NH7 Weekender dates are out! The Sherp thought it was the perfect time to put together a list of the world’s best indie festivals!
Here’s a shout-out to the free-spirited: the lot who could spend all day shuffling between ironic bearded men with guitars and 7-piece bands filled with banjos and hippies. Extreme stereotyping we’ll admit but since the Sherp’s crew has their own fair share of indie lovers, we know there are many of them out there. So we pulled up our fading jeans, tucked in our aztec print shirts and skipped into the land of indie-loving to retrieve this precious list for you.
Without further ado, here are 5 of the world’s best festivals for Indie music fans.
1. Bestival (UK)
Bestival is a 4 day festival held annually at the end of the summer since 2004 at a place called Robin Hill country park in England. Having already won awards such as Best Major Festival in UK (2012 & 2010) also Best Medium Size Festival Globally (2009, 2007, 2006 & 2005) it’s certainly one of the best festivals for Indie Rock. They have also have a bit of EDM which satisfies a lot more people. In its first year itself there were about 20,000 tickets sold and in 2012 it increased to about 65,000! Bestival brings you not only an eclectic, world-class line up of performers but also unusual experiences such as the Bollywood Cocktail Bar, fancy dress en mass and even a Hidden Disco. It’s truly a unique experience.
2. Rock En Seine Festivals (France)
Oasis fans will tell you that the Rock En Seine is known as the festival that broke up OASIS, but keeping that sad truth aside, this is one of the most professional and clean festivals in Europe; taking place over 3 days with 4 stages at Chateau de Saint-Cloud in the west of Paris. The line-up is predominantly rock based. The festival has a very anglo-vibe with a lot of English people visiting tpp. Past line ups have featured Foo Fighters, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, The Kooks to name a few. All we know is that you don’t want to miss the Rock En Seine if you’re visiting Paris at the end of August.
3. Roskilde Festival (Denmark)
This is one of the oldest festivals in Europe, it was started in 1971 by 2 high school students. In 1972 it was taken over by the Roskilde Foundation, a non-profit organization with about 2,000 volunteers to keep it running (also a good way to get a free ticket). The profits from this festival are donated directly for humanitarian and cultural causes. Since 1971 big bands like Guns n Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes, The Who, U2, etc have played there. Even Ravi Shankar had been presented at Roskilde. The Arena Stage aka the Green Stage is the largest tent in the world covering over 17,000 people. Recently new stages have been dedicated to EDM and entirely new and upcoming genres. This festival starts on the first Thursday every July or the last Thursday in June.
4. Bonnaroo Festival
The name ‘Bonnaroo’ itself means ‘a really good time’ popularized by R&B singer Dr. John. Founded in 2004, it’s one of the younger festivals to make it tto this list and it isn’t surprising that it’s featured 2nd know the first has to be Coachella and Bonnaroo is its closest competition. Held at the Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee, USA. Over 80,000 people camp over this 700 acre stretch of green and beautiful land all waking up for epic performances, adventure, good food and movies at the cinema tent at night. Last year’s headliners were Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radio Head, Alice Cooper, and even The Beach Boys. If you already missed out on Coachella, the last thing you want to do is miss Bonnaroo too.
5. Coachella Festival (US)
Coachella Festival is the Mother of all Festivals. Kicking off in 1999, held at Empire Polo Club, California it was attended by 10,000 people in the first year itself. The Festival was cancelled in 2000 due to financial problems but continued in 2001 and it’s been a revelation ever since. The 2012 Coachella festival sold out within minutes and it would appear people are willing to give up organs to attend the festival! Being surrounded by thousands of people(even celebrities!) at one single event celebrating and sharing the same passion for music is truly a unique experience according to most making this our choice for chart-topper.