Here are my top 10 festivals to go to in 2012. You may notice in a second that I’ve not ranked them like conventional top 10 posts. Well, I’ve not numbered them for a reason, because they are all equally as worthy as each other! So this is more of a ’10 good festivals to go to in 2012′ list. Hope you like it and don’t get too angry that I’ve left your favourite festival out. No Glastonbury this year…sad face, but plenty more to get your teeth into!
12-15 July
This festival has gone from strength to strength and has fast become a desirable destination for music and politics lovers the world over. It takes place in a 13th century fortress on the Danube in Petrovaradin, Serbia. So safe to say its an awesome iconic location. Here is a taster of what you can expect from the festival, speaks for itself really.
2012 Exit Festival line up: Duran Duran, Guns N’ Roses, Plan B, Wolfmother, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
via EXITFestivalTV
Fuji Rock Festival
27-29 July
This is one of the highest music festivals in the world, situated in the Naeba Ski Resort, Japan. A great place to escape the hustle and bustle of city life in a tranquil (until the music and partying starts) hill top setting. The festival has been running since 1997 and not many people know this but at the first Fuji Rock the Red Hot Chili Peppers had to cut their performance half way through because of an incoming typhoon! So make sure your tent pegs are hammered in nice and deep when you arrive.
2012 Fuji Rock Festival line up: The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Ed Sheeran, Jack White, Ocean Colour Scene
via smashjpn
Roskilde Festival
5-8 July
The 2012 headliners for this four day event really reflect its core style and roots (The Roots are literally playing). Roskilde is full of art, culture and eclectic music, a real ‘thinking mans’ destination. Leave the moshing for Download festival, because you are far more likely to be laying down at this one and who doesn’t love chilling out in the sun listening to some relaxing tunes? Expect fresh organic food and plenty of alternative peeps.
2012 Roskilde Festival line up: Bjork, The Roots, Bon Iver and Friendly Fires
Download Festival
8-10 Jun
Download is held annually in the UK at Donington Park and relies heavily on a rock mad crowd turning up year in year out to mosh the place down. Last year revellers witnessed the return of The Darkness and System Of A Down but this year they have arguably one of the best hard rock line ups in the world.
2012 Download Festival line up: The Prodigy, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Biffy Clyro, Megadeth, Tenacious D
V Festival
18-19 August
This is a great festival for lovers of mainstream music, if you turn on a commercial pop radio station right now somewhere in the world then chances are the band playing will be at this festival. According to their website there is approximately 85 days, 20 hours and 10 minutes to go until the music begins, so plenty of time to decide if you want to go! They have luxury camping for those of you who don’t like to get too messy, available camping types include: the Octopad, Squrts, Yurtels and Unidomes. Yep, i’ve never heard of them either but they look cool.
2012 V Festival line up:
Reading and Leeds Festival
24-26 August
Like V Festival this takes place across two different locations in the UK, Reading and Leeds. It has been running since 1989 and was incidentally the first festival I ever went to, we properly camped away from home and everything! But be warned, most of the people who attend this festival are pretty much portaloo pushing teenagers, I wouldn’t expect you to see many mature ears there. The line up is pretty good this year and it is always a favourite with some of the regular performers over the years, I swear that the Foo Fighters pretty much live in Reading.
2012 Reading & Leeds Festival line up: The Cure, Kasabian, Foo Fighters, Florence And The Machine, The Black Keys, Paramore
Here are some cool quotes from artists about the festival:
“I honestly think it’s the best festival in the world” – Chris Wolstenholme from Muse
“Reading and Leeds are mad. It’s our audience really, a lot of young people who want to go crazy” – Jamie MacCall from Bombay Bicycle Club
Sonar Festival
14-16 June
This has been my favourite festival for a few years now, but my advice to you is NOT to camp but to stay in the next town on and get the bus back and forth to the festival. Barcelona gets pretty hot and to date I’ve never met anybody who likes waking up in a sweaty tent! They always seem to get the music balance just right with plenty of red hot dance/pop/rock acts.
2012 Sonar line up: Fatboy Slim, Squarepusher, Lana Del Rey, Friendly Fires, deadmau5, New Order
Isle of Wight
22-24 June
The likes of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Jay-Z have already graced the famous stage at the I.O.W festival, but who will be headlining this year?? Well you’ll find out in a minute. You can travel to the Isle of Wight from the UK by boat/hovercraft or swim (some people genuinely do swim the distance year in year out!) amongst other forms of transport, I wouldn’t recommend the latter 🙂
2012 Isle of Wight line up: Elbow, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Tinie Tempah
Here is a little video about the festival, looking back @ 1970:
via ITV Meridian
Bestival
6-9 September
Click the Bestival link above, I really do insist! Because after several years of admiring this festival I just can’t get over how the cool the website is. Every year it changes and becomes more and more interactive, plus the style, look and layout of the pages match the fancy dress theme at the festival. Believe it or not I once attended this festival dressed as a giant Kit Kat, don’t ask me why but I was a rogue member in a clan of tea biscuits (evidence below). Anyway, I love this festival because people go to it dressed up in all sorts of crazy and funny outfits plus the music is awesome and really varied, I really do recommend it first biscuit hand!
2012 Bestival line up: Stevie Wonder, The XX, Hot Chip, Sigur Ros, Soulwax, Scroobius Pip
Vieilles Charrues
19-22 July
I asked one of my French friends to tell me about this festival because I have heard lots about it. Here is what he had to say:
Drop the overcrowded Croisette this year for the largest music festival in France. I can guarantee that 270,000 festival goers, 4 days of music and local folklore await you in the heart of Brittany, Western France. The eclectic line-up will ensure a pleasant experience, but if it ever gets too loud for you, you can always go for a swim in the Channel or Atlantic Ocean (both of which are 50kms away from the site), or just go for authentic crêpes and cider!
Santé!
2012 Vieilles Charrues line up: Bob Dylan, Sting, the Cure, Portishead, LMFAO, Gossip, Garbage
So that’s it. Please let me know about some other festivals taking place this year @Nokia_Connects or below! I am a huge fan and always want to try out a new musical destination.