Over the past decade, we’ve seen the idea of music festivals evolve. What was once a standard framework involving a field and a temporary stage, has today become something much more conceptual. From ski resorts to tropical islands. From half a week to half a day. It seems that the idea of what makes a music festival is on a continuous creative journey, expanding outward.
Within this transforming festival scene, the concept of the city music festival has thrived. Bringing live music to the green spaces and venues in our most metropolitan areas rather than our most remote, a city music festival breaks completely away from the stereotype, but still manage to create that traditional festival feeling, whilst each being as wonderfully unique as the next.
Although you may think that these types of festivals can never trump the magic of a weekend long slog involving a tent and some wellies, here’s some of the reasons you should definitely try a city music festival this summer.
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1. Cheaper tickets
City music festivals are still a relatively new thing – most of the ones I’ve been to have actually being less than a decade old. This means that the artists in the line-up are less well known, and there is also less demand for the tickets. Both two key factors in keeping the price pretty low. There’s usually no camping at city festivals either and none of the amenities that go with it, which also brings the cost down. The bottom line is a city festival is a great option if you want to go to a music festival this summer, but don’t want it to break your bank account paying for it.
2. Discover new music
Don’t be put off by a city music festival just because you don’t know who the artists are in the line-up. In my opinion, this is one of the best things about these festivals. They’ll usually have a few more well-known artists to headline, but a lot of the others are uncharted (literally) waters and ready for you to discover. City festivals are a great place to find a load of new bands and artists, so do a little bit of research, keep an open mind, and you’ll definitely find some new music that you love.
3. Different venues, different vibes
Unlike large music festivals set out in the countryside, most city festivals don’t have the space to house all its different stages in one big outdoor area. Instead, the stages are set across a collection of venues all over the city. Not only does this give you a great chance to experience lots of the live music and nightlife venues the city has to offer. But each venue will have its own individual vibe and scene, adding a greater diversity to the festival as a whole. Rather than the great outdoors being your sole backdrop, you can hop between cosy bars, lively music halls and rooftop terraces in a matter of hours.
4. Be as fresh as a daisy
Even at a multi-day city music festival, there’s usually no camping for festival goers, meaning there’s no mud, no portaloos, and no terrible excuses for showers. At the end of each day you can head home and come back the next feeling as fresh as a daisy (well at least more so than you would otherwise). Plus not having to spend the weekend living solely outside also means the weather can’t make or break your festival experience. Even if the rain clouds roll over, in a city there will be plenty of indoor spaces you can dive into, and you’ll have no soggy tent to deal with afterwards.
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