::Friday Link-up:: Five Reasons to go to a European music festival

One of the best things about summer are the FESTIVALS!! With Coachella in full-swing back home in California and me oh-so-anxious for summer to arrive, I’ve been researching European festivals this summer almost religiously.


Almost every weekend during summer, there are literally hundreds of festivals going on around Europe at any given time ranging from small, local parties to large, commercial DANCE parties. Electric Picnic in Ireland, rock-festival Rock Werchter in Belgium, Roskilde in Denmark or Hurricane in Germany, Sonar by the sea in Barcelona and on sailboats at Soundwave Croatia, up and coming Exit Festival in Serbia, a crazy-month-long festival called Kazantip in Ukraine (word on the street is that Christian’s friends are taking him here for his bachelor party…lucky duck!), the ultra famous Glastonbury in the UK and ofcourse some local ones in Holland—Loveland, Lowlands and Mysteryland, which often have swingsets, arts and crafts and boats to lounge in. The list goes on and on! I'm envisioning walking into a wooded forest in Norway or Sweden and finding a bustling Midsummer Party in full-swing under the midnight sun…I’m still trying to find if these exist ;)

European festivals are sometimes much cheaper than American festivals, attract the same talent (and artists that America knows nothing about yet!), with less rules and I see just as many people sipping on water as they are sipping on beer—they’re just there for the atmosphere...the festivals are that fun! I’ve been lucky to add a few different music festivals under my belt and loved each of them—Dance Valley in Holland, I Love Techno in Belgium and the iconic Love Parade in Germany.

Today I’m linking up with Ellen over at Company of Clever for 5 simple reasons why you should check out a European music festival this summer:

1. Enjoy the great outdoors! Parties and festivals in Europe usually happen in the summer which means the sun will just barely start going down around 10PM…yep, that’s right, lots and lots of sunshine! (Unless you’re in the Netherlands…then it’s hit or miss). 

2. Meet new friends from ALL over the world. It’s incredible how much music, beer and good ol’ fashioned fun brings strangers together.

3. Learn some new artists and DJs AND experience a new country.

4. Be amazed. Plenty of European festivals have roller coasters, outdoor lounge bars, arts 'n crafts (yes arts 'n crafts!) and NO curfews. Relish in the wonderment of FREEDOM in an adult playground...Europeans not only know how to throw a good party, but their own police force find a way to manage festivals (because they know people are gonna do it anyway!). What does this mean? A go-with-the-flow mentality!

5. DANCE!!!! All day and all night. 

{Dance Valley, Amsterdam, Netherlands}

{Love Parade, Germany}

Yeaaaaaa a festival on an old freight yard gets a little bit dirty...

....ok really dirty....

Lesson learned: don't wear sandals to a festival held at the site of an old freight yard...yes people were taking pictures of my feet...SICK! But mission accomplished ;)

{I Love Techno, Ghent, Belgium}

Lastly, BE SAFE! The Love Parade was indefinitely cancelled after tragedy struck.Go with a group of friends, watch each other and assess the situation at all times. Dance and party responsibly!