Pinkpop, May 26-28, Landgraaf, Netherlands. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this three day event is the oldest annual music festival in the world, with almost 40 years under its belt. The 2007 lineup includes Marilyn Manson, Iggy and the Stooges, The Smashing Pumpkins, Muse, and Scissor Sisters. [Official website]

Primavera Sound Festival, May 31-June1, Barcelona, Spain. Located on the beautiful Mediterranean coastline of Barcelona, the Primavera Sound Festival boasts an impressive headlining act including the likes of Wilco, The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, and a personal favorite of mine: Of Montreal. [Official website]



Gods of Metal, June 2-3, and June 30th, Milan, Italy. With a name like GODS OF METAL, how can you go wrong? This is Italy's largest and loudest metal festival, featuring bands like Mötley Crüe, Velvet Revolver, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Megadeth, and Type O Negative. [Official website]

Sweden Rock Festival, June 6-9, Sölvesborg, Sweden. The Sweden Rock Fest has been around since the early 90s, when the stage was mostly filled with Swedish bands. Today the festival has gone international, offering up such class acts as Aerosmith, Meat Loaf, REO Speedwagon, and Motörhead. [Official website]

Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, June 7-10, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. Wakarusa is a newcomer on the festival circuit -- the four day festival, which was born in 2004 and is held just outside of Lawrence, Kansas at Clinton State Park, features a jam band-focused lineup consisting of headliners Les Claypool, Widespread Panic, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Yonder Mountain String Band, and many, many more. [Official website]

Bonnaroo Music Festival, June 14-17, Manchester, Tennessee, U.S.A. The word "bonnaroo" is Cajun slang meaning "a really good time," and with the star-studded lineup this year, the festival stays true to its word. What began in 2002 as a mostly jam band festival, Bonnaroo has branched out to include music from all genres, and this year is no different. Headliners include The Police, Tool, Widespread Panic, Wilco, and The Flaming Lips. [Official website]

Hultsfred Festival, June 14-16, Hultsfred, Sweden. The Hultsfred Festival (Hultsfredsfestivalen in Swedish) is an annual, three day event which began in 1986. The wildly diverse bill includes Ozzy Osbourne, 50 Cent, Pet Shop Boys, and Korn. [Official website]

Bang Your Head!!!, June 22-23, Balingen, Germany. Die ultimative Rock und Metalparty, Bang Your Head!!! began in 1996 and quickly grew to become one of Germany's premiere underground metal festivals, bringing in audiences from all over the world. 2007 will see bands like Heaven and Hell, Edguy, Hammerfall, and Amon Amarth. [Official website]

Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, June 22-24, Pilton, England. Glastonbury is the "largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world," with over 150,000 people sprawling over 900 acres (in 2005). Unless you've already got tickets to this monstrosity, you're out of luck. The show has completely sold out, well before they've even announced the full lineup. You can bet it will be big, though. [Official website]

Hellfest Summer Open Air, June 22-24, Clisson, France. Hellfest is an "extreme music" festival located in Clisson, France. Korn, Slayer, Dream Theater, and Megadeth lead the lineup, with plenty of other bands with crazy, hard-to-read logos there for support. Running an "extreme music" festival in rural France isn't easy, though, and the organizers urge concert-goers to "respect the residents, the community, the environment and all other aspects of the festival," and to "help combat prejudices and media propaganda who portray metal heads as violent, blood-thirsty demons who revel in black masses." Looks like they're on the right track. [Official website]

Hovefestivalen, June 26-30, near Arendal, Norway. This festival is the only one on the list that takes place on an island: Tromøy, formally occupied by vikings. This summer, over 20,000 people will shipwreck themselves to see many great bands, including Bright Eyes, Arcade Fire, Chamillionaire, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, and Slayer. Also of note, they bill themselves as the most "environmentally sound festivals in Norway." [Official site]

Peace & Love, June 26-30, Borlänge, Sweden. Peace & Love is one of Scandinavian's fastest growing festivals. Their goal is to spread the message of "Diversity, Solidarity and Understanding," while mixing in music, poetry, theater, and art. Iggy and the Stooges, Alice Cooper, Babyshambles, and many others will be there to help spread the message. Wait... peace and love, and... Peter Doherty? We'll see about that. [Official website]

Eurockéennes de Belfort, June 29-July 1, near Belfort, France. The Eurockeennes has been held at the peninsula of Malsaucy near Belfort, France for the past 18 years. This year the Wu-Tang Clan, Arcade Fire, and Marilyn Manson headline the event described as being "a hullabaloo of different musical style[s.]" [Official website]

Open'er Festival, June 29-July 1, Gdynia, Poland. This Heineken-sponsored music fest takes place on the Babie Doły military airport grounds in an "urban complex" called Trójmiasto (which roughly translates to "3-City") which consists of -- you guessed it -- three cities: Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot. Beastie Boys, Björk, Muse, The Roots, Sonic Youth, Bloc Party, LCD Soundsystem, Groove Armada, and Dizzee Rascal will all be in attendance. Killer lineup. [Official website]





Roskilde Festival, July 5-8, Roskilde, Denmark. Second only to Glastonbury Festival in size, the Roskilde festival is one of Europe's largest, with over 100,000 attendees last year alone. The festival also features a "Naked Race" each year, where an even number of guys and gals strip off their clothing and run laps around a track. Why? Why not? Two winners -- one male and one female -- are comped at next year's festival. Musically speaking, Muse, The Who, Beastie Boys, The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age and Björk will all be in attendance. Nude people and great bands -- what else do you need? [Official website]

Evolution Festival, July 7, Florence, Italy. Who knew Italians loved metal so much? With Gods of Metal in June, and Evolution in July, metal-heads have no reason to leave Italy this summer. Fans of Sebastian Bach, this is your lucky day -- literally: Evolution takes place on 7/7/07, and aside from seeing everyone's favorite Skid Row, the festival is bringing in underground metal acts from all over the world, including Nevermore, Sodom, Cynic, and Virgin Steele. Be afraid. [Official website]

Oxegen, July 7-8, County Kildare, Ireland. Oxegen is another fest sponsored by Heineken (Open'er in Poland also serves the green-bottled goodness), only this one is in Ireland. This makes you wonder why they don't have a certain other beer company's support. Guinness, where ya at? Turns out, Guinness used to sponsor the show. I'm sure there's a good story as to why Heineken took over. Anyway, the festival boasts six stages, camping areas, and carnival rides. And the music, right -- the music! Air, Bright Eyes, Muse, Interpol, Bloc Party, Daft Punk, and a TON more will be making an appearance. [Official website]

Dour Festival, July 12-15, Dour, Belgium. Pronounced dow-er (don't lose any scene points for saying the name wrong!), this huge music fest in Belgium saw upwards of 130,000 people over four days in 2006. This year Andy C, Hot Chip, Wu-Tang Clan, and DJ Shadow are included in the list of headlining acts.

Masters of Rock, July 12-15, Zlín, Czech Republic. Look, another heavy metal festival in Europe. This one's big, though -- real big. Masters of Rock is the second largest heavy metal fest (out of 10,000, it seems!) with almost 30,000 headbangers in attendance in 2006. Motörhead, Children of Bodom, Rage, and Sepultura are on the bill, along with a ton of smaller Czeck heavy metal bands.

EXIT, July 12-15, Novi Sad, Serbia. Head a little further east, and you'll run into the 7th annual EXIT summer fest in Novi Sad, Serbia. Watch out, Heineken. Beck's has their hands all over this one. "Held in the picturesque setting of an eighteenth century fortress by the Danube," the festival boasts the hottest names in the electronic and dance music scene, including Basement Jaxx (another personal favorite of mine), John Digweed, and Richie Hawtin, along with pop music mainstays like the Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, and Robert Plant. [Official website]

Pitchfork Music Festival, July 13-15, Chicago, Illinois U.S.A. US-based Internet music mag Pitchfork has turned their snarky online success into one of Chicago's hottest summer festivals, featuring a bunch of bands whose fans hope you've never heard of. I kid, I kid! The bill includes Sonic Youth, Slint, GZA, The New Pornographers, Iron and Wine, Of Montreal, and a few others. [Official website]

Metalcamp, July 16-22, Tolmin, Slovenia. Another -- cough -- European metal fest. Metalcamp is no walk in the park. Hard-hitters such as Motörhead, Blind Guardian, Immortal, Hatebreed, and Sepultura will be there to disturb the peace. [Official website]

Earthshaker Fest, July 19-21, Kreuth, Bavaria. Motörhead, Within Temptation, Cradle of Filth, Testament, Kreator, Sepultura, J.B.O., Gamma Ray, U.D.O., Unleashed, Korpiklaani, Legion of the Damned, God Dethroned, Freedom Call, Norther, Dew-Scented, Keep of Kalessin, Hatesphere, Graveworm, Threshold, Mystic Prophecy, Eluveitie, Melechesh, and last but not least: Beatallica! Haven't heard of Beatallica? Start with their entry on Wikipedia, and then do what you can to see them live. [Official website]

Paléo Festival, July 24-29, Nyon, Switzerland. Named afer a successful racehorse (seriously), The Paléo fest is one of Switzerland's biggest. Located on the shores of Lake Geneva, over 3 million people and 250 artists have attended the fest since its inception in 1976. 2007 brings the Swiss artists like Björk, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, and Arcade Fire. [Official website]

Fuji Rock Festival, July 27-29, Naeba, Japan. Our one and only Asian festival to make the list, the Fuji Rock Fest began its days in 1997, when a typhoon struck the Mt. Fuji area and nearly demolished the entire event. Meanwhile, hardcore fans stuck around like there wasn't a frickin' hurricane going on. Amazing. Even so, the second and third day of the festival had to be canceled. Hopefully this year the weather will hold, because they've got a killer line-up. Artists include The Chemical Brothers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Shins, and Blonde Redhead. [Official website]





Augustibuller, August 2-4, Lindesberg, Sweden. "Augustibuller" literally translates to "August sound pollution," so don't be mad when you show up and hear the likes of whatevercore bands like Madball, All That Remains, Discharge, and Rotten Sound. Hey, they warned you. [Official website]

Wacken Open Air, August 2-4, Wacken, Germany. The Wacken Open Air fest bills itself as the "largest exclusively metal music festival in the world," with over 60,000 metal fans congregating in Wacken, Germany in 2006. It's truly unbelievable how many metal festivals there are in Europe, but this is the one to go to. [Official website]

Lollapalooza, August 3-5, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Ah, Lollapalooza -- the quintessential American rock music festival of the 1990s. You've had some rough times in the past, sure, but we're glad to see you back in the swing of things. And what a line-up! Grant Park, watch out. Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Muse, Iggy & the Stooges, Modest Mouse, Interpol, My Morning Jacket, and many, many more will invade the Windy City this August. Be there. [Official website]

Uppsala Reggae Festival, August 9-11, Uppsala, Sweden. Uppsala is the largest reggae festival in all of Scandinavia. Earlier this year, the company who organizes the festival declared bankruptcy, leaving the fate of the festival unknown. Fortunately a new company (with some money) was formed, and the festival will continue on as planned. USCB Allstars, Gentleman, and Midnite are all on the bill, with plenty more reggae favorites to be announced soon. [Official website]

FM4 Frequency Festival, August 15-17, Salzburg, Austria. Austrian radio station FM4 and promotion company Musicnet joined forces back in 2001 to create the FM4 Frequency Festival, now Austria's largest alternative music celebration. Nine Inch Nails, !!!, and M.I.A. are expected to perform, along with ex-Blur front man David Albarn's latest project: the unnamed band whose debut album,The Good, the Bad and the Queen, reached #2 on the UK albums chart and reached gold status. Unnamed band, eh? I wonder how they announce them to the stage? "Ladies and gentleman, put your hands together for...!" [Official website]

Slane, August 18, Slane village, County Meath, Ireland. Slane is an annual concert held in Slane village, along the banks of River Boyne. In the past, ticket-less fans have died while attempting to swim the river to gain access. Teams of jet ski-riding rescue units now patrol the water during festival time. The Rolling Stones will be headlining this years concert, though it seems to be sold out. [Official website]

A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise, August 18-19, Biddinghuizen, Netherlands. More commonly referred to as simply Lowlands, this festival is on par with late-May festival Pinkpop for popular Dutch festivals. This year, bands like Arcade Fire, Dizzie Rascal, and Motörhead are on the bill, along with the "hillbilly tribute to AC/DC," Hayseed Dixie. A mixture of music, stand-up comedy, film, visual arts, literature and street theatre makes for a unique experience dubbed "Glasto meets Goa!" [Official website]

Electric Picnic, August 31-September 2, Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. Who knew Ireland had so many good music festivals? The last, but not least, on our list is Electric Picnic, a unique festival that offers up an eclectic mix of music, film, stand-up comedy, and silent disco. Wait, silent disco? According to Wikipedia, "the concept of a silent disco is having a DJ play music which is then transmitted to headphones worn by audience members." Modest Mouse, The Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, and many others will perform over three days. [Official website]

Fin!