Festival Lovers Look To Europe For Their Festival Fix This Summer

As festivals like Oxegen and Glastonbury take a year off in 2012, Europe offers many new and unique alternatives for festival-goers.

Events such as Berlin Festival and Amsterdam Dance Event offer the chance to combine a festival experience with a city break, whilst Eastern European festivals like Off Festival, B’estfest and Exit are gentle on the wallet, offering festival tickets from as little as 40 euros with guaranteed sunshine in awe inspiring locations. It’s no wonder more and more people are looking to Europe for their festival fix this summer – the global music festival scene is thriving and Europe is leading the way. Here’s a few of our favourites…

Garden Festival

Weds 4th – Weds 11th July 2012, Croatia

www.thegardenfestival.eu  

After six amazing years in Petrcane – the original epicentre of Croatia’s now burgeoning independent festival scene – The Garden Festival has moved to pastures new, just a little further along the stunning coastline. The Garden Tisno is an undiscovered musical paradise which fits right within the Garden’s esteemed and revered ethos, where the emphasis is always on an unparalleled experience combining festival and holiday vibes seamlessly as one. It’s set in a gently hilly area, which overlooks the Garden’s very own beautiful bay below, complete with sandy beach and crystal clear water It’s situated pretty much right between Zadar and Split airports, with lots of flights from Europe to each. This years acts include Nicolas Jar, Kenny Dope Gonzales, Tiger & Woods, Tim Sweeney, Space Dimension Controller, Appleblim & Metro Area. Tickets £90.

B’estfest

6th – 7th July 2012, Romania

www.bestfest.ro

Since it’s inaugural event in 2008, Romania’s B’estfest has played host to a string of high profile international artists including UNKLE, Manic Street Preachers, Orbital, The Killers, Roisin Murphy, Manu Chao, Failthless and Kasabian to name just a few. Taking place in Tunari in the vibrant city of Bucharest, the event welcomes visitors from all across Europe and the UK who come to party in the sunshine and experience the very best of Romania’s nightlife. Acts for 2012 include Pulp, Garbage, Caro Emerald, Meshugga, Selah Sue, Stanton Warriors, The Qemists and Dope D.O.D. Tickets £40.

Exit Festival

12th –15th July 2012, Serbia

www.exitfest.org

Novi Sad, Serbia Taking place from Thursday 12th – Sunday15th July, in the magical Petrovaradin Fortress overlooking the river Danube, EXIT has over 25 stages of music to appeal to music lovers of all genres, be that indie, dance, rock, dubstep and more. The award-winning festival attracts festival go-ers from all over Europe and beyond who come to take in the sounds and sights whilst basking in the Balkan sun. Launched 11 years ago as a student initiated protest against the communist Milosevic regime, EXIT has proved that music is a universal language that can connect and bring people together tomake the world a better place. EXIT continues to evolve and bring like-minded people together and although it gets bigger each year, the sentiment and unique vibe remains the same. Acts for 2012 include New Order, Wolfmother, Gossip, Buraka Som Sistema, Richie Hawtin, Luciano, Miss Kitten, Reboot live, Art Department, Maceo Plex, Kenny Larkin, Robert Dietz and Maayan Nidam & many more! Tickets £95.

Melt Festival

13th – 15th July 2012, Germany

www.meltfestival.de

It’s all quiet on the Ferropolis peninsular. No colourful lights, no marching rhythms, the Gremmin lake’s cooled down. But from July 13th – 15th, the Ferropolis’ diggers will be coming back to life, with thousands of people dancing underneath the giants and celebrating the summery weather with the crème de la crème of indie and electronic music! Less than 2 hours outside of Berlin, the Melt Festival site is a sight to behold – imposing diggers are scattered across the industrial site, the lake is full of swimmers and the lights at night are nothing short of spectacular. And the lineup continues to impress year on year. It’s no wonder this festival won ‘Artists Favourite Festival’ at the European Festival Awards – the atmosphere is incredible and the crowd is a young, music-savvy crowd that oozes Berlin-cool. Acts for 2012 will be announced soon. This years acts include m83, The Rapture, Gossip, The Whitest Boy Alive, Justice, Two Door Cinema Club, Destroyer, Modeselektor, Caribou, Richie Hawtin, Ellen Alien. 3 Day Ticket EURO 110.

KaZantip Republic

August 2012, Ukraine

www.kazantip-republic.com

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 4 week long electronic music extravaganza on the beach in the Ukraine. Often drawing comparisons with Ibiza  and Burning Man, you can expect to see incredible structures on the beach, the most colourful and adventurously dressed crowd of any festival we’ve seen and an energy to rival the worlds best parties. DJs love to play there and the crowd comes back for more year on year. Every year the who’s who of dance music flock to Kazantip Republic – Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox, Seth Troxler, Guy Gerber, dOP and many many more. Why not experience it for yourself this year? The magical gates to the kingdom open on August 4th and we’re pretty confident that the 20th anniversary is going to be nothing short of spectacular…

Off Festival

3rd – 5th August 2012, Poland

http://off-festival.pl

A truly unique boutique music festival, OFF Festival takes place from 3rd – 5th August, in ‘Three Lake Valley’, Katowice – a beautiful green oasis in the heart of industrial Silesia. OFF Festival is a way of life, one that flies in the face of current trends and stays true to itself, and the ethos of organiser Artur Rojek is firmly aimed at supporting art and music with the festival bringing many acts to Poland for the first time. OFF Festival is growing in prominence year on year with this years event promising one of the strongest line-ups to date in line with the festivals forward–thinking, eclectic music policy. From the greatest alternative music stars from around the world to the increasingly strong Polish scene, OFF festival has inspiring music in abundance. This year’s edition will showcase over one hundred acts across four stages. First acts announced for 2012 include Iggy and the Stooges, Death in Vegas, Iceage, Matthew Herbert, Sleep Party People,Suicide, Swans, Battles, Baxter Dury, Kurt Vile and The Violators, Spectrum & Container. 2 Day Ticket EURO 40.

Berlin Festival

7th – 9th September 2012, Germany

www.berlinfestival.de

Berlin Festival 2012 will return to the historic Tempelhof Airport on September 7th, 8th and 9th in the buzzing metropolis that is Berlin. Watch your favourite acts perform in the giant former airplane hangars or dance the night away at the Silent Disco. In 2012 the festival will host the world biggest Silent Arena – an area that is always a festival highlight! When it hits midnight the party continues at venues across the city including Club XBerg where many of the biggest names in electronic and indie music will come together to continue the party well into the early hours – as we all know – Berlin is the 24 hour party city that never sleeps. This years acts include Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros, Friendly Fires, Little Dragon, Metronomy, T.E.E.D, SBTRKT, Major Lazer, Orbital and Totally Enourmous Extinct Dinasoars. 2 Day Ticket from EURO 74.

Amsterdam Dance Event

17th – 21st October, Netherlands

www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl

Last but not least it’s the worlds leading electronic music conference and showcase festival – the Amsterdam Dance Event. Yes, we like to eke the festival season out just that little bit longer and this is the perfect way to round off the year. After selling out for the last five years, the ADE is regarded as one of the highlights of the annual international dance and electronic music calendar attracting more than 140,000 festival-goers. ADE is a truly global event which plays host to the worlds leading producers and DJs the world over. The 2011 edition of the ADE staged a record 220 events in 52 venues across the city,with a total of over 800 DJs and acts performing including Radio Slave (GB), Richie Hawtin (CA), Soul Clap (US), Sven Väth (DE), Theo Parrish (US), Aeroplane (BE), Afrojack (NL), Caribou (CA), Carl Craig (US), Culoe De Song (SA), David Guetta (FR), Derrick May (US), Frankie Knuckles (US), Goldfish (SA), Henrik Schwarz (DE), John Dahlback (SE), Joris Voorn (NL), Kyle Hall (US), (NL), Maya JaneColes (UK), Michael Mayer (DE), Modeselektor live (DE), WhoMadeWho live (DK) and many, many more. In fact, it’s probably easier to list who wasn’t there! Don’t be left behind this year – end the festival season with a bang in the ‘Dam.

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For more information about the event or to enquire about press accreditation please contact:

Clare Dover, telephone +44 7855 369013, e-mail clare@46.32.240.39