Seydou Koné, better known by his stage name Alpha Blondy, is an Ivorian reggae singer and international recording artist. Many of his songs are politically and socially motivated, and are mainly sung in his native language of Dioula, French and in English, though he occasionally uses other languages, for example, Arabic or Hebrew.
The Pinkpop Festival or PINKPOP is a large, annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend. If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. Starting in 1970, at Burgemeester Damen Sportpark in the city of Geleen, Pinkpop is the oldest and longest running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world.
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have always been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other influences outside these genres. Their most prominent and well-known sound is described as symphonic metal, although their earlier material, such as debut album Enter, was mostly gothic metal, with Enter also having a hint of doom metal. In an interview, den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences. In a later interview with Dutch music platform 3VOOR12, den Adel stated that "we consider ourselves more a symphonic rock band ... in my opinion, we are no gothic band".
The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.
Download Festival is a British-created rock festival, held annually at Donington Park in England ; in Paris, France ; at Parramatta Park, Sydney ; and at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual celebration of the music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana. The term "Jazz Fest" also refers to the days surrounding the festival and the many shows at unaffiliated New Orleans nightclubs scheduled during the festival weekends.
The Sziget Festival is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe. It is held every August in northern Budapest, Hungary, on Óbudai-sziget, a leafy 108-hectare (266-acre) island on the Danube. More than 1,000 performances take place each year.
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused Balado airfield, Kinross-shire, from 1997 to 2014. In 2015 the festival moved to Strathallan Castle, Strathallan, Perthshire. It was originally held over two days, and extended to three days from 2007. In 2016 the daily capacity was 70,000.
Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. In 2005, more than 100,000 people attended the festival.
Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium, in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—between a dual carriageway called Kempische Steenweg—in the village of Kiewit, approximately 7 km north of Hasselt. It is the second largest music festival in Belgium after Rock Werchter, with an attendance of 180,000 over the course of the event in 2009.
Graspop Metal Meeting is a Belgian heavy metal festival held in Dessel each year since 1996. Despite the small size of the festival grounds the festival draws a large number of spectators from around Europe, with a total of 152,000 visitors in the course of the 2015 edition.
Edgefest was an annual outdoor rock festival in Canada. It was founded by staff members of Toronto radio station CFNY-FM. From 1987 to 2015, the festival was held every year in the summer. The festival was most frequently held on Canada Day at Molson Park in Barrie, Ontario or a venue in Toronto. The festival featured predominantly Canadian rock bands. During its 29-year operation, the festival featured more than 300 performers. As of 2015, it was the longest running rock festival in Canada.
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006 and has been held every year since, apart from 2020, when it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic of that year. The festival includes a comprehensive bill of musicians, bands and artists across four stages - the Obelisk Arena, the BBC Sounds Arena, the Sunrise Arena and the Lake Stage. The festival also comprises elements of theatre, art, comedy, cabaret, poetry, politics, dance and literature.
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend is a music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different location within the United Kingdom each time. It was the biggest free-ticketed music event in Europe, until a fee for tickets was introduced in 2018, and always includes a host of new artists.
The Bristol Harbour Festival is a festival held annually in the English city of Bristol, and which the celebrates the city's maritime heritage and the importance of Bristol's docks and harbour. Most of the activities, including live music, street performances, fireworks and a variety of other live entertainments, are held on or near the waterfront of Bristol Harbour. Venues include Queen Square, Lloyds Amphitheatre, Millennium Square and Castle Park, with seagoing vessels moored nearby. The liveliest part of the festival is quayside, but the main attractions are entertainment designed to engage all the communities of Bristol, as well as entertain the thousands of visitors to the city.
Di-rect is a rock band from The Hague, the Netherlands, which was formed in 1999. The current line-up consists of Jamie Westland (drums), Frans "Spike" van Zoest (guitars), Bas van Wageningen (bass), Paul Jan Bakker (guitar) and Marcel Veenendaal.
The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It hosted heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Slayer, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Avenged Sevenfold.
Tomorrowland is a Belgian electronic dance music festival held in Boom, Flanders, Belgium. Tomorrowland was first held in 2005. It now stretches over two weekends and usually sells out in minutes.
The Zwarte Cross Festival is the largest paid festival in the Netherlands, and the largest motor event in the world. The 19th edition in 2015 had 197.450 visitors and the 20th edition in 2016 numbered 220,000 visitors. The festival is a combination of motorcross, music, theatre and stunts. 'Zwarte Cross' literally means 'black cross'; it is a reference to the illegal motocross races in the 1960s.
