As the live music industry continues to grow, it becomes harder and harder to choose the best festivals to attend. So if you’re planning for 2021 already, here are some of the best options to consider.
EDC Las Vegas
Las Vegas is most well known for its huge casinos that attract millions of people each year. They flock to Sin City to play blackjack, the many different versions of poker, roulette, and video slots. But there’s much more to this city in the desert than that. All year round you’ll find top-class entertainment with some of the most successful and famous singers and artists performing on a regular basis.
Once a year, Las Vegas gets a little bit more special when the Electric Daisy Carnival arrives for several days in October. Mixing together camping in the desert, incredible music, awesome thrill rides, and an electric atmosphere, EDC Las Vegas is a spectacle that can’t be missed.
The festival is hosted at the Las Vegas Speedway, just outside the city, so you can be sure of its excellent facilities. The festival can even provide your tent, so you don’t have to bring your own like at many other events.
Primavera Sound – Barcelona
Primavera Sound is now a global brand, but it started out in Barcelona back in 2000. Every year it sees some of the world’s best artists perform live, including Radiohead, the Wu-Tang Clan, Arcade Fire, Motörhead, and The White Stripes.
The Catalan capital is a fantastic location for the festival thanks to its fantastic weather, cosmopolitan culture, and experience in holding world-class events. As well as one-off spectacles like the Olympics, Barcelona hosts large annual events including the European Poker Tour organised by PokerStars, its annual Christmas markets, the Barcelona Carnival and Niceone Barcelona, a huge video gaming and e-sports festival.
Glastonbury – England
Glastonbury is one of the oldest and most famous music festivals in the world, starting out way back in 1970. Each year, a field in the English countryside is converted into a huge outdoor music venue with thousands of people working for three months.
It’s one of the biggest festivals too, with around 200,000 people cramming into the site. That’s more people than the population of the English County of Herefordshire and several London Boroughs. This huge size creates one of the best festival atmospheres you’ll ever experience, with so many people coming together to share their passion for music and have a good time.
Fuji Rock Festival – Niigata Prefecture
Held every year at the base of Mount Fuji in the Naeba Ski Resort, the Fuji Rock Festival is one of the best festivals for rock music in the world. Each year around 200 bands and musicians from Japan and further afield come together to put on a show for over 100,000 rock fans.
Accommodation at the Fuji Rock Festival is an experience in itself. The resort’s own chalets fill up fast, so many camp out in a nearby golf course instead. However, due to the mountain setting, it can mean sleeping on an angle if you’re not lucky enough to nab a flat part of the course to erect your tent.
Mawazine – Rabat
Taking place in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, Mawazine is the biggest festival in Africa. Spanning an entire week, organisers claim that it attracts more than 2 million festival-goers each year. This is three times more than the permanent population of the city.
As you’d expect from an event of this size, Mawazine attracts many of the worlds biggest music stars. In the past, Avicii, Rihanna, Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder have all performed on its 6-8 stages.
The organisers mix in regional artists too, making Mawazine a great place to discover new songs and even whole genres.
If you’ve never been to Rabat before, Mawazine presents a unique opportunity to explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site, learn about Moroccan culture and admire the beautiful landscapes.
