Roskilde
Location: Roskilde, Denmark
Dates: June 25 – July 2
Price for 8 day ticket: 1995 DKK (Approximately 214 GBP)
Every year for 8 days 130.000 passionate music lovers from all over the world get together 30 kilometres from the capital of Denmark to experience music, art, camping culture, community, charity and sustainability at Roskilde Festival in Roskilde.
The first four days of the festival are considered as a “warm-up” period where campers can hang out, listen to live music from introducing bands and artists, enjoy each other’s company and, of course, mess up the grounds to prepare it for the actual festival. This year’s 179 act lineup includes big names such as M83, Biffy Clyro, LCD Soundsystem, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Grimes, Macklemore and many others. Roskilde is known for its diverse lineup, which always contains multiple acts from practically every genre, in order to make sure there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
However, the festival offers much more than just live music. If you fancy a break from moshpits and Carlsberg binge drinking you can take a dip in the festival’s own swimming lake or go fishing with your pals in the artificial fishing lake. Graffiti Zone is a huge, urbanesque area filled with street art, graffiti, muralism and installations made by national and international artists, so definitely check that out, as well as some of the workshops they offer during the festival.
Best of all, Roskilde Festival is non-profit. They donate all profits to a handful of selected charities and organisations after each festival and they only have 50 full time staff members, alongside their 32k volunteers (not a typo). Since the start of the festival in 1971, Roskilde Festival has donated more than £20.9 million to organisations such as Doctors Without Borders, WWF etc.
Roskilde’s got everything you need in the form of great food, amazing live acts and an incredible Scandinavian atmosphere. With ticket prices for the entire 8 days as well as free access to the camping grounds totalling at just 214 GBP, Roskilde Festival is well worth the trip to Denmark!
For tickets, full line up and more information visit the Roskilde website.
Words by Caroline Oestergaard