There’s lots of things to do!
WHERE: Burriana, Castellón
WHEN: July 31 – August 5, 2018
LINE-UP: Bad bunny, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Crystal fighters, Steve Aoki, Jess Glynne, Lost frequencies, Martin Jensen, Rozalen, La Raiz, La Pegatina and more.
WEB: https://www.arenalsound.com/en/
Italy
Rock in Roma
Rome hosts a great music festival that goes on for one month, presenting both local and international performing artists. It is not a normal festival, which lasts for a few days, but a musical event. This festival is known for the variety and quality of the line-up. It started in 2002. Check it out this year when traveling to beautiful Rome.
WHERE: Rome
WHEN: June 20 – July 14, 2018
LINE-UP: Mannarino, Macklemore, Fabri Fibra, Post Malone, Killers, The Chemical brothers, Caparezza Prisoner 709 Tour, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and more.
WEB: https://www.rockinroma.com/
France
Vieilles Charrues Festival
The Vieilles Charrues Festival is the largest event of its kind in France, attracting more than 200,000 music lovers every year. In 2017 there were 280.000 people attending! (Wooow, right?). A big difference to its start in 1992, when it was held in a really small village in central Finistère. 500 music fans came back then.
WHERE: Carhaix-Plouguer, France
WHEN: July 19 – 22, 2018
LINE-UP: Kygo, Gorillaz, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant& The Sensational Space Shifters, Fatboy Slim, Jain, Soulwax, Massive attack and more.
WEB: https://www.vieillescharrues.asso.fr/2015/programmation
Rock en Seine
An eclectic rock festival that’s located in a huge garden in the outskirts of Paris. Thanks to the great line-up, good organisation, it’s becoming increasingly more popular with every passing year! Be a part this year and travel to Paris for it.
WHERE: Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris
WHEN: August 24th – 26th, 2018
LINE-UP: Fauve, Justice, Macklemore, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Post Malone, PNL, Die Antwoord, Blackstar, Mike Shinoda and more.
WEB: https://www.rockenseine.com/en/
Flight + 3 nights in a hotel in Paris from August 24th until August 27th
✈️+? to Paris from London from £179
Germany
Hurricane Festival & Southside Festival
Hurricane is an alternative music festival that takes place near the northern city Bremen; the Southside Festival is a little sister event that takes place at the same time, but in the south of Germany.
WHERE: Hurricane is located in Eichenring, Scheeßel // Southside is located in Take-Off Park, Neuhausen Ob Eck
WHEN: June 22 – 24, 2018
LINE-UP: Arctic monkeys, Arcade fire, Billy Talent, Kraftklub, Marteria, Justice, Wanda Dendemann, George Ezra, Bonez MC& RAF Camora, The Prodigy, James Bay, Beginner and many more.
WEB: https://www.hurricane.de/ and https://www.southside.de
Rock am Ring
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park are also two almost identical events that take place at the same time, in different locations in Germany. Since 1985, these festivals are known to be one of the best festivals to go for fans of rock and metal music!
WHERE: Nürburgring, Nürburg
WHEN: June 1 – 3, 2018
LINE-UP: Alexisonfire, Andy Frasco, A perfect Circle, Avatar, Beth Ditto, Bausa, Baroness, Babymetal, Casper, Good Charlotte, Foo Fighters, Marilyn Manson and more.
WEB: https://www.rock-am-ring.com/
Wacken Open Air
With more than 70,000 visitors, it is the largest and most famous metal summer open-air festival in the world! It was first held in 1990. Back then it was a small music event with just local bands and 800 people visiting it. Today around 80.000 people attend the festival. It takes place every year in the village of Wacken in the north of Germany. Will you be there as well?
WHERE: Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein
WHEN: August 2 – 4, 2018
LINE-UP: Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Volbeat, Aborter, Apocalyptica, Accept, Mabo Kurt and more.
WEB: https://www.wacken.com/en/
Lollapalooza Festival
Last year the Lollapalooza Festival in Berlin celebrated its 3rd edition. Approximately 85.000 festival lovers went to Rennbahn Hoppegarten. Thus it has set Germany’s record as biggest open air festival in 2017! This year the festival will be at the Olympiapark – amazing location! You’ll find a gallery full of art and installations, street theatre, acrobatics, a lot of delicious food and nice drinks. Go to the capital of Germany and make sure you do it right when the Lolla 2018 is going on.
WHERE: Olympiapark, Berlin
WHEN: September 8 – 9, 2018
LINE-UP: The Weeknd, Kraftwerk 3D, Imagine Dragons, K.I.Z., The National, David Guetta, Casper, Dua Lipa, Liam Gallagher, Rag’n bone man, Years&Years, Trettmann and more.
WEB: https://www.lollapaloozade.com/en/
Portugal
NOS Primavera Sound
Hosted in the beautiful city of Porto, this is the Portuguese version of Primavera Sound, the renowned summer music festival organised in Barcelona, which we mentioned above.
WHERE: Porto
WHEN: June 7 – 9, 2018
LINE-UP: Nick Cave and the bad seeds, Lorde, A$ap Rocky, Tyler the creator, Vince Staples, Grizzly Bear and more.
WEB: https://www.nosprimaverasound.com/2018
Hungary
Sziget Festival
Every year, this music event attracts more than a thousand people to the green island of Obuda, about 2km away from the centre of Budapest. The festival was awarded as the Best European Music Festival in 2011. Check out the Line-up.
WHERE: Budapest
WHEN: August 8 – 15, 2018
LINE-UP: Arctic Monkeys, Dua Lipa, Gorillaz, Lana del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, Kygo, Shawn Mendes, Liam Gallagher, Mumford & Sons, Lykke Li and more.
WEB: https://szigetfestival.com/
Denmark
Roskilde Festival
In July, Roskilde (35km away from Copenhagen) transforms into the ideal location for music lovers. Rock, pop, soul, hip hop, electronic music and R & B… the Roskilde Festival has a very eclectic line-up, presenting both well-known and emerging artists.
WHERE: Roskilde
WHEN: June 30 – July 7, 2018
LINE-UP: Eminem, Bruno Mars, Gorillaz, Nick Cave& the bad seeds, Nine inch nails, Massive attack, Alex vargas, Nephew, Dua Lipa, David Byrne and more.
WEB: https://roskilde-festival.dk/uk/
Serbia
Exit Festival
A spectacular fortress in the middle of the Balkans with stunning views of the Danube and exciting outdoor concerts and events… this, and much more, await you at the Exit Festival!
WHERE: Petrovaradin, Novi Sad
WHEN: July 12 – 15, 2018
LINE-UP: David Guetta, Grace Jones, Ziggy marley, Slaves, Solomun, Tale of us, LP, Amelie Lens, Asian Dub Foundation, Asphyx, Ben Klock and more.
WEB: https://www.exitfest.org/en
Croatia
INmusic festival
The largest outdoor festival in Croatia takes place near Lake Jarun, in Zagreb. In addition to concerts and camping facilities, you can visit one of the most beautiful destinations in Croatia. There are quite a few so you can already start planning your amazing summer trip.
WHERE: Lake Jarun
WHEN: June 25 – 27, 2018
LINE-UP: Queens of the Stone Age, Nick Cave & the bad seeds, Inerpol, st. Vincent, Alice in Chains, David Byrne, the Kills, Bombino and more.
WEB: https://www.inmusicfestival.com
Soundwave Festival
Imagine live music in a beautiful garden hidden along the Croatian coastline… That’s exactly how Soundwave is like. World’s finest broken beat, reggae, afro, acid jazz, drum and bass artists come here.
WHERE: Tisno
WHEN: July 26. – 30., 2018
LINE-UP: Loyle Carner, Mr. Scruff, Romare, Jordan Rakei, Calibre, Submotion Orchestra, Horse meat disco, Dj Marky, Alexander Nut and more.
WEB: https://www.soundwavecroatia.com/
Belgium
Pukkelpop
Two hundred artists, eight stages, four days of festivities and thousands of visitors from all over Europe… plenty of good reasons to go to Belgium this summer!
WHERE: Kiewit, Belgium
WHEN: August 15 – 18, 2018
LINE-UP: A-Trak, amber Ru, $uicideboy$, Belly, The Black Angels, Bonobo, Confidence man, Charlotte de Witte and more.
Tomorrowland
Thanks to its amazing, fairy tale-like decoration, and the great line-up of artists, the number of visitors of Belgium’s Tomorrowland has sky-rocketed in the past few years. That’s why back in 2013 they decided to organize the same festival in the United States and also organized it in Brazil. Tickets are gone really really fast.
WHERE: Boom, Belgium
WHEN: July 20 – 29, 2018
LINE-UP: David Guetta, Disciples, Alessandra Roncone, Alesso, alison Wonderland, Ben Nicky, B-Front, 16 Bit Lolitas, Caspar, Cedric Gervais and many many more.
WEB: https://www.tomorrowland.com/en
Here’s a little sneak-peak of what you will experience at Tomorrowland:
