Eight International Festivals New Zealand Could Learn From

We’re only six weeks into a season far too cold for denim cut-offs and more suited to umbrellas than feather headdresses, but if you’re under the age of 50 and you like music then chances are you’re already saving coin for one of our many summer music festivals within reasonable reach of our shores. Preliminary lineups for Australian biggies such as Harvest, Stereosonic and Falls Festival and Big Day Out have all recently been announced, with others closer to home set to reveal juicy details shortly.

But while even the most civilised festival has its fair share of regrettable decisions, warm beers being chugged in the parking lot and liquid deposits being made in plastic water bottles, the truth of the matter is that at most of our own large-scale gatherings it’s easier to mislay a sense of refinement than it is to lose both your friends and your sunglasses. Ergo, Concrete Playground has handpicked a few overseas festivals that manage to combine brazen antics, booze and grannies in souped-up shopping carts with more cultivated offerings.

1. GOOGAMOOGA

WHERE: BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, USA
WHEN: MAY

The inaugural GoogaMooga in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park offered festivalgoers not just sonic goodness from 20 performers ranging from Holy Ghost! to Preservation Hall Jazz Band, but also a little Extra Mooga alongside. With Anthony Bourdain leaving the stage just in time for James Murphy’s DJ set, and grain going head to head with grape at the Beer vs Wine smackdown, Googa Mooga is just a celebration of all things great in life.

2. ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES (UK)

WHERE: EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND
WHEN: DECEMBER

No one can create an arts and music festival better than an artist or a musician, so this English festival gets a different musical or visual creative to invite their favourite performers to play each year. Past curators have included Portishead, The National and Matt Groening, with B-side festival I’ll Be Your Mirror offering music, film and arts events outside of the holiday resorts.

3. BONNAROO MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

WHERE: MANCHESTER, TENNESSEE
WHEN: JUNE

Nashville is great for wearing rhinestone cowboy hats and dancing to Johnny Cash cover songs, but Manchester is where country and bluegrass music meets indie rock, world music, folk, gospel, reggae and electronica. The 100-acre entertainment village also features a classic arcade, on-site cinema, silent disco, comedy club and theatre performers, but it’s also the peaceful vibes that had Rolling Stone name Bonnaroo one of the 50 moments that changed the history of rock and roll.

4. BUMBERSHOOT

WHERE: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
WHEN: SEPTEMBER

The name of this music and arts festival comes from “bumbershoot”, a colloquial term for umbrella, which is a far cooler tag than its original 'Mayor’s Arts Festival'. Now in its 42nd year, music, film, comedy, spoken word, dance, theatre and performance are just some of the genres falling under its canopy.

5. STOCKHOLM MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

WHERE: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
WHEN: AUGUST

Here are two things you probably already know about Stockholm: it’s beautiful, and it breeds creativity like Lara Bingle breeds LOLs. The island of Skeppsholmen is where these two things culminate each year, with acts including Patti Smith, Bjork and Antony and the Johnsons playing against a backdrop of intelligent art and glittering water landscapes.

6. OUTSIDE LANDS

WHERE: SAN FRANCISCO, USA
WHEN: AUGUST

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park holds many rich nuggets of culture, from fascinating buildings and major museums to scenic picnic spots and lakes. In August it also plays host to Outside Lands, a festival geared towards the green movement that celebrates the neutral terrain that became San Francisco’s common ground during the tumult of the 1960s. Food, wine and immersive art are dotted around the park, while the musical lineup — ranging from Metallica to Tame Impala to Norah Jones — really does offer something for everyone.

7. ICELAND AIRWAVES

WHERE: REYKJAVIK, ICELAND
WHEN: OCTOBER

What started as a one-off event in an airplane hangar is now one of the premier annual showcases for new music in the world. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Bravery and The Rapture all played Airwaves in the infancy of their musical careers, and Rolling Stone dubbed it “The hippest long weekend on the annual music festival calendar”. But Airwaves and the exquisite city of Reykjavík don't offer just music — hose the stale beer out of your hair, hop on a bus and alleviate your hangover via geysers, waterfalls, lava fields and the world-famous Blue Lagoon.

8. CACTUS FESTIVAL

WHERE: BRUGES, BELGIUM
WHEN: JULY

Because the only thing better than great music and great beer is Granny Turismo.