Saturday, April 26, 2008

Fez Sacred Music Festival - a musician's pick.




Dan Hipgrave (pictured above), former guitarist with British indie rock band Toploader, picks the best of this summer's music festivals for the UK newspaper The Telegraph and places the Fes Sacred Music Festival in the top three.

Here is what he had to say:

When it comes to summer festivals, I count myself very lucky. I – along with 90,000 deliriously happy mud-caked fans – saw Radiohead deliver their best ever performance at Glastonbury in 1997. Two years later my band, Toploader, appeared on the same stage and I experienced the exhilaration of playing in front of a similar-sized crowd.

Since then, I have checked out other British festivals and have toured the world reviewing similar events. Adding travel to the mixture can often enhance the experience (particularly if mud baths aren't your thing) and certainly broadens your cultural compass.

So here are my top tips for this summer's festivals, both at home and abroad.

DAN'S TOP PICKS.


1. Pinkpop Festival, Landgraaf, May 30-June 1

Pinkpop annual rock festival is held on Whitsun weekend (Pinksteren in Dutch, hence the name) in Landgraaf, 134 miles from Amsterdam. Pinkpop is in Guinness World Records as the longest-running music festival in the world, the first being held in 1970. Like Glastonbury, Pinkpop has the unfortunate knack of being wet and muddy, but this doesn't stop the outlandish Dutch from letting their hair down. The huge open-air event, which is attended by a 60,000-strong crowd, includes about 40 bands spread over four stages. This year the line-up includes Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and Rage Against The Machine (www.pinkpop.nl)


2. Rock am Ring/ Rock im Park, June 6-8

For years, the Germans have been the undisputed kings of metal and these two raucous events, the biggest summer festivals in Germany, rarely disappoint. They are held simultaneously at the Nürburgring racetrack and the Frankestadion in Nuremberg. The emphasis is purely on the music and, with few other attractions to distract you, this is what you get. With a line-up that includes Metallica, Motorhead and The Manic Street Preachers, what else do you need (except for ear plugs)? It's loud, heavy and German (www.rock-am-ring.com; www.rock-im-park.com)

3. Fez World Sacred Music Festival, June 6-14

During June, Morocco's ancient holy city, Fez, stages a very individual world music event where performers from every corner of the planet come together for a week of artistic excellence. The festival is split into four locations around the Medina, with stages that blend seamlessly into Fez's incredible Islamic architecture. It's far more than a "music festival"; it's a showcase of devotional sacred music uniting faiths and peaceful values from all over the globe. This is a real "hippie experience", not the pretend tie-dyed affair one might find at a conventional music festival (www.fesfestival.com)

See the full programme here: The 14th Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

Ticket collection service here: Ticket Collection




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