Hot Summer Concerts and Music Festivals in Europe

Budapest's Hajógyár Kikötö (Shipyard) on the Danube River's Óbudai Island becomes its own tent city for the Sziget Festival, Hungary's massive music blast with tons o' stages featuring fun from mainstream to madness starting August 12 in 2009. The Sziget Festival features five days of bands like Die Toten Hosen, Primal Scream, Faith No More, Snow Patrol, Coldcut, Haydamaky, and more names (slowly) being announced. Off the main stage, wander to the World Music Main stage (wow), MTV Headbangers Ball Rock stage, Wan2, or Burn Party Arena. Festival tickets include a week's camping (starts 8/11) amid at least 50,000 folks.

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Everything from metal bands to Scandinavian punk takes center stage for this four-day world party featuring music, cinema, skate and art kicking off July 2 in Roskilde, Denmark (warmups start June 28). The usual suspects like Nine Inch Nails will be on hand at 2009's Roskilde Festival, along with by where-did-they-go groups like The Pet Shop Boys offset by Eagles of Death Metal -- and you can request through the Roskilde Festival's website that a band make an appearance this year, too. Partiers exceed 90,000, and camping is the thing; you can even rent a tent if you ask early. Tickets are 240 euros -- not bad for parkingm camping, luggage storage, 160 acts and a gazillion activities.

Dublin plays host to over 100 acts and 80,000 rockers at this sells-out-fast event featuring confirmed concerts from Razorlight, Kings of Leon, TV on the Radio (love 'em), Manic Street Preachers and, as they say, so much more. Overnight camping at Punchestown Racecourse, Naas, County Kildare for those doing all three days (and everyone does) for this Irish festival starting July 10. Tickets for the Oxegen Festival go quickly as the countdown to craziness commences, and scalpers thrive here: may the force be with you if you forge on to Dublin ticketless (you can always commiserate with other hopes-dashed travelers in Temple Bar, Dublin's downtown pub-hopping place to be).

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Faith No More, 50 Cent, Arctic Monkeys, dEUS, Deftones, Kraftwerk, The Bloody Beetroots, Vitalic, Wilco, Badly Drawn Boy, The Whitest Boy Alive and Crystal Antlers are among the names entertaining 100,000 younger rockers in 2009 at this three-day summer music festival featuring several staging areas, including the "Chateau Crapule" for some interesting acts. The fun starts August 20 and $145 covers camping, concerts and train or bus tix from anywhere in Belgium. No booze or free water at the Pukkelpop Festival, but plenty of food and drink to buy.

The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Regina Spektor, Dropkick Murphys (those guys are big fun), Anna Ternheim, Klaxons, Cult of Luna, Sonic Syndicate and Baddies are some of the acts confirmed as fronting the fun for a ton of mostly Euro bands at the three-day Hultsfred festival, starting June 8 in southwest Sweden. You can get $250 tickets online at Ticnet.se, or locally in Norway, Denmark and Finland, that cover camping and concerts with at least 25,000 folks. This is one of Europe's summer music festivals that does sell out -- hop on the wagon quick.

Old school gems like the Black Eyed Peas, Metallica, Scial Distortion and Limp Bizkit join newer names like White Lies, The Prodigy and Metro Station as some of the acts headlining Belgium's 2009 Rock Werchter, a four-day music festival literally beside the road 15 kilometers from Leuven July 2-5. Buses run to the festival, and those under 26 ride Belgian rails free; everyone rides free with a concert ticket. 75€ daily tickets (which are sold out -- you'll have to waitlist) don't cover 17€ onsite camping.

Seinajoki, Finland will come alive June 12-14 with "The Party of the People" as Placebo, Editors, Children of Bodom, Opeth, Veto and many Euro acts take the riverbank and island stages for this three day scene. Bars on site and friendly folk highlight the Provinssirock music festival, one of Europe's finest and funnest summer concerts. Weekend concert passes are 95€; single day passes available. Man the bridges!

The Mediterranean beach in summer and music, music, music -- that's the four-day Benicassim Festival in Spain July 16-19. Oasis, Gang of Four,Paul Weller, The Psychadelic Furs (woww), Mystery Jets and The Killers round out an eclectic FIB (Festival Internacional de Benicassim) concert lineup that will probably feature a few oldies but goodies (Devo and the B52's last year). Free-spirit camping in fields for nine days. Check out a video preview, including concert footage of the music festival.