It’s not easy, but you can still find festivals where you can have fun and not go bankrupt

The season of summer music festivals has begun. On the one hand, appetites are growing, especially after a long period of pandemic festival sadness, but on the other – reality bites hard: it turns out that participating in festivals in today’s social, economic and ecological situation is becoming more and more difficult.

Against inflation

There are many problems, it is worth mentioning the most severe ones. The first is, of course, costs. The festival is a really big expense: you have to pay for the pass, accommodation, travel, and on the spot spend a lot of expensive festival food forever. Compared to previous seasons, prices have gone up significantly – after all, inflation is taking its toll on most countries where summer festivals are held, hotel prices have skyrocketed, people analyzing the tourist market agree that in the face of increases in air ticket prices, it is no longer possible today we basically talk about “cheap lines”.

A simple example: this year, those who are going to the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona – the undisputed king of the beginning of the festival season in Europe – this year had to face not only much more expensive air tickets than before, but also the problem of almost gigantic accommodation prices. The event takes place in one of the most touristic cities in the world, at the beginning of the season. Combined with the understandable actions of the city authorities to limit the crowds of tourists flooding the city, this had a chilling effect for many people who wanted to go there for the music.

There is basically no way to avoid big expenses related to the festival. But a partial rescue may still be the choice of an event in Central Europe, and not in the west of the continent. In this part of Europe, especially outside the most popular tourist destinations, you can still find accommodation at reasonable prices and eat much cheaper than in the West. Many places can also be reached by avoiding expensive air tickets.

In the Czech Republic, Slovakia or Hungary, you can still find festivals where you can have fun and not go bankrupt. One example is Colors Of Ostrava, an event with a long history and great reputation. This year, the event will be held on July 19-22, and the program, which is diverse in many respects, is led by, among others: Interpol, Macklemore, Elllie Goulding, Onerepublic and Burna Boy.

Hot from emotions, not from heat

Another problem that is becoming more and more urgent when it comes to festival tourism, but also tourism in the broad sense of the word, is climate change. They can be seen today with the naked eye, and at festivals held in the open air, they can be seen especially clearly. In recent years, the cancellation of concerts or entire, several-day events, due to violent meteorological phenomena, has become a great nightmare of organizers and organizers. Even the native Open’er was affected by the problem – a storm passing near the festival grounds forced a mass evacuation of all people who found themselves there.

Evacuation at Open’er in 2022 photo. Martyna Niećko / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Storms, storms, gusty winds are one problem, another, which does not cause the cancellation of events, but makes it difficult to participate in them, is the heat. The coming summer promises to be particularly hot and dry, countries that have been festival and tourist paradises so far are slowly becoming a hot hell. For people practicing traditional tourism, the problem can be avoided in a relatively easy way – just change the date of departure and instead of going to Italy, Spain and Greece in May or even April at the peak of the heat. In the case of the festival, there is no such option – the date is set in advance.

Analyzes of the tourist market show that more and more people choose for their holidays countries that have so far lost to the south of Europe due to the climate – summer in Scandinavia seems to be more pleasant today than in the red-hot countries by the Mediterranean Sea. You can do the same when planning a trip to the festival. Last year, the late summer in Scandinavia turned out to be much warmer than usual, but not as hot as in the south, it was perfect weather for outdoor festivals.

It is worth thinking about, for example, an event in Oslo known as Øya. It is Norway’s largest festival, which offers performances by great world stars every year, and in its varied program, next to pop, rock and dance electronics, there will always be some space – after all, it’s Norway – for some dark black metal. This year, the festival will take place on August 9-12, and the stages will include Lorde, Blur, Roisin Murphy, Carline Polachek and Boygenius.

An alternative, taking place on a similar date and with a similar composition are two other Scandinavian festivals, Way Out West in Gothenburg and Flow in Helsinki, but you can also go even further north, visiting a very unusual place. G! The Festival is the most important musical event in the Faroe Islands. This year, it will take place on July 13-15, with local performers and performers, but there will also be musical attractions from other parts of Scandinavia.

Music in the foreground

Another problem that is starting to bother many people who go to festivals is the fact that they are becoming less and less focused on music. A flagship example is the American Coachella, which has long ago ceased to be perceived as a music festival, becoming a rather colorful background for the accounts posted by celebrities and celebrities in social media. Many people come to the Californian desert who do not pay attention to the music program at all, and their ostentatious behavior can often disturb those who want to quietly listen to the concerts of their favorite stars.

The best antidote to such situations seems to be festivals focused almost exclusively on music and attracting people who come to them primarily to listen to it and have fun with it. The best example are events strongly associated with subcultures interested in specific music genres. This year, events focused on hardcore music are starting to come to the fore, which is currently experiencing an extraordinary renaissance – bands that operate in such stylistic areas enjoy a fame that representatives of this genre have not known since the beginning of its existence. The concerts of such bands as Drain, Spy, Soul Glo or Turnstile, which is at the forefront of the new wave of hardcore, sell out, and more festivals dedicated to such music appear like mushrooms after the rain.

Most of them are in the United States, but this trend is slowly spreading to Europe as well. The best example is the English event Outbreak Festival, which takes place in Manchester and attracts the best of the genre every year. This year, the event is scheduled for June 23-25, and the stage will include, among others: such bands as: Converge, Bane, Militarie Gun, Sould Glo, Spy, One Step Closer and Koyo. Interestingly, the organizers decided to supplement the program with performances of alternative hip-hop stars, such as Earl Sweatshirt and Denzel Curry.

It is worth mentioning one more event of a similar nature – Ieper Hardcore Fest, a festival held in the Belgian town of Ieper for over 30 years. Always organized by a group of enthusiasts, away from official concert agencies and ticket companies. From the very beginning, various genres of alternative music met in the program: from emo, through punk, to hard core and metal. During this year’s edition, which will take place on July 7-9, there will be performances by, among others: such bands as: High Vis, Sheer Terror or Wolfbrigade.

These are just a few examples of music events outside the strict festival top that are worth paying attention to. There are many more of them, it is worth looking around and looking for those that will provide you with a lot of impressions, while avoiding some of today’s festival problems. Because the festival is all about having fun without worrying about anything.