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| 50 greatest summer music festivals Posted: 09 Jun 2013 09:01 AM PDT Put that iPod away -- these top rock spots don't guarantee sunshine, but they do guarantee a summer 2013 to remember  Whether you're into indie, grindcore, folk or hard techno, these epic summer events will be sure to keep your ears ringing till the fall. Bonnaroo, Tennessee, United States
Date: June 13-16 "The Roo" is one of the largest summer festivals in the United States, and it's deliberately OTT. It's also diverse; this year you'll get sets from Paul McCartney to Björk and Mumford & Sons. The name of this party under the blazing Tennessee sun translates as "real good time," and this simple hippy ethos resonates throughout the 283-hectare farm. Aside from watching a decent roster of artists, you can don your tie-die and throw your inebriated self around on carousels, slippery wet slides and silent discos. Sonar, Barcelona, SpainDate: June 13-15 Multimedia meets music at this four-pronged festival (taking place in Sao Paulo, Cape Town and Tokyo as well). We'd argue that the Sao Paulo version of this festival is even better, for its hip crowd oozing intoxicating Latin energy. Speaking strictly summer festivals, though, Barcelona is your next best bet. "The event is about one word ... music," explains Charl Chaka, the managing director of Infusion events. "Nothing compares to Sonar when it comes to the best underground line-up around." It's also an avant-garde, visual journey, with volt-loads of experimental digital art taking place all over the historic, sunny city. Download Festival, Derby, EnglandDate: June 14-16 One critic from Rolling Stone Middle East says, "The organizers have been booking too many commercial emo bands of late, to get the teenagers in." But regardless of its shameless sugar-coating, the satanic-metal atmosphere and rock-god lineup of the Download Festival is yet to be rivaled elsewhere in Blighty. Heavy metal giants Slipknot and Iron Maiden headline this year. Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury, England
Date: June 21-23 Most summers this quaint rural spot turns into a mini city of more than 150,000 oddballs, old-school hippies and music-fanatics. "You can always be guaranteed an incredible lineup," says Andy Buchan, editor of Infusion Magazine. And regardless of the festival's commercial success, the sprit of the festival remains, explains Matt Wilkinson, new music editor of NME. "Despite the number of pop acts on the bill, and the seemingly never-ending corporate tie-ins … the quirkiness of the festival, from the green fields to the weather, gives it a life of its own," he says. This is the only place on earth you can lose your tent (and even your car) to two meters of mud and walk away thinking it was worth it. www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk Also on CNN: 5 blooming great flower festivals Hellfest, Rue du Champ Louet, FranceDates: June 21-23 "This picturesque town with historic churches gets invaded by satanic T-shirt wearing metalers with long greasy hair trying to find food and beer. It's absolute mayhem," says Orlando Crowcroft from Rolling Stone ME. It started out when a small group of friends obsessed with hardcore metal, sick of trekking halfway across the country to see their idols, decided to bring the bands to them. The event has now turned into four stages pumping out monstrously loud riffs to a frenzy of around 70,000 metalheads doing windmills. "The lineup is always fantastic," says Crowcroft. "Good metal bands often get buried at big festivals, but here, they get center stage." INmusic, Zagreb, Croatia
Dates: June 24-26 For the festival-goer who likes music but doesn't like to get too grubby listening to it, the camping spots here come with Wi-Fi and hot showers. You won't have to stand next to teenagers chucking their beer around either -- the comfortable 25,000-partier capacity means there's plenty of room to breathe, and the idyllic forest and lakes make for a quick escape if it's getting too loud for your delicate head. Once you've finished watching Arctic Monkeys and Iggy & the Stooges, go for a hike, swim, yoga session or a row (we kid you not). Festival Au Bord De l'Eau, Sierre, Switzerland
Date: June 26-30 This festival gets our vote for its community vibe. The experience is part festival experience and part idyllic family holiday with a bunch of excellent musicians in tow. "It's held in an amazingly beautiful setting near a crystal blue lake surrounded by mountains," says Lance Ferguson from deep funk outfit The Bamboos. Here you can paint a canvas, pour yourself a glass of Champagne, and lounge back in a pedalo with Swiss Alps in the vista, all while listening to grooves from Theo Parrish and Mark de Clive Lowe. Summerfest, Wisconsin, United States
Date: June 26-30/July 2-7 This 45-year-old festival -- also the world's largest music festival according to Guinness World Records -- is stretched alongside a 75-acre lake. The event runs for 11 days on 11 stages. In addition to music performances (headliners this year include The Avett Brothers & Violent Femmes, fun., Eagles and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), families can take some time out with activities like paddleboating. Baybeats Music Festival, Singapore
Southeast Asia's premier alternative music festival is your best bet in the region; it emphasizes homegrown talent in multiple disciplines from folk, pop and rock to punk and electro. Rock Al Parque, Bogota, ColombiaDates: June 29- July 1 There's no quaint festival vibe at Rock al Parque, as it's South America's largest rock music festival and is totally free. A heaving crowd turns up every year and piles into the arena to catch a glimpse of mega artists. It can get pretty rowdy, so the security staff prohibit booze, cigarettes and studded belts. Roskilde, Copenhagen, Denmark
Dates: June 29-July 7 You get more bang for your buck at Roskilde, not just because the beer and food is cheap but because the northern hemisphere summer sun will be up from 5 a.m. until past 10 p.m. As well as a great lineup including Kraftwerk, Sigur Ros and Rihanna across the eight stages, you can partake in activities at each of the campsites and do some skateboarding, watch a movie on the outdoor cinema screen, go for a swim and even fish for your dinner (if you catch anything they'll cook it for you too). Mainly though, you'll be giving to a good cause by going to this event -- the organizers don't keep any profits but instead donate everything to cultural organizations and charities.
July
Open'er, Gdynia, PolandDates: July 3-6 Identifiable by the retro Ferris wheel standing like a beacon against 20,000 tents, the Open'er is a different breed of organized fun. It's less organic than other festivals -- you can't take liquor into the arena, have to queue for a designated camping spot and are not allowed to piggyback your mates so they can see the stage -- but it redeems itself through extracurricular add-ons including a pop-up theater, documentary screenings, hipster fashion shows and a silent disco in a bunker. This year see Blur, Modest Mouse, Editors and Queens of the Stone Age. Obscene Extreme, Trutnov, Czech RepublicDates: July 3-7 Admittedly, this festival isn't for the masses; it's dedicated to underground extreme metal and grindcore. The diehard fans total only 1,500 per year, however, this group of long-haired rockers keep the spirit of the genre alive, and there's an undeniable cameraderie in the air, no matter how threatening the decibels and band names. Chapel of Disease, Christ Denied, Entrails Massacre, Gruesome Stuff Relish and Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition all grace the stage this year. Eurockeennes, Malsaucy, FranceDates: July 4-7 Dubbed the "French Glasto," Eurockeennes' biggest pull is its beautiful site on the Swiss border. Pick one of a handful of stages in the pristine nature reserve, lie down on the spongy green surface and do angel wings into the night. Headliners include Jamiroquai, The Smashing Pumpkins and Phoenix. Rock Werchter, Werchter, BelgiumDates: July 5-7 One of the big five European festivals, with a great lineup every year, Rock Werchter still manages to maintain that small festival vibe. It attracts a young crowd of overexcited Dutch and Flemish kids, but don't let that dissuade you. With a lineup including Green Day, Vampire Weekend, Blur, Kings of Leon, Rammstein and Depeche Mode we'd happily hold back the hair of the odd vomiting teen. Exit, Novi Sad, Serbia
Dates: July 10-14 A 2,000-strong protest against Slobodan Milosevic in a 17th-century fortress has, 12 years on, evolved into a swelling mass of 250,000 revelers, 500 bands, 20 stages and a 2012 lineup including Ceelo Green, Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion, The Prodigy and Atoms for Peace. Over four days, metal, hardcore, punk, electro, reggae, indie and world music fans play together in this foresty fortress against an incredible backdrop of the second biggest Serbian city, Novi Sad. "To me it's one of the best festivals I've ever been to," says Rodney P from Sleepin' Giantz. "The running order of the acts over the course of the event makes sense musically so you can really catch a vibe." Pohoda, Trenčín, SlovakiaDate: July 11-13 The aim of the game here is to relax (which is exactly what Pohoda means). And the killer down-tempo lineups, the fact you never feel like cattle (there are no queues) and the sweltering heat ensures that you do. Last year the organizers cleverly brought in fire trucks to hose down the crowds, and the big bosses also thought of other atmospheric additions. "They released thousands of Thai lanterns into the sky. It looked beautiful," says Ricky Fabulous from Belleruche. "There's also huge Slovakian acts mixed in," he says. "I got to hear an aging and very strange prog rock organist just before Sharon Jones." Bilbao BBK Live, Bilbao, Basque CountryDate: July 11-13 On top of a hill overlooking the city, Bilbao BBK Live is the festival that put the Basque capital on the traveling music fan's map. Considered one of the best medium-scale festivals in Europe, the festival covers big international names, upcoming indie bands as well as local music. This year sees Depeche Mode, Green Day, The Hives, Klaxons and local hero Fermin Muguruza in the lineup. Dour Festival, Dour, Belgium
Dates: July 18-21 Here it's all about a belly full of local beer and pure unadulterated indie and hardcore music, with no frills or gimmicks. There are fewer stadium names to pull the crowds, but instead dozens of bands that are on the cusp of blowing up play each year. Each year the organizers construct two large stages for the headliners and seven mega tents (with floorboards and everything) ... at some point it's guaranteed to tip it down. Benicassim, SpainDates: July 18-21 There's not a poncho in sight at this mid-summer Spanish fest. Instead it's heaving with Speedos. The festival itself is a sweaty affair; if you find yourself covered in beer, with your face in a raver's armpit, fear not -- they have showers at the campsite. Alternatively, the beach is close by. The town center offers slap up paella and refreshing jugs of sangria to wash it down. And the lineup's not bad either. Party until sunrise this year to a lineup including The Killers, Kaiser Chief, Beady Eye and Primal Scream. Also on CNN: World's most bizarre annual events Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, New York, United StatesDates: July 18-21 Thousands of aging hippies, young hippies, families and farmers show up for this laidback affair in rural New York, a short way from Ithaca. You'll find hundreds of aficionados of bluegrass, rockabilly, Irish music, rock 'n' roll, country and Native American music, plus a load of other hippy stuff from stripy clown pants stalls to an art barn and a healing tent (with herbal highs and remedies). A percentage of the proceeds goes to worthy causes such as Doctors Without Borders and Musicians For World Harmony. Pitchfork, Chicago, United StatesDates: July 19-21 Organized by the hipster publication "Pitchfork," this small festival likes it that way. If you've heard of half the bands on the bill, own several pairs of skin-tight jeans and wear organic-designer-stubble, you're about as muso as you need to be to understand what it's all about. Headliners include Björk, Belle & Sebastian and R. Kelly. Kelly McClure, music editor at "Vice" magazine, is an anti-festivalist but says she'd visit Pitchfork before any other: "It's the least physically excruciating [festival] I've been to." She's spot-on. Secret Garden Party, Abbots Ripton, England
Dates: July 25-28 This festival is a garden party gone gaga. It's got a modest capacity of 26,000, but wander through the forest and you'll find strange festival-goers putting on their own performances in trees, plus bizarre art installations and treasure hunts. The big stages will have Orbital, Lamb and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros among others. "Take all the magic, chaos and wonderment of the wilder fringes of Glastonbury, stick it between rolling hills and add a healthy dose of chemicals and you've got a magical, mysterious wonderland, where the Mighty Boosh could happily come to life," explains George Wilson Powel, former editor of Blowback magazine. "From art installations to DJs in tree houses and more dress-up boxes than you can shake a fairy wand at, it's Cambridgeshire as you've never seen it before." Cambridge Folk Festival, Cambridge, England
Dates: July 25-28 Filled with laidback folky stalwarts, this festival offers that quaint English muffin-and-jam feeling, with its storytelling sessions for kids, countless experimental ales and the chance to admire some of the finest beards and pot bellies in Britain. Special features include a chill-out flower garden, the MOJO signing tent -- for wannabe folk stars -- and plenty of impromptu sessions (don't forget to bring your tin whistle or bodhráin). Tickets: www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk Global Gathering, Warwickshire, EnglandDates: July 26-27 It's become more commercial over the last few years with super-sized stages and high-profile headliners, but if you look hard, you'll still find enough dirty drum 'n' bass and hard house to dance to till you get blisters. Posh clubbers can now bed up in luxury by booking a Suitehut with a TV and DVD player, fridge, and fresh linen. Plan B, Disclosure and Steve Aoki headline this year. Midi, French Riviera, FranceDates: July 26-28 This itsy-bitsy festival focuses on new sounds. "Midi has traditionally hosted the first foreign shows by some of the world's best new bands," says Matt Wilkinson, new music editor of NME. "The likes of WU LYF and Girls both kick-started their careers there." The location gives the festival something extra, perched atop the seaside town of Hyères with medieval streets. The music take place in Villa Noailles over looking Chateau Vallombrossa, which Wilkinson describes as "a 1920s surrealist dream of a building," with a deep-rooted cultural significance. "It has played host to everyone from Salvador Dalí to Man Ray in the past," he says. Fuji Rock, Naeba, Japan
Date: July 26-28 The largest festival in Japan has a year-on-year cracking lineup (expect The xx, The Cure and Nine Inch Nails this year), and a mystifying location in the mountains. To get to some of the stages you have to trek through the forest or take a gondola. There's also an outdoor cinema by the river, the chance to eat udon noodles for breakfast and the must-visit "Stoned Circle" where you can play ramshackle instruments and drums. Tickets: www.fujirockfestival.com Also on CNN: A first timer's foray into Fuji Rock Splendour In The Grass, New South Wales, AustraliaDates: July 26-28 If you're headed south this summer (their winter) your best bet is this little beaut. Now back in its rightful place (after a two-year location change), at Belongil Fields near the sleepy surfer town of Byron Bay, there are dollops of fine international sounds from Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men, plus sprinkles of top Aussie rock including The Presets and Bernard Fanning. Take a break from the crowds at the pop-up mall (named the Very Small Mall) and spa. Jisan Valley Rock Festival, Seoul, South KoreaDates: July 26-28 Set in a beautiful ski resort, hundreds of pretty, multicolored picnic blankets are laid out in front of the stages here. The colorful scene never lasts long though; they get trampled on when the crowd gets a sniff of the immense headliners. This year's little lineup includes Stereophonics and My Bloody Valentine. Tickets: www.valleyrockfestival.com Also on CNN: 4 festivals in Korea really worth attending Tomorrowland, Boom, BelgiumDate: July 26-28 A spectacular fairy tale-inspired stage design, a campsite named Dreamville and mind/ear-blowing electronic music can only mean one thing: the 2013 Tomorrowland festival. Held in the appropriately named town of Boom in Belgium, Tomorrowland is one of the best dance parties on earth -- if the 2 million fans who tried to buy a ticket are anything to go by. Tickets this year reportedly sold out in one second. This year's lineup includes Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Steve Aoki, Carl Cox and Avicii. Boom, Idanha-a-Nova, PortugalDates: July 28-August 4 This hippy biennial event started out as a hard trance electronic party 15 years ago; now the giant rave has evolved into a medley of fire dancing, art, sculpture, yoga and more than 30,000 multi-cultural free spirits sporting dreads, tats and tie-dye. The organizers call what they've created a "global psychedelic and alternative tribe." We give them props for their successful eco-approach to festivals; the United Nations has even nabbed the organizers for help with their Music and Environmental Initiative program.
August
Wacken Open Air, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Dates: August 1-3 Last year it became a beast of a festival and smashed the record for the largest heavy metal event on earth. In their own words it's "louder than hell." A crowd of 800 metalheads has evolved into an army of harder and hairier death worshipers, 75,000 strong. Extra curricular activities include dressing up as Vikings and throwing axes in the Wackinger Village. Stop Making Sense, Tisno, CroatiaDates: August 1-4 This is what the Sunset Strip in Ibiza used to be like. The Adriatic coastline still has that belly-flipping feeling as the sun goes down (or comes up), and this two-day dance event is a holiday within a festival. Inventive jazz, Latin, dubstep and reggae beats play out while its endorsees relax at tiki bars on the beach or cruise by on boats. Lollapalooza, Chicago, United States
Dates: August 2-4 It started out as a grungy event, set up 20 years ago by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell; headliners back then included Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The event became a traveling circus and popped up in different places across the United States. Since 2005, however, the festival has settled down in Chicago and hosts more than 130 acts from mainstream pop to indie. Take your little nippers to this fest, there are usually tons of attractions to keep them busy -- from comedy shows, to clown classes at the Kidzapalooza -- then skip off and see The Cure, Phoenix and New Order on stage. Standon Calling, Hertfordshire, EnglandDates: August 2-4 This boutique fest, with a maximum of 5,000 people, is one of the youngest picks on our list and started back in 2001 with 25 people in the grounds of a small country house. "It's turned a manicured garden into a life size 'Button Moon' set," says Georgina Wilson Powell, former editor of Blowback magazine. "Along with a late-night rave that brings a sci-fi industrial edge to the field." The organizers have a canny knack of showcasing bands before they get massive. Previous acts include Florence and the Machine, Friendly Fires and Mumford and Sons. This year you can get intimate with Digitalism, Band of Skulls and De La Soul. Satchmo Summer Fest, New Orleans, United StatesDates: August 3–5 This lively, free street festival in the French Quarter was set up to honor Louis Armstrong. Over three days there's an unforgettable atmosphere of raw soul, blues and jazz. "It somehow manages to be quaint, but huge," says Bennie Pete the tuba player of the Hot 8 Brass Band. "The 24-meter tents are set up in the heart of New Orleans and offer the soul and essence of the city through music, for one weekend." Dance in the street during this family event, and fill your belly with the Creole tomato gazpacho with Louisiana crabmeat from The Thee Muses restaurant on site. Sziget, Budapest, HungaryDates: August 5-12 The lineup here is monster. Somehow Sziget gets it right every year. The party train runs from the west of Europe onto the island in the Danube (while DJs play warm-up sets), then arrive at a lush forest lit up by fairy lights and flanked by golden sands, where you can pitch your tent. People often turn up with their own turntables, while others relax on full sofa sets, get sporadic tattoos and cook hog roast -- and this is all just in the campsite. Mystery Jets, Blur, John Digweed, Dry the River and Peter Bjorn & John feature this year. Once you're done with them, you can go bungee jumping. "A truly wonderful setting for a week-long festival," says Phil Dudman, clubs and live music editor at Mixmag. "My first year there was 2006," he adds. "There was an incredible thunderstorm right in the middle of Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android,' the only time it rained all week, which was just epic." Way Out West, Göteborg, Sweden
Dates: August 8-10 Throughout the festival, set in the pretty Slottskogen park, Göteborg holds gigs all around the city in its pubs and clubs, creating an explosive music-fueled city-break. Outside Lands, San Francisco, United StatesDates: August 9-11 At this eco-affair bicycle valets greet new arrivals and Golden Gate Park turns into a cultural wonderland for one weekend of the year. Here there's an emphasis on decent food and wine from the region (there's an awesome organic farmer's market) and one stage is solar-powered. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paul McCartney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Nine Inch Nails feature in 2013. Endorse it in Dorset, Dorset, England
Dates: August 9-10 Here you'll find great music and lots of burly men wearing dresses. If you've got no inhibitions and like the idea of intimate tents filled with punks flinging themselves around to live reggae and rock, this place is for you. "It's full of actual punks -- not weekend warriors that go back to normal jobs and dress accordingly," says music promoter Tomus Frog from GutRot. "These guys actually have Mohawks all year round," he says, and the last day of the event is a shocker: "It's an amazing spectacle -- tattoos, makeup and fishnets with hair in all the wrong places. A very weird day." Summer Sonic Festival, Osaka and Chiba, JapanDates: August 10-11 This mega event is the poppier version of Reading and Leeds, with a Japanese twist. Some 60,000 attendees congregate at stadium-sized indoor stages (plus the Marine outdoor stage), and the Japanese show their appreciation by pogoing in a wavy sea of raised hands, like some kind of well-organized riot. Headlines this year are an eclectic but mighty mix including Muse, Pet Shop Boys, Beady Eyes, Metallica and Linkin Park. World Electronic Music Festival, Ontario, CanadaDates: August 16-18 Formerly the World Trance Festival, the World Electronic Music Festival is three days of non-stop shiver-inducing crescendos, loops and beats from 200 international artists. This giant rave-up is an off-the-chart clubbing experience. You'll find thousands of sexy dubstep, jungle, electro, house and trance fans bonding to the baseline and grinding their teeth into the night. Hip Hop Kemp, Hradec Králové, Czech RepublicDates: August 22-24 B-boys, break dancers and MCs from across the world congregate at this killer event dedicated to all things hip-hop. The 500 cherry-picked performers during the three-day festival include DJs, graff artists, plus grime and dubstep DJs. The lineup this year includes Kendrick Lamar, EL-P and Souls of Mischief. "It's the world's biggest festival dedicated to every facet of hip-hop culture," says hip-hop expert DJ Excalibah, former BBC 1Xtra presenter and journalist. "Expect to see classic golden era artists alongside newer acts from all across the globe." "Kemp is sick," says Fallacy from Sleepin' Giantz. "It has the biggest names in hip-hop and grime from all over the world, and they always get the hot artists before they blow up so you get a peek into the future." Shambala, Northamptonshire, EnglandDate: August 22-25 A festival based on the concept of "purposeful hedonism," you can't help but leave a bit of your soul at this festival that attracts lefties, environmentalist and dreamers. "It's about the people and the party," says Paul Jonas, managing director of Tru Thoughts Records. "Shambala is a return to basics with an eco attitude, a loving ethos and a variety of music booked for its musicianship, rather than its effectiveness selling tickets." We strongly recommend a break from the serious music to take part in the Shambolympics: jumping for a long time and the pent-up-aggression-athlon. Also on CNN: 8 best Indian music festivals Creamfields, Cheshire, England
Dates: August 23-25 The daddy of European dance festivals is a hedonistic affair. It swaps bellbottoms, facepaint and falafel burgers for pyrotechnics, glow sticks and back massages. "Dance music festivals are entirely different beasts," says Phil Dudman the clubs and live music editor of Mixmag magazine. "I was fortunate enough to fill in for the Brookes Brothers there last year in the Mixmag Silent Disco. "I'd never deejayed to a crowd bigger than 300 people and here I was, stepping up at the last minute in front of 4,000 mad-for-it ravers. That was the best night of my life." "The vibe is electric, the lineups are usually of the cutting edge of music and you can find a Creamfields festival on just about every continent on the globe," adds Safe from Smokingroove. Reading/Leeds Festival, Reading and Leeds, EnglandDates: August 23-25 "In my book, this is the quintessential rock festival," comments James McMahon from Kerrang. "For broad booking, genuine exclusives, no experiential nonsense clogging up your day, just out and out rock 'n' roll fun." In true Reading/Leeds style, the mosh pit will explode at some point in the weekend with rowdy head-banging teens occasionally lobbing toilet rolls and beer grenades at unpopular bands. The metal, punk and emo lineup is equally hard to ignore -- countless bands play their best set of the year, or face the wrath of the crowd. Tip: when nature calls, make sure there's no toilet-tipping going on (it usually happens on the last day of the festival). www.readingfestival.co.uk, www.leedsfestival.co.uk The Burning Man, Nevada, United States
Date: August 26-September 2 Set in the desert in 45-C heat, this lifeless patch of sand turns into a 50,000-strong city (affectionately named "Black Rock City") come August. The festival starts on the Monday before Labor Day, and on the Saturday night they set light to a 12-meter-tall effigy of "The Man" and a smaller wooden dog. There are no stages, showers, or food stalls here, visitors bring their own entertainment to this gathering filled with non-judgmental veterans, deep-rooted in radical self-expression through music and art. Bumbershoot, Seattle, United States
Dates: August 31- September 2 The laid-back vibe of North America's largest arts festival fits well in Seattle's fresh mountain air. It serves up flavors you probably won't get elsewhere (Wanda Jackson and the Dusty 45s,The Vaselines, Jane's Addiction and Passion Pit), and during the three-day event there's countless art shows and performances to keep you occupied.
September
Bestival, Isle of Wight, England
Date: September 6-9 This year the likes of Elton John, Snoop Dogg and Franz Ferdinand will light up this 50,000-strong fancy dress party. Not only does everyone turn up looking like a "Sesame Street" escapee, each year they rig up equally odd places to sleep: yurts, tepees, squrts and wooden beach-style huts. Beryl the Bespoke Bus can also be hired -- she's a three-bedroom Cornish cottage on wheels. "Organiser Rob Da Bank puts his quirky touches on everything," says Andy Buchan, Infusion Magazine's Middle East editor. "From the lineup to the non-music tents which make Glastonbury's Lost Vagueness seem sedate in comparison, it's a winner in my eyes." Berlin Festival, Berlin, Germany
Dates: September 6-7 Set in a former airfield, you have to walk through an arrivals hall to experience this one. There are immigration booths, baggage conveyor belts and an old-school departure board where they put the indie, punk and electro lineup on display. Over the weekend there will be surprisingly decent art installations from local and international urban artists, plus music shows on runways and an open-air silent disco. This year catch Björk, Boys Noize and John Talabot. Also on CNN: 10 of the world's weirdest film festivals |
| Poutine in Tokyo: Japan takes on Canada's favorite comfort food Posted: 05 Jun 2013 08:27 PM PDT Can a dish made of French fries, cheese and gravy catch on in the land of ramen? One Japanese fan is willing to take the risk  In Tokyo's jam-packed restaurant landscape, filled with sushi, ramen and hundreds of other options, 26-year-old Yuta Fujino's modest establishment stands out. Robson Fries, tucked away in the winding streets of the Japanese capital's funky Shimokitazawa neighborhood, has a menu focused on one item only: Canadian poutine. "I lived in Vancouver for a year in 2008," says Fujino. "It was the first time I had poutine. The taste surprised me."
But before he opened his business in June of 2012 -- it's named after Robson Street in Vancouver -- he went on a pilgrimage to the Canadian province of Quebec, the birthplace of poutine, and spent time training at a restaurant in Montreal. "I asked them how to cook gravy and how to cook fries and everything," he recalls. "They were really kind. They helped me with everything." More on CNN: World's 10 greatest comfort foods National dish, international buzz
"It's simple and good," says Patrick Martineau, co-founder of Poutinewar.com, a website dedicated to all things poutine. "People want more because it's good fast food and it could be fancy and funky at the same time." These days, poutineries add a wide variety of toppings, from various types of meat and vegetables to different sauces and fried eggs. Montreal-based chef Chuck Hughes mixed in lobster when he used the dish to win Iron Chef America in 2011. The fascination with this fare has morphed into such an obsession that Canadians pay tribute to it with an annual World Poutine Eating Championship in Toronto and Poutine Week, or Semaine de la Poutine, in Montreal. Restaurants from New York to Chicago, Chiang Mai to Auckland also serve this calorie-packed cuisine. More on CNN: 11 things to know before visiting Quebec
Fujino enthusiastically runs through the menu: the gravy poutine, the butter chicken curry poutine, the chili poutine, plus the long list of add-ons ranging from fried garlic to corn to jalapeño to roast beef. Then Fujino's colleague, Naoki Shiba, gets to work, cooking up the fries in rice bran oil, which is lower in cholesterol. "Sei!" Shiba shouts a few minutes later. "Some ramen shops say that when the noodles are done," explains Fujino. "Here, it means we've fried the French fries twice." He pauses for a few seconds. "And it entertains customers." More on CNN: The best sushi restaurants in Tokyo Curd crisis
Fujino is unable to import them from Canada, so he uses shredded cheese as a substitute. Some poutine aficionados would consider this sacrilege. Nevertheless, the fries float in that magical zone between crispy and soft. The cheese, while not the real deal, melts into all the right places. The gravy has a light consistency, and is salty with just a hint of sweet. "That was the most difficult thing," he proudly replies, when complimented on his gravy. The Japanese customers seem just as enthusiastic as the Canadian ones who come to Robson Fries for a taste of home. Eriko Fujita, 22, chows down on a roast beef poutine with her friend, Naoko Miashita. "I like it because it's greasy," says Fujita between bites. "It's delicious," adds Miashita. Robson Fries, Shimokitazawa, 2-31-5 Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; +81 3 6407 1485 More on CNN: World's 50 best foods |
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