OTP’s 5 Favorite Annual UK Music Festivals
Photo by: MartinWorster
There just aren’t too many good weather days in the UK. So when temperatures rise a bit and the clouds clear up for 10 minutes, Brits throw massive festivals in celebration. These multi-day music extravaganzas can attract over a hundred thousand people and the partying is non-stop. Clear these dates and buy your tickets far in advance; there’s no pussyfooting around when it comes to music festivals in the UK.
Photo by: Tom Bamber Photography
Turning farmland into a carnival with more than just music, the Glastonbury festival digs deep into its hippie and free festival roots to bust out great contemporary performing art shows in addition to hundreds of live performances from some of the best bands and dj’s the world has to offer. Holding the record for being the largest in the world, profits are donated to charity (unfortunately your ticket does not count as a tax write off). With too many headliners last year to mention, this festival doesn’t skim on top notch talent. We’re going to give it to you straight: Tickets to Glastonbury 2011 sold out in 4 hours and due to a conflict in resources with the Olympics, 2012 is canceled. What’s a music freak to do? Hustle homie. Look for resale tickets (likely to be highly inflated), craigslist it or search out seedy characters the day of the event; whatever it takes. This year will be epic.
Photo by: T in The Park
T in the Park is not Fat Bastard, Grounds Keeper Willy and Sean Connery sipping tea in a park somewhere in Scotland. The “T” actually stands for Tennents Brewing Company, the event’s major sponsor. Next to Scottish Terrier racing and the bi-annual Dirty Scotsman Olympics, T is the largest festival in Scotland. Two of this year’s headliners, Foo Fighters and Blink-182 , have been confirmed and it should be one hell of a time. Bring Dave Grohl a fresh pot to up the ante.
Photo by: Simone J
Screw the book club and take on some louder Reading. The August Bank holiday weekend (better known as Labor Day in the US), is when the longest-running popular music festival in the world, the Reading Festival, goes down. This festival is famous for a beautiful form of debauchery called “bottling off” (where people throw bottles at bands to get them off stage). Meatloaf was the first to take a bottle to the face and thousands of others (including Fifty) have endured this honest, physically abusive, form of audience feedback. Blink-182, Guns and Roses and Queens of the Stone Age are playing this year. Recycle your empties wisely.
What does a popular Dj slash record producer do when he’s just not having enough fun or making enough money form his records and gigs alone? The Rob da Bank‘s festival of Bestiva started 7 years ago and quickly became one of the UK’s best, busting at the seams with a hundred thousand people in attendance annually. You can expect just about anything from hardcore punk to dubstep during this 3-day boutique music festival. The pre-sale tickets have sold out but full price tickets for 2011 are still available. No matter how much Ecstasy you’ve mistaken for headache pills, make sure you’re hydrated for this year’s line-up, which includes Boyz Noise, The Cure and Diplo.
Photo by: lukemontague
As the summer comes to a close, try to get one more V under your belt. The V-Festival, sponsored by Virgin Media, is so gapingly large, it’s actually two festivals shoved into one. The line-ups alternate stages on different days, giving two cities the opportunity to see the acts or one die hard fan to see the same acts twice. The Kings of Leon and David Guetta played last year which caused some controversy amongst UK-ers not into pussy commercialized pop. But if like to shamelessly shake your pants the popstar way, this V is the warmest place to be. This year’s line up is yet to be announced
Festivalin’ is a must if you are spending summertime in the UK; Brits even take a vacation from their Ibiza vacation to come home to party. Mark your calendars, find a sleeping bag for two and head to one of these mega fests before they sell out.
This Philadelphia native has made it a habit of traveling to Europe at least once a year, and rarely takes vacations shorter than a month. When he travels, he focuses on nightlife and mingling with the locals, and always finds a way to the parties. Dennis returned to his corporate job after his first backpacking trek to find out it wasn't there. This led to him becoming the general manager of one of the US's top rated hostels. So, even when is not traveling, he is contributing to the stories and experiences of those who are.
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New to the Glastonbury line-up is U2!