Hot picks of the festival season | Ruth Ni Leannachain
It’s that time of year again when the festival is all that’s on any self-respecting music lover’s mind. Here, Ruth Ni Leannachain discusses the best of the bunch.I don’t consider myself to be high maintenance, I too have slept out in the bitter cold, lashing rain and urine soaked campsites, having paid €400 to get drunk and watch a series of great bands (while shivering and eating overpriced chips). Hell, I’ve even enjoyed it, but considering Oxegen is now a two-day affair and Electric Picnic is a long way away, I’ve started to wonder if I should look to an alternative…The first offering comes in the form of the mini-festival. The mini-festival has grown in popularity in the last couple of years, and it’s no surprise considering early bird camping tickets can come in at just 99euro per person. The two most popular Irish mini-festivals are Castlepalooza, which has been touted at a small Electric Picnic and the local fest, Indiependence. I’ve had the pleasure of attending both festivals and they are perfect for someone looking for a chilled out weekend, or even for festival first timers, who want to ease themselves into a culture of disgusting toilets and damp sleeping bags. Their line-ups are, admittedly a little less impressive than their larger counterparts, but between them they’ve staged White Lies, Feeder, 2 Many DJ’s, Ghost Poet and The Charlatans as well as a plethora of the usual Irish favourites. Indiependence has the feel of a packed pub in Cork, in that you’re guaranteed to bump into plenty of familiar faces, but the award for most scenic site definitely goes to Castlepalooza, if you can get over the fact that the castle where it’s situated is considered the most haunted in the world, that is.If you’re more interested in catching the big names of the 2013 festivals (surely The Strokes and The Arctic Monkeys) you may be better heading off to further afield. The European festivals boast cheap tickets, cheap booze and great headliners, with some festivals costing less with flights included than their Irish counterparts. If you’re more interested in comfort than price, however, it’s the Spanish festivals that come up tops. Benicassim and Primavera insure you won’t have to deal with willies and soggy socks, and with headliners like Queens of the Stone Age, The Killers, Blur and Nick Cave, they could be worth the hefty price tag. For added comfort you can even book yourself into a local hotel, which is compulsory for Primavera and optional of Benicassim. It may be worth it to avoid the inevitable heat exhaustion.If you don’t have the option of the pricy festival, however, fear not. The two best Euro festivals for music fans on a budget have to be opener festival in Poland and Best Kept Secret festival in Holland. Cheap flights are easily obtained if booked in advance and with tickets coming in at just over €100, these festivals seem to have it all (including very cheap alcohol - not that that’s advisable). Acts this year include the Arctic Monkeys, QOTSA, Blur, Miles Kane, No Age and Rihanna and both are set far from your average mud soaked field, with BKS on a lake and Opener by the beach, you’ll be sure to come home with as many tourist-y photos as drunken campsite snaps.So there you have it, there’s a festival suited for every reveller out there. Now all you have to worry about is whether or not Dunnes Stores’ €10 tents will last three full nights of camping… (Editor’s tip: they don’t. Not even close.)
