8 replies to this topic

[radman87]

Hey guys, wondering if you could offer me some advice.

Myself and three mates went to Open'er in Poland last year, and loved it. It was everything we wanted from a festival and more, and we wanted to repeat the experience this year in a different setting. We never go to the same festival twice, so we're looking for something that might tick all the right boxes.

We were going to go to Exit, but unfortunately a friend's wedding has got in the way.

What we're looking for is:
- Music - Good mix of indie, rock, pop & dance.
- Reasonable prices for food & drink (we did 8 days in Poland, including flights, tickets, food & drink for £330 last year)
- Awesome atmosphere (the UK festivals I've been to are all full of little 'alternatives' all going out of their way to be the biggest tossers possible, so we want to avoid that)

Lowlands in Holland & Pukklepop in Belgium look alright, but i dont know about local prices, and Pukklepop looks like it might be a bit "reading & leeds"

Any ideas?

Ta!

[ourkid1984]

Hi there,

I went to Pukkelpop last year and loved it!! Although I don't normally like going to the same festival twice in a row I'm looking to go back this year. Pukkelpop is celebrating it's 25th year so there should be lots of good shows and maybe some special acts.

The only downside that I experienced was the campsite it was huge and didn't really have much choice where to put up tent. On the other hand the atmosphere was good and felt safe. There's plenty of stalls selling beer and food outside the arena and at a decent price and the actual arena prices aren't shocking. There's always something on and Pukkelpop will offer lots of choice between 8 stages and 1 or 2 seperate other forms of entertainment. It's easy to get to and cheap, especially if you book flights or eurostar early and the general atmosphere is laid back.

I found out from one of the workers that Pukkelpop basically translates to spot pop so expect lots of young people. This is no bad thing as I found most people pleasent and happy to help and speak in english.

Was considering Lowlands as its on the same time of year and have similar acts but going for Pukkelpop as it's the 25th year.

There's also one in Budapest that seems interesting and cheap and from what I've heard is easy to get to as it's right in the centre of Budapest on some kind of island I think.

The only other European festival that I've been to is Rock Werchter and thought that was really good to and had better camping and outside facilities than Pukkelpop but only has 2 stages and is more expensive for a ticket but again very easy and cheap to get to.

I was interested in Exit, how easy and cheap is it to get to?

thanks

[DiscothequeDave]

Another one for Pukkelpop, staying in a hotel though, too old and refined for campsite.

Great time last year, probably would have looked for another festival had it not been the 25th anniversary, it should be something extra special.

Downsides for me were the litter, and the festival site was too small, could and should have been a third bigger.

[anx]

radman87, on Feb 26 2010, 05:14 PM, said:

Lowlands in Holland & Pukklepop in Belgium look alright, but i dont know about local prices, and Pukklepop looks like it might be a bit "reading & leeds"

pukkelpop and lowlands are very similar i think, as they're on the same weekend.  I did pukkelpop last year and loved it, the lineup shares a lot with reading and leeds but thats as far as the comparison goes!  pukkelpop is much more varied and the stages are all decent sized, rather than 3 mega stages (main/lockup/nme) and tiny little tents at reading.  festival vibe was completely different and a nice hot summer!  everyone was very friendly despite us not knowing the language(s)

I did pukkelpop and reading back to back... froze my ass off on returning to the UK!

the festival itself is amazing value, at 135 euro (i think) including free transport to/from the festival from anywhere in belgium!  only downside was the campsite was packed to the rim and it took hours in the heat to get wrist bands, I'd get there as early as you can!

[Paul ™]

Done Lowlands 2 years ago, was a great festival. Very well organised, was cheap to get to and for ticket (well till the arse fell out the £) but food/drink on site was more expensive than UK festivals.

Good choice of music and other stuff, and a nice flat site

Plus its next to a theme park

[ampersand]

open'er!

don't know what it's like, but it sounds great and it's in a country that's not part of the euro and it's next to a beach!

[Semprini]

Although I've only been to Pukkelpop (friends of mine have been to Lowlands though), I don't think you would go too far wrong with either. Pukkelpop is very music centered whilst Lowlands has more theatre/art/cinema type stuff going on besides the music. If you're planning on doing a different euro fest each year then my advice would be to go to Pukkelpop this year as it's the 25th anniversary and then Lowlands in 2011. That's not to say anything special is definitely going to happen at Pukkelpop but who know's what the organisers have in store  

[Madalien]

ourkid1984, on Feb 26 2010, 05:30 PM, said:

There's also one in Budapest that seems interesting and cheap and from what I've heard is easy to get to as it's right in the centre of Budapest on some kind of island I think.

The festival you are thinking of is Sziget.
I've been to Open'er and Sziget and although I loved Open'er I think Sziget an improvment on Open'er, also it's still out of the Euro Zone so on the cheaper side, overall though it is the friendliest and most diverse European Festival I have been to.
I've been 4 times now and will be back this year, can't wait!

[Kuki]

Opener . Polish audience is the best on the Earth (Volbeat's frontman, Michael Poulsen agreed with this last Saturday ) + for foreigners, really cheap food and drinks. If you earn money in pounds/Euro and you go to Poland, you are trully rich   .


And if you want other CHEAP fest.... well, search places that still don't have euro currency