Fests ’24: Eurockéennes, Gent Jazz, Mallorca Live
As the year draws to a close, there has been no let-up in festival lineup announcements for 2024.
France’s Eurockéennes de Belfort is offering discounts for students and under-30s for next year’s edition, which takes place from 4-17 July.
The 35,000-cap event will be headlined by David Guetta, Lenny Kravitz and Sum 41, with the supporting cast including Big Flo & Oli, Gazo, Dropkick Murphys, Black Pumas, Idles, Pretenders, Romy, Purple Disco Machine and Blondshell.
Now under the management of Greenhouse Talent, Belgium’s Gent Jazz will return for its 23rd edition from 5-20 July. Confirmed names so far include Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Patrick Bruel, Air, Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, Bill Frisell and Joshua Redman.
Meanwhile, Pet Shop Boys, Blondie and Underworld head the lineup for the seventh Mallorca Live Festival from 13-15 June. More than 50 other artists have also been added to the bill, including Belle & Sebastian, Jeff Rosenstock, Shame and Sleaford Mods.
Also in Spain, Madrid concert series Noches del Botánico (Botanical Nights) has unveiled its first 14 nights of programming, running between 7 June to 27 July. Headline acts include PJ Harvey, Status Quo, Queens of the Stone Age, Glen Hansard/St. Paul & The Broken Bones, James Blake, Take That, James Blunt, Simple Minds, Passenger and Toto.
Plus, Benicassim has added The Libertines and Yungblud to previously announced headliners Black Eyed Peas, Royal Blood and Wade from 18-20 July.
Set for 27-30 June, Switzerland’s OpenAir St Gallen will welcome the likes of The Chainsmokers, Queens of the Stone Age, Placebo, K.I.Z, Nina Chuba, Tom Odell, The Hives and Róisín Murphy, while Zurich Openair, which runs over two weekends from 23-24 & 30-31 August, has booked Sam Smith, Macklemore, Louis Tomlinson, Raye, Loyle Carner, Jorja Smith, James Arthur, RIN, Lost Frequencies and Aurora, among others.
“We are very satisfied with how pre-sales are going, because reaching these numbers in December is extraordinary”
Slovenia’s MetalDays will be topped by Accept, Blind Guardian, Emperor, God is an Astronaut, The Amity Affliction, Caliban, Legion of the Damned, Tiamat, Unleashed and Rage between 28 July and 3 August.
The electronic music-oriented Kappa FuturFestival will bring acts including Four Tet B2B Floating Points, Tiesto, Skrillex B2B Blawan, Seth Troxler, Nina Kraviz, Carl Cox, Adam Beyer, The Blessed Madonna and Honey Dijon to Turin, Italy, from 5-7 July.
Italy’s Lucca Summer Festival has also unveiled a new raft of artists such as Swedish House Mafia (30 June), the Smashing Pumpkins (6 July), Lenny Kravitz (12 July), Mika (19 July), Sam Smith (20 July) and Toto (24 July). More than 120,000 tickets have already been sold for the series, including 70,000 for Ed Sheeran’s 8-9 June dates.
“We are very satisfied with how pre-sales are going, because reaching these numbers in December is extraordinary,” Mimmo D’Alessandro of promoter D’Alessandro e Galli tells La Nazione.
And 21 Savage is the latest addition to the lineup for Poland’s Open’er Festival, set for 3-6 July, joining Foo Fighters, Dua Lipa, Benjamin Clementine, Michael Kiwanuka, Doja Cat, Sam Smith, Yaeji, Loyle Carner, Masego and Floating Points.
Plus, Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, Sum 41, The Breeders, Nothing But Thieves, Benjamin Clementine, Black Pumas, Michael Kiwanuka, Floating Points and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats will line up alongside Dua Lipa and the Smashing Pumpkins at Portugal’s Nos Alive from 11-13 July. And Denmark’s Tinderbox (27-29 June) has added Bryan Adams, Raye, James Arthur and Lauren Spencer Smith.
Elsewhere, the inaugural Pitchfork Music Festival Mexico City will star Godpseed You! Black Emperor, King Krule, Kelela, and Sky Ferreira across multiple venues from 4-9 March.
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Festival Fever: 2020 line-up announcements continued
Continuing the series of 2020 line-up announcements, IQ rounds up line-ups from Spain’s Primavera Sound, Belgium’s Tomorrowland, the Netherlands’ Best Kept Secret, Italy’s KappaFutur Festival, Norway’s Tons of Rock and the UK’s 2000 Trees.
(See the previous edition of Festival Fever here.)
Primavera Sound
When: 3 to 7 June
Where: Parc de Fòrum, Barcelona, Spain
How many: 35,000
The 20th anniversary edition of Primavera Sound sold over 10,000 tickets in under 24 hours.
In keeping with its 2019 line-up, which rejected the “pale, male and stale” festival bill model, this year’s festival sees an equal balance of male and female performers, with Lana Del Rey, Brittany Howard and King Princess among prominent female acts on the bill.
The Strokes – who were also recently added to the Rock Werchter and Nos Alive line-ups – Iggy Pop, Massive Attack, the National and Bad Bunny are also performing at the festival.
Primavera Sound Barcelona is – alongside festivals in Oporto, Los Angeles and Benidorm – one of four Primavera Sound events planned for the tastemaking festival’s 20th year.
Tickets for Primavera Sound are available here, priced at €195 (£165).
The 20th anniversary edition of Primavera Sound sold over 10,000 tickets in under 24 hours
Tomorrowland
When: 17 to 26 July
Where: Boom, Belgium
How many: 70,000
Dance festival franchise Tomorrowland is returning for the 16th year of its flagship Belgian event, with acts including Eric Prydz, David Guetta, Marshmello, Amelie Lens, Afrojack, Helena Hauff and Maceo Plex making up the line-up.
The festival, which takes place across two consecutive weekends in July, is part of the mega Tomorrowland festival brand.
A winter edition of the festival launched in the French Alps last year. Tomorrowland Winter returns in March 2020, featuring acts including Armin van Buuren, Martin Garrix and Steve Aoki.
The presale for Tomorrowland Belgium begins on Saturday 25 January at 5 p.m. (CET), with general sale starting on 1 February.
Tickets cost €295 (£249) for a standard pass and €510 (£430) for a comfort pass. Fans can pre-register for tickets here.
Tomorrowland is returning for its flagship Belgian event, with Eric Prydz and David Guetta
Best Kept Secret
When: 12 to 14 June
Where: Beekse Bergen, Bergen, the Netherlands
How many: 25,000
Another headline slot for the Strokes, FKP Scorpio’s Best Kept Secret festival also counts the National and Massive Attack as headliners.
Badbadnotgood, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Belle and Sebastian, Metronomy, Diiv, Jarvis Cocker and Etep winners Fontaines DC also appear on the line-up.
The FKP Scorpio festival portfolio includes twin festivals Hurricane and Southside, Provinssi, M’era Luna, Seaside Country Festival and Gården.
FKP Scorpio is majority owned by German powerhouse CTS Eventim, which earlier today took a majority stake in the newly founded Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG, uniting abc Production and the wepromote group.
Tickets for Best Kept Secret festival are available here for €184.
Another headline slot for the Strokes, Best Kept Secret festival also counts the National and Massive Attack as headliners
KappaFutur Festival
When: 4 to 5 July
Where: Parco Dora, Turin, Italy
How many: 20,000
Italian electronic music event KappaFutur Festival is this year hosting acts including Amelie Lens, Diplo, the Black Madonna, Carl Cox, Denis Sulta and Motor City Drum Ensemble.
The festival, which is part of the European Commission-funded soundproofing project MONICA, is helping to develop technology and best practice to limit the impact that inner city festivals have on nearby communities.
Tickets for KappaFutur Festival are available here, for a discounted price of £38 for a day pass and £59 for a weekend ticket.
KappaFutur Festival is this year hosting Amelie Lens, Diplo, the Black Madonna and Carl Cox
Tons of Rock
When: 25 to 17 June
Where: Ekebergparken Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway
How many: 10,000
The biggest rock and metal festival in Norway, Tons of Rock will be headlined by Iron Maiden, Faith No More and Deep Purple in its second year under Live Nation ownership.
Other acts appearing on the bill include Bring Me The Horizon, Disturbed, Airbourne, Within Temptation and Gojira.
Launched in 2013, the three-day rock and metal festival received recognition from the Norwegian Concert Organisers (NKA) in 2017, being crowned the best Norwegian festival.
Tickets for Tons of Rock are available here, priced at NOK 3040 (£257).
The biggest rock festival in Norway, Tons of Rock will be headlined by Iron Maiden, Faith No More and Deep Purple
2000 Trees
When: 9 to 11 July
Where: Upcote Farm, Cotswolds, UK
How many: 15,000
Independent UK festival 2000 Trees released its first line-up wave earlier this week, with acts including Jimmy Eat World, the Amazons and Creeper appearing on the bill.
Previous acts to have performed at the festival include Frank Turner, Enter Shikari, Deaf Havana, Slaves and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes.
Tickets for 2000 Trees are available here for £156.
Photo: Julian Dael/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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MONICA: the project soundproofing festivals
MONICA, a European Commission-funded project, is working to repair the often tense relationship between inner city festivals and the communities that surround them, demonstrating how technology can reduce sound levels and enhance safety at large, outdoor events.
The project works with 28 partners throughout Europe, developing internet of things (IoT) technologies to provide event organisers with services to monitor crowd and capacity, detect security incidents and reduce sound levels outside the festival site. The EU Commission funds most of the project, with partners financing the rest.
Italian electronic music festival Kappa FuturFestival is one of the six pilot sites for the research project, implementing technological solutions and indicating their application within a live event situation. Other pilot sites are found in Copenhagen, Lyon, Bonn, Hamburg and Leeds.
IQ talks to Kappa FuturFestival’s Gabriella Botte about the scheme, the technology behind it and the bright future for inner city festivals around Europe.
Can you tell me about MONICA?
The MONICA project is about managing large-scale, open air events using internet of things (IoT) technologies to help organisers to secure events and manage the impact they have on nearby communities.
The idea came from the experience of the +20 Friday Rock evening event held in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. The city has grown around the park, with concerts held there from spring to autumn, and there have been problems due to the impact of sound on neighbouring houses and security issues relating to crowd control and management.
“In Italy, Kappa FuturFestival seemed like an obvious candidate for the project”
This became a point of discussion and different events started to collaborate, talking about common problems for several large-scale, open air events in Europe.
In Italy, Kappa FuturFestival seemed like an obvious candidate for the project. The festival takes place in a public park in densely populated area in the city of Turin. The event is only for two days but the neighbouring area was suffering significant problems due to noise levels.
Our city represents a best practice within the project as it is the only case in the consortium in which the local authorities, event organisers and scientific institutes are all involved.
How is Kappa FuturFestival involved in the project?
The festival was chosen by the city of Turin and the Links Foundation to become the Italian platform to test the solutions developed by the technical partners.
There are two main axes to the project – security control and sound control. Not every participant is experimenting with venue technologies, but we are, so that encompasses sound monitoring and control, and crowd and capacity monitoring.
The crowd management at Kappa FuturFestival is handled by the local Turin police, but we also work with Kingston University in London.
Kingston University is developing an algorithm to create a sound heat map to detect the flow of people and identify security threats such as overcrowding, fast moving crowds or fights. The idea is for the information to reach the organiser via the fans’ wristbands, signalling where there is a dangerous situation or a fight. We can also give people security information such as the location of exits and direct festivalgoers to them, all through radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.
It is worth noting that we started on this path in 2015, introducing the cashless system as the only payment method allowed at our festival, replacing cash with a RFID device.
“The objective is to balance the optimal outdoor concert sound and the reduction of unwanted noise in the surrounding environment”
However, most of the work we do relates to sound control. Our Futur stage has been used to test a new sound control system from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). This system is based on a set-up of sound level meters and additional loudspeakers “contrasting” with the stage audio system before it gets to neighbouring houses. The objective is to balance the optimal outdoor concert sound and the reduction of unwanted noise in the surrounding environment.
We do this using two control desks – one classic desk directed by a technician and another one at the end of concert area. This acts as a buffer at the concert area perimeter and sends out the same sound as the one at the front, so when two sound systems meet, they should neutralise each other.
It appears that the DTU sound system has resulted in a reduction in sound of six decibels.
Last year, we also adopted an amplifier system to diminish the impact of sound from the back of the loudspeaker, as noise was a big issue backstage.
We have learned a lot since beginning, such as the futility of barriers. Sound moves in waves, so barriers are not useful as it’s always possible that the sound will reach it at its peak. We share knowledge within the project in order to adapt these solutions. Going forward, we want to equip all stages with the two lines of loudspeakers.
“For the general public, the main thing is knowing that the organisers are not just there to benefit from the area but that they want to give something back”
Why are such initiatives important for festival organisers, festivalgoers and the general public?
From an organisers point of view, the project makes an event important and credible as a partner. With this kind of initiative, an event can become a major actor in the scene.
For festivalgoers, what’s important here is not so much learning about the project but knowing that organisers want to introduce technology and innovations to improve the experience, to make sure everything is safe and runs smoothly.
Then there’s the question of sound quality. Not everyone is able to recognise if sound is good or not. Organisers often choose the cheapest loud speaker, but MONICA partner events have to get the best material on the market. This is a good assurance to our audience, showing that we are the best and can work with the best technology.
For the general public, the main thing is knowing that the organisers are not just there to benefit from the area but that they want to give something back. Events bring a positive economic impact to a community, but also a lot of negative impacts for those living around and we want to minimise this so everyone can benefit.
Another thing is that we have the possibility to collaborate with important institutions, and it is not often that such events get the chance to do this. For example, this summer, functionaries from the EU Commission will be our guests at the festival to come and see the project. This is significant as these people may not have come to Turin otherwise. This is a way of bringing attention to our city and to the local area.
“The aim is ultimately to find innovative solutions to make large open air events more secure and less invasive to urban environments”
What other pressing issues do music festivals and events face?
Apart from security and sound, I think the environmental impact is a major issue. Our festival takes place in a public park in a green area. 20,000 people amounts to a lot of rubbish. What we are aiming to do is use more sustainable materials.
For this year’s event, we are eliminating straws. We already use biodegradable plates and forks for food and we are running recycling points with the US-based Global Inheritance Foundation as an incentive for people to collect rubbish.
Another thing that we have started doing is using biodegradable elastic bands for production barriers. This is a significant investment as we use a lot of them and the eco-friendly ones cost three to four times more than normal ones. The idea, of course, is to collect everything up after the festival, but this is not always possible so we need to think of additional ways to avoid polluting park.
What does the future hold for MONICA?
The idea in the future is to be able to develop the technology to be sold by partners to the wider events market. We hope that the most accessible technologies will be available soon.
Inner city festivals are still subject to so many restrictions – just think of the difficulties London festivals have, like Wireless Festival which every year faces more restrictions and obstructions from local residents, or Citadel, which moved last year to Gunnersbury Park, and had a nightmare when it came to people leaving the festival. Hyde Park’s British Summer Time strict curfews which has seen previous headliners fined are all due to sound levels and local residents.
Such issues are what this project hopes to eliminate. The aim is ultimately to find innovative solutions to make large open air events more secure and less invasive to urban environments.
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