An event celebrated by a group of people (community) which has a common belief and also the same perspective of that community and its traditions is known as a festival. Festival events can either be celebrated annually, biannually or within a given period of time e.g every 4 months.
Relating this to the musical world, a musical festival is an event celebrated by the group of music-oriented people. However, a music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality, or locality of musicians, or holiday.
A perfect example is Underground Electronic Music Culture. It comprises musical genres beyond mainstream culture. Any song that is not being legally commercialized is considered underground.
Below are the top 5 celebrated music festivals around the world:
- Latitude
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place at Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006. Latitude best for thirtysomethings reliving their twentysomethings, people still in touch with their friends from university, little Terence and little Annabel
- Bestival
Bestival is a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It has been held annually in late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival is to relocate to Lulworth Estate in Dorset.
The festival is also heavily involved in supporting social and environmental causes. Rob da Bank and Bestival support several Isle of Wight-based charities and youth organisations.
- Coachella
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival(which is sometimes referred to as the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is a yearly music and arts festival which hols at the Empire Polo Club Indio. It was co-founded by Rick Van and Paul Tollett Santen in 1999 and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live.
Coachella organisers turned down high profiting sponsorships at first as they felt it will only corrupt the initial purpose of the festival. In 2003, Tollett said, "I hate it when you go to shows and you are bombarded with all this advertising. It just shows a lack of respect for your audience and the music."
- Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass is an Australian music festival that has been held annually since 2001.
- Fuji Rock Festival
Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. In 2005, more than 100,000 people attended the festival.
The festival's stated aim is to be "The cleanest festival in the world"; great effort is also put into recycling.