This archived roundup gathers music festivals and festival-style events that shaped travel wish lists in the 2010s. Some are still active annual fixtures, while others have ended, changed names, or now belong to music history. Use it as inspiration rather than as a current-year schedule.
Mardi Gras, New Orleans, USA
Mardi Gras is not a single music festival, but New Orleans’ Carnival season is inseparable from parades, brass bands, street performance, and late-night live music. Dates shift with Easter, so any old March-only advice should be treated as historical rather than a fixed travel plan.
Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago, USA
Launched in 1991 and now anchored in Chicago’s Grant Park, Lollapalooza remains one of the major U.S. city festivals for live music, mixing rock, pop, hip-hop, electronic music, and younger global acts across multiple stages. The roster changes each year, so this entry is best read as a classic festival recommendation rather than a lineup promise.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Indio, California, USA
Projekt Revolution by Linkin Park – historic touring festival
Solsticio Psychedelic Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina – historic psytrance listing
This entry points to the Buenos Aires-area psytrance solstice scene rather than a current international festival brand. Listings for Solsticio Psychedelic Festival show an open-air event south of Buenos Aires in December 2010, so it belongs here as a historical snapshot of alternative dance culture.
Summer Sonic, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
Summer Sonic began in 2000 as a large-scale urban festival held across the Tokyo and Osaka areas. Its programming has long mixed Japanese and international artists, from rock and pop to electronic and hip-hop, making it one of Japan’s best-known summer music events.
Pukkelpop, Kiewit/Hasselt, Belgium
Pukkelpop is a long-running Belgian festival held in Kiewit, Hasselt. It remains a broad, multi-genre event rather than a single-style showcase, with rock, pop, dance, hip-hop, and alternative artists sharing the bill.
Primavera Sound, Barcelona, Spain
Primavera Sound has grown from a Barcelona fixture into an international name, but the Barcelona edition is still closely associated with Parc del Forum and early-summer programming. It is known for adventurous lineups that place indie, electronic, pop, experimental music, and legacy acts side by side.
Spirit of Burgas, Burgas, Bulgaria – historic festival
Spirit of Burgas was a major Bulgarian summer festival on Burgas Central Beach, first staged in 2008 and revived for a 2015 edition after a break. Because there is no active annual edition to point readers toward, this entry should be read as part of Eastern Europe’s festival music history of the 2000s and 2010s.
Music Fest Perugia, Perugia, Italy
Music Fest Perugia is an international classical music festival and academy for young musicians, with concerts, masterclasses, recitals, and opera productions across Perugia. It suits travelers looking for classical performance in a historic Italian setting rather than a camping-style pop festival.
Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland
Founded in 1967, Montreux Jazz Festival remains one of Europe’s landmark music events. Despite its name, its program has long stretched beyond jazz into soul, rock, pop, electronic music, and cross-genre collaborations on the shore of Lake Geneva.
Les Eurockéennes de Belfort, France
INmusic Festival, Zagreb, Croatia
Electric Picnic, Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland
Electric Picnic is an Irish music and arts festival at Stradbally Hall. It has a wider family and arts-programming identity than a pure rock weekender, with stages, performance, food, comedy, and camping wrapped into one estate-scale event.
Reading Festival, Reading, England
Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Farm, Somerset, England
T in the Park, Scotland – historic festival
Apple Music Festival, London – formerly iTunes Festival, ended
Wakestock, Abersoch and Pwllheli, North Wales – historic wakeboarding and music festival
The Secret Garden Party, Abbots Ripton near Huntingdon, England
Peter Dark
Anna Lohan
