Music festivals, literature festivals, & more – Festivals to suit everyone’s taste

When people think of festivals, they immediately think of summer music festivals with an impressive line-up of artists. There aren’t just open-air music events, but there are also all different kinds of other events such as cultural events or events that take place over a couple of days. These types of events aren’t like a typical festival for example as they all have different themes. In this guide, you'll learn more about the different types of festivals and you will also get practical tips on planning your first trip to a festival.

A group of friends sitting near the stage at a festival.

What type of festivals are there?

The term festival usually refers to large-scale cultural events lasting several days, but it also refers to religious festivals, regional folk festivals or harvest festivals.

Music festivals

When you think about a festival, you tend to think about music festivals, where various solo artists and bands perform. Music festivals differ from regular concerts because of the size and duration of the event and the variety of artists performing. Very popular music festivals like Lollapalooza in the USA, Rock in Rio in Brazil, Tomorrowland in Belgium, or the Glastonbury Festival in the UK often attract many international festivalgoers. At smaller festivals, the variety of performances and types of music are quite often limited, which means only the fans who like a certain type of music enjoy the festival. There are different types of music festivals such as rock/punk, heavy metal, and pop.

Arts and culture festivals

Behind the different terms, there is usually a colourful mixture of different types of art. Art fairs or arts and culture festivals usually feature contemporary theatre performances, dance performances, and cabaret. Furthermore, films are shown, concerts are held, and exhibitions of visual art or performance art are organised so that every art lover gets their money's worth.

There are of course other cultural festivals that focus on a specific art form. The term "festival“ is more commonly used for opera and theatre.

The audience at a theatre festival.

CheckMost people like to take photos or videos at a festival as it is an exciting experience. Try not to focus too much on taking photos or videos and don’t worry about them being perfect. It's best to just live for the moment and to not worry about catching great shots of the crowd enjoying the high spirit atmosphere. You will rarely look back at old blurry pictures and videos.

CheckMost people like to take photos or videos at a festival as it is an exciting experience. Try not to focus too much on taking photos or videos and don’t worry about them being perfect. It's best to just live for the moment and to not worry about catching great shots of the crowd enjoying the high spirit atmosphere. You will rarely look back at old blurry pictures and videos.

Film festivals and short film festivals

During film festivals many films are shown and there are a lot of events where films are given an award by a jury and/or the audience. Many film festivals also have a catered programme with lectures, panel discussions and workshops, which evaluate, for example, current events and industry trends. Short film festivals usually have a similar concept, but they focus only on short films, which can’t exceed a given run time.

Literature festivals

Literature festivals are all about books, poems, and other forms of literature. A typical literature festival programme includes book readings, interviews and discussions with authors and there are also workshops and literature competitions such as a poetry slam.  The programmes have a lot to offer and there is something to suit everyone’s taste.

Child-friendly festivals

Child-friendly festivals are also called children’s festivals.  These types of festivals last for several days and they have a lot of events, which are geared around children and families. Children's festivals usually have a music and dance child-friendly stage programme, playground equipment, arts and crafts activities and other hands-on activities that are usually entertaining and educational at the same time.

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Protection against the sun: a group of festivalgoers resting in the shade
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Family-friendly festivals: little boy wearing ear defenders and sitting on his father’s shoulders.

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Family-friendly festivals: little boy wearing ear defenders and sitting on his father’s shoulders.

AttentionThere are often a lot of plastic bottles and disposable tableware at a festival, which produces a lot of rubbish. Despite the party festival atmosphere, all festivalgoers should not produce any unnecessary rubbish or leave the event and camping area in an untidy way. Disposing of your rubbish at festivals is usually very easy as there are several large rubbish collection points.

AttentionThere are often a lot of plastic bottles and disposable tableware at a festival, which produces a lot of rubbish. Despite the party festival atmosphere, all festivalgoers should not produce any unnecessary rubbish or leave the event and camping area in an untidy way. Disposing of your rubbish at festivals is usually very easy as there are several large rubbish collection points.

References

https://blog.ecosia.org/we-love-green-sustainable-festival/
(accessed on 01.04.2022)

https://www.festicket.com/de/magazine/discover/top-20-music-festivals-Europe/
(accessed on 01.04.2022)

https://www.german-films.de/festivalguides/selected-international-film-festivals/index.html
(accessed on 01.04.2022)

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/
(accessed on 01.04.2022)

https://www.festivalfinder.eu/about
(accessed on 01.04.2022)

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