Gadling

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 Do%u0142y military airport grounds in an "urban complex" called Trójmiasto (which roughly translates to "3-City") which consists of -- you guessed it -- three cities: Gda%u0144sk, 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]