Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland tops the list being the biggest electronic music show in the whole wide world. Starting from 2005, the festival is held in the town of Boom, Belgium every year and manages to attract more than 185,000 people from over 75 different countries.
- When: End of July
- Where: Boom, Belgium
Sziget Festival
Celebrated since 1993, the Sziget festival hosts over 550,000 people every year. Held in Budapest, Hungary, Sziget festival is one of the biggest multi-genre music festivals in the world. From dance stages and cinema to contemporary circus shows and sporting events, Sziget festival is a sprawling array of entertainment.
- When: Mid-August
- Where: Budapest, Hungary
EXIT Festival
Held every year in the Petrovaradin Fortress in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, EXIT festival was awarded with the ‘Best Major European Festival’ award, not just once but twice. The history of this festival dates back to 2000 when EXIT started as a student movement whose motto was to protest against the oppressive regime in Serbia and establish democracy and freedom.
- When: Early July
- Where: Novi Sad, Serbia
NOS Alive
NOS Alive is an indie, rock and alternative music festival held in Oeiras, Portugal. Whilst the festival manages to attract some of the biggest names in rock and indie, there are also many pop, hip-hop, RnB, disco and house acts.
- When: Early July
- Where: Oeiras, Portugal
Earth Garden
Malta’s largest Alternative Festival, Earth Garden Festival, is held every year at the National Park. The festival was first held in 2007 and since then manages to attract over 25,000 music fans from around the world every year. Celebrated for four days straight, the festival also includes a healing and workshop area, 2 naturally shaded campsites, an international food court, an Ethnic Market and a Kid’s area.
- When: Early June
- Where: National Park, Malta
Mad Cool Festival
Taking place in the Spanish capital, Madrid, Mad Cool Festival attracts crowds of 80,000 fans per day to its three-day event. The festival glares with coloured glittery lights and tends to offer a variety of music genres like rock, indie, pop, alternative and electronic music. The festival has witnessed huge names on the lineups over the years featuring the Arctic Monkeys, The Cure, Pearl Jam and Tame Impala.
- When: Early July
- Where: Madrid, Spain
Colours of Ostrava
As the Czech Republic’s largest music festival, Colours of Ostrava includes in it an exclusive range of contemporary music from electro, world music, jazz, indie rock and reggae. People can further expect to explore over 350 events extending from bands, DJs, films, open discussions, workshops, theatre, poetry, art installations and programmes for kids.
- When: Mid-July
- Where: Ostrava, Czech Republic
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is well known as perhaps the greatest music festival in the world. With over 100 stages and 2,800 performances over the whole weekend, Glastonbury is an absolute wonderland of music, comedy and arts.
Attracting the biggest names in music to its main stage, the Pyramid Stage, as well as the best talent in every genre, there is something for every taste.
Several things are unique about Glastonbury which make it what it is. It is iconic that all profits are donated to their charity partners WaterAid, Oxfam, GreenPeace and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. This also hints at how liberal the festival is, a theme you will notice throughout the festival.
One of the most attractive qualities of Glastonbury is the lack of barriers between camping grounds and stages. This means that punters can set up camp in view of the stage and avoid pricey alcohol fees at bars.
- When: Final weekend of June
- Where: Pilton, Somerset
Mysteryland
Mysteryland is the world’s longest-running electronic music festival. Held in Haarlemmermer, The Netherlands, the festival runs for three days.
With the performance of more than 300 artists, the festival tends to cover almost all genres that fall within the category of electronic music including House, Big Room, Bass, Techno, Deep-House, Trance, Trap, and Minimal, Hardstyle, Hardcore, RnB and Hip Hop.
- When: End of August
- Where: Haarlemmermer, Netherlands
Roskilde Festival
First held in 1971, Roskilde Festival is no doubt one of the oldest festivals of Europe. The festival features some of the world’s most renowned artists like the established rock gods and stirring newcomers and runs for 4 days straight.
The festival manages to gather more than 130,000 visitors, showcases around 175 artists and spreads across 8 stages. The festival is run by a charity that supports children, young people and also works to support humanitarian and cultural work.
- When: End of June
- Where: Roskilde, Denmark
