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 7 in 2012. The Sziget Festival will feature seven days of bands like The Killers, Gocoo, Anti Flag, Viza, and Korn, and off the main stage, wander to the OTP World Music Party Stage (do not miss badalicious blast from the past The Pogues), the Roma Tent, the A38 stage, the Mambo Stage, and the Afro-Latin Stage and World Village. And there's much more to the Sziget Festival scene than just soaking up the sound, like showing your face at the Culture Zone (classical music, poetry slams, Giant Street Theatre, yoga, workshops, and more) or chilling at the Cöypon Ambient Tent Garden or with a little chess at the Logical Games Tent. Sziget Festival tickets can include a week's camping (starts 8/06 and you've gotta do it) amid at least 50,000 folks.

Read more on the Sziget Festival or keep scrolling for more concerts...

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 5 in Roskilde, Denmark (warmups start June 30). Some unusual suspects like Bruce Springsteen and Alison Krause (!) will be on hand at 2012's Roskilde Festival along with interesting new names and other old faves like The Cure and Bjork -- and you can request band appearances through the Roskilde Festival's website, 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 parking, camping, luggage storage, 200 acts and a bazillion activities.

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This summer's usual suspects (Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon, My Chemical Romance) join juicy acts like Arsenal, Goose, Ke$ha, The Pretty Reckless, TV On The Radio (love love them), The Hives and Queens of the Stone Age as some of the acts headlining Belgium's 2011 Rock Werchter, a fantastic four-day music festival literally beside the road 15 kilometers from Leuven June 30-July 3. Buses run to the festival, and those under 26 ride Belgian rails free; everyone rides free with a concert ticket. 76 euro; daily tickets (which are going to sell out -- don't delay or you'll have to waitlist) don't cover 18€ onsite camping.

Seinajoki, Finland will come alive June 17-19 with "The Party of the People" as Social Distortion, Wolfmother, The Vaccines, Volbeat and Miss Li plus many up-and-comer 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!

T in the Park sells out instantly -- chances to buy new (and usually progressively more expensive) tickets will keep popping up through the spring, though. Amazingly, it's selling a bit more slowly than usual in 2012! Big stages, big steel fence, and big names like Snow Patrol, Florence and the Machine, The Stone Roses, and Kasabian are headlining in 2012 for hot-now names including Tinie Tempah and Calvin Harris plus may-be-hot-again bands, like Simple Minds, at this July 6-8 music festival in Scotland. Bring campervans because T in the Park is one of the biggest camping parties in Europe!

The Mediterranean beach in summer and music, music, music -- that's the four-day Benicassim Festival in Spain July 14-17. My Bloody Valentine, Babyshambles (hmm), The Rumble Strips, Arcade Fire, Tinie Tempah, Chase & Status, Elbow, and The Streets round out an eclectic FIB (Festival Internacional de Benicassim) concert lineup that will probably feature a few oldies but goodies (The Psychadelic Furs last year). Free-spirit camping in fields for nine days. Get the whole skinny on the Benicassim Festival, including some videos and concert footage for previews of the place to be, and get thee to the beach.

The Hultsfred Festival is, alas, no more. We'll be replacing it on this list with another of Europe's best summer concerts -- and the choices are many and wonderful! What's your favorite?