Thursday, October 05, 2017

A Sweet Escape

Every Canadian student at some point during the school semester moans something along the lines of “I wish I could escape”.  Dealing with the stress of the school year and on top of that, the extreme Canadian winter, causes us to yearn for a warm getaway.  Wouldn’t it be nice to hop on a flight to Europe, either solo or with a group of friends? And say, attend a music festival? If you answered yes to both of those questions, read ahead for five music festivals throughout Europe.

Lost & Found Music Festival is located in Malta, a southern European island in the Mediterranean sea. Irish DJ, Annie Mac is the festival’s organizer. The 2018 dates for Lost & Found are May 3rd to 6th.  Malta has a warm climate during this time of year. The festival is located in a “secret corner of the island” as stated on their official website. They boast one of a kind venues, such as boat parties and castle raves. What is a castle rave? Well exactly as it sounds, a rave in an ancient Maltese castle. Enjoy European sites while partying the night away. The festival is mainly electronic music and UK based  MC’s, some of the previous year’s DJ’s include Skream, Justin Martin,  Giggs, Seth Troxler, D Double E, and Annie Mac’s partner, Toddla T.

Next stop on our European music festival tour would be Primavera Sound. The festival is located in Barcelona, Spain at the Parc del Fòrum. As described by Barcelona Tourism, the park is situated on the waterfront at the northernmost end of the city but should not be confused with a luscious green park. The architecture of the venue is breathtaking, each stage is different and unique. Primavera Sound will take place from May 30th to June 3rd 2018. The festival hosts the latest music with a mixture of genres from rock to indie and hip hop to electronic. Despite the festival being in a concrete park, you are in Barcelona, a wonderful city that includes breathtaking architecture, history and beaches.

Imagine wandering a park roughly three times the size of New York City’s Central Park. Amsterdam’s Dekmantel festival is situated in Amsterdamse Bos Park. Although the festival dates take place in August, (2018 dates are not yet released) for those of you who do not enjoy the heat, this festival is for you. The park is a forest boasting plenty of shade and grassy areas. Dekmantel festival provides a wide spectrum of experimental electronic, techno and house music. If you have a love for art, fashion or anything quirky and creative for that matter, you will love being in Amsterdam. Besides attending the festival, you can visit many of its museums including the Van Gogh museum, which staying true to its name is the world's largest collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh.

Last stop, London’s Notting Hill Carnival. A street festival that celebrates London’s caribbean communities and has taken place since 1964. Flights to London from Toronto can range anywhere from $450.00 to $1300.00 but despite somewhat steep air fares, this next festival is free! This three day festival will take place from August 25th to 27th 2018. Enjoy delicious Caribbean food, beautiful parades and world class sound systems in the heart of west London. With an arrange of reggae, garage, dancehall and bass music played on some of the world's best sound systems. You can expect surprise guests and MC’s appearing on stages throughout the festival.

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