Burning Man, arguably one of the world’s biggest music festivals, recently concluded its 2022 edition at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA. Annually, this barren landscape is transformed into ‘Black Rock City’ to host Burning Man. Built within its own ecosystem is everything imaginable that a city would have, including a newspaper, an airport, an ambulance, local police services, and yes, the man.
Following the model of this Burning Man’s location, here are five more unique places that host music festivals. We visit a recreational island in Budapest, caves in Tennessee, a dessert in the Middle East, and more!
Obuda Island: Hungary
Hungary’s Obuda Island is a popular tourist destination and recreational spot located on the river Danube in Budapest. This Danube river carried debris, silt, and rocks that ultimately formed this island. ‘Sziget’ is the Hungarian term for Island. And on this island, held since 1993, is the Sziget Festival.
Since its inception, it has since expanded to become one of the world’s biggest events. As reported in Daily News Hungary, there were about 450,000 attendees at the festival held in 2022. Over 1,000 different acts in music, art, dance, and theatre are scheduled over the course of the entire week at this music festival. Additionally, the Sziget Festival offers festival-goers their very own NFT collectibles.
The next Sziget Festival will be its 30th anniversary to be held between August 9 and 14, 2023.
Additional information can be found HERE
The Caverns: America
Nestled beneath Grundy County in Tennessee is The Caverns, a network of underground caves that serve as a venue for live performances and gigs. It has a standing capacity of 1,200 people and seating for 850 people. The Caverns Amphitheater was established above ground to reintroduce live music in an outdoor, socially distant setting in light of the pandemic.
The Caverns also host the musical series called The Caverns Sessions, which features both well-known and up-and-coming performers in R&B, country, soul, and folk music. Some notable performers here include Sam Bush, Mandy Barnett, McCrary Sisters, and Steve Earle.
The Summoning of the Eclipse, an electronic music festival at The Caverns, will take place on October 21st and 22, 2022. Daniel James Howland, better known as Svdden Death, a dubstep DJ and music producer, is responsible for curating the two-day festival. As per the website, Svdden Death was the first DJ to perform in the caverns and for the upcoming festival, there are more than fifty acts slated to perform.
More details on The Summoning of the Eclipse festival can be found HERE
Soundstorm Music Festival: Saudi Arabia
Although organizing music festivals, live performances, and online streams in desert sand dunes is not unique, Saudi-based entertainment company MDLBEAST transformed the Kingdom’s desert landscape into a fully functioning electronic music festival in 2019. Soundstorm Music Festival 2019 was a first of its kind in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Along with numerous local DJs and musicians, the festival featured headliners like David Guetta, Tiesto, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki, Afrojack, J Balvin, and R3hab.
A 36-meter-high stage, an on-site music studio, more than 150 artists, over 400,000 attendees, and many creative structures and artwork were all part of the first edition. Soundstorm Music Festival will return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for three days from December 1, 2022.
Click here for more information
Future Frequency Festival: South Africa
South Africa is home to a number of major shipping ports as well as some of the world’s largest shipping and container depots. The Future Frequency festival, an electronic music festival, is held in one of these container yards on Sunnyside Cres in Cape Town. A shipping container wall, towering speakers, and bright lights surround a U-shaped stage setup. The festival’s bio describes itself as “Hi-tech music in low-tech settings drawing a contrast between the sounds of tomorrow and the aesthetics of the present.”
Per their recent post on Instagram, the festival’s next edition is slated to be held on December 10, 2022.
Instytut Festival: Poland
Our next stop is Instytut, a two-day techno music and arts festival held at the Modlin Garrison near Warsaw in Poland. The festival had its first edition in February 2000. It was then held at the Voltage Hall of the Institute of Power Engineering Warszawa in Poland until 2017, hence the name. The techno and electronic music festival outgrew the venue and has been held at the Modlin Garrison, a historical fortress, since 2018.
The most recent edition of Instytut, held in June 2022, featured over 200 artists, including techno DJs and producers Amelie Lens, Truant, Narciss, duo Schwefelgelb, DJ Nastia, and DJ Daria Kolosova.
More information about Instytut can be found on its website HERE
Venue We Could Not Miss- Fort Punta Christo: Croatia
Fort Punta Christo, which has a picturesque view of the bay, was constructed in the late nineteenth century—until recently, served as the host location for editions of the Outlook festival and the Dimensions festival. Stages were dispersed throughout the area. These events are now held at The Garden in Tisno, Croatia. The festival’s next edition is scheduled for June 16–18, 2023.