Festivals abroad

[festivalmad1]

I am doing a study into motivation and what make people from the UK travel abroad for festivals for my university dissertation.

Any thoughts and opinions into what motivates people to travel abroad for festivals would be greatly appreciated!! If you have attended a festival abroad please can you tell me about your experiences!

Thankyou!

[pryce]

well i would say the weather

but the 3 festivals ive been too abroad has had by far the worst ive seen

although thats a big reason for me going to Optimus alive this year

another reason would be doing it as a holiday and spending some time experiencing the culture and country a few days before or after

they tend to be more relaxed and laid back than the Uk Fests and i like that also.

Also alot are cheaper... however with the exchange rates being poor thats less of a factor.

although i doubt i will go to a uk fest again. my Best festivals have defo been abroad

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Well Optimus Alive this year will be my first foreign festival & here's a few reasons why I chose to go (but they can apply to any foreign festival I guess):

• The weather

• Better line up (e.g. massive bands playing lower slots due to them being less popular in other countries)

• Cheaper tickets/ better value for money (e.g. about £100 for the weekend at Optimus Alive)

• Chance to turn it into a full foreign holiday (I've always wanted to go to Portugal anyway.)

• UK festivals becoming full of idiots who just go to act like complete drunken/drugged up fools & don't care about the music

• Simply for the new experience; I've been to most of the major UK festivals in previous years & fancied something a bit different.

Hope that helped a bit.

[thetime]

LIke others have said better weather, werchter 2010 got to over 40c.

nicer chilled out atmposphere, although this isnt for everyone.

NO dickheads like you get at uk fests like reading and t in the park.

cheaper tickets by far, the likes of optimus and rock en seine around the £110 mark as where download and reading over 200 mark.

Better lineups, the likes of kasabian were playing mid afternoon at werchter last year.

Longer sets

Free travel once you get to belguim(werchter)

With ticket and travel a werchter ticket works out about the same as it would for download/reading, why people still go for average lineups rather than euro lineup is confusing. Leeds im seriously thinking about againt his year but if rock en seine is better lineup thats the way to go as a weekend ticket with camping is 109 euros(92 quid)...

[DJL]

Agree with all of the above - you get something else, nothing against the areas of reading, chelmsford and iow but if it wasn't for a festival i'd have no particular desire to go to them. As well as the festivals i've enjoyed the beaches/sun at beni and the sights and culture of paris/barcelona at rock en seine/summercase, sonar and primavera. As others have said the locals generally drink less which means less idiots but also less queues when you do buy drinks.

Personally i prefer the timings of spanish festivals. I've seen some great acts before 5pm at british festivals but also seen a lot of hungover/half arsed ones with a crowd to match, particularly on the main stage. Bands starting around six as the sun goes down then it being dark for most acts is so much better. I once saw 2many djs before lcd at wireless and the sun was shining brightly throughout so the lights and visuals were completely wasted.

I also prefer the headliners not being last on - at uk festivals you go straight from the highlight at your weekend to having to trudge back to a tent or rush madly to get in to the limited, and not neccesarily any good, after hours entertainment. After the headliners in the spanish fests i've been to you get several hours of good bands and dance acts so you can enjoy just being pleasantly mashed knowing you've already seen, and will remember, the major acts.

The ones that i go to the toilets are better and there's no mud which helps. I still do british festivals sometimes, if i think the line-up is particularly good or if it's glasto (which nothing i have seen can compare to), but abroad is my preference. Optimus this year, £99 ticket, £70 flight, £140 for a 4star hotel with pool in walking distance, better chance of good weather, couple of days out in lisbon plus radiohead, stone roses and the cure? Why would you not?

Edited February 25, 2012 by DJL

[DJL]

Agree with all of the above - you get something else, nothing against the areas of reading, chelmsford and iow but if it wasn't for a festival i'd have no particular desire to go to them. As well as the festivals i've enjoyed the beaches/sun at beni and the sights and culture of paris/barcelona at rock en seine/summercase, sonar and primavera. As others have said the locals generally drink less which means less idiots but also less queues when you do buy drinks.

Personally i prefer the timings of spanish festivals. I've seen some great acts before 5pm at british festivals but also seen a lot of hungover/half arsed ones with a crowd to match, particularly on the main stage. Bands starting around six as the sun goes down then it being dark for most acts is so much better. I once saw 2many djs before lcd at wireless and the sun was shining brightly throughout so the lights and visuals were completely wasted.

I also prefer the headliners not being last on - at uk festivals you go straight from the highlight at your weekend to having to trudge back to a tent or rush madly to get in to the limited, and not neccesarily any good, after hours entertainment. After the headliners in the spanish fests i've been to you get several hours of good bands and dance acts so you can enjoy just being pleasantly mashed knowing you've already seen, and will remember, the major acts.

The ones that i go to the toilets are better and there's no mud which helps. I still do british festivals sometimes, if i think the line-up is particularly good, it's a smaller fest or if it's glasto (which nothing i have seen can compare to), but abroad is my preference. Optimus this year, £99 ticket, £70 flight, £140 for a 4star hotel with pool in walking distance, better chance of good weather, couple of days out in lisbon plus radiohead, stone roses and the cure? Why would you not?