I recommend this...

Ten of the Best Rock Fests to Get to Before You Die

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

You're a bona fide, band T-shirt-toting, mosh-pitting, both-ends-of-the-candle-burning rock pig and you've just won big on Tattslotto (let's not go into the psychology of whether a rock pig would actually buy a lotto ticket … just go with the flow), so what are you going to do with your winnings? Buy yourself a house? Get a portfolio of shares? Pay off your HECS debt? Um, NO! Like any self-respecting music lover, your first thoughts for a cash splash would be: “Which one of the world's best music fests is on next, where's my passport and how fast can I get to the airport?” Well, we don't know where your passport is, or how long it's going to take you to get to the airport, but we do know where you should be heading. Below is the where, when and why of 10 of the world's best rock fests - with history, ambience, line-ups and location all taken into consideration. It was tough work sticking to just 10 we can tell you - there are soooooo many more worth getting to. Anyhoo ...

Big Day Out
Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast (Australia), Auckland (NZ)
January/February
Official site
In our own backyards, The Big Day Out registers a significant blip on the global music radar. The festival travels to some of Australia's major cities before leaping the Tasman and entertaining the Kiwis. Attracting a classy list of 'now' acts (that usually make the most of their trip Down Under with satellite shows galore) BDO bandies have included Iggy & The Stooges, Sonic Youth, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Silverchair, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters and Marilyn Manson.

Coachella
Indio, California
April
Official site
Running since 1999, Coachella, as far as music festivals go, has real cred. From its shaky, cash-strapped beginnings, the festival is now an annual three-day music and arts binge that attracts tens of thousands. It's also got a happy history of reuniting bands, including Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Daft Punk … nice work.

Dubai Desert Rock Festival
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
March
Official site
Though a relative newbie to the festival-scape (annual since 2004), Dubai Desert Rock Festival's location alone would attract the globe-trotting music festival-goer. Growing as all good festivals do (the event expanded from one to two days in 2007), its line-ups have been heavy and hard with headliners thus far including Sepultura, Machine Head, Megadeth, Saxon and The Prodigy.

Fuji Rock Festival
Naeba Ski Resort, Japan
June
Official site
Who wouldn't like to head into Japanese snowfields (minus the snow) for a three-day rock festival? With stages on mountain tops and in forest clearings, Fuji Rock Festival's atmosphere is definitely unique. Bands on the bill since its kick-off in '97 have included Foo Fighters, Bjork, Rage Against the Machine, PJ Harvey, The Cure, Sonic Youth and Muse.

Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight, UK
June
Official site
The Isle of Wight Festival birthed in 1968. By 1970 it was huge, attracting more than 500,000 punters. Unfortunately, the numbers freaked out authorities and gatherings of more than 5,000 people on the island without special licence was soon a no-no. Packing up its stages, the festival did not amp up the Isle again until 2002. Annual since '02, bands on the bill have included The Stereophonics, The Foo Fighers, Suzanne Vega, Muse and Amy Winehouse.

Download Festival
Donnington Park, North West Leicestershire, UK
June
Official site
The Download Festival (a real-world event despite the cyber-only-sounding name) is a magnet for long-haired, head-banging, devil sign air-punching hard-rock pigs. Since 2003, bands testing the ear's ability to bleed have included Iron Maiden, Audioslave, Sepultura, NOFX, Slipknot, Slayer, Metallica, Korn and HIM.

Summerfest
Milwaukee, USA
June/July
Official site
Spanning 11 days and commandeering around 75 acres of Terra Firma alongside Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee, Summerfest claims to be the world's biggest music festival. In its amphitheatres, music lovers can indulge in a wide variety of aural pleasure, with Pearl Jam, Violent Femmes, Nine Inch Nails and Mary J Blige all having featured on the bill.

Splendour in the Grass
Byron Bay, NSW, Australia
August
Official site
An Aussie 'must-see' music fest, tickets to the two-day picnic in the park, Splendour in the Grass, are hot property and sell out in a snap. Many a music fan have missed out on tickets, but, for those lucky enough to gain entry, the Splendour experience has included Queens of the Stone Age, Coldplay, PJ Harvey, Placebo, Sonic Youth and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Reading (and Leeds) Festival
Reading and Leeds, UK
August
Official site
One of the oldest surviving music festivals in the world, Reading deserves a bit of attention. Though it's suffered a swag of problems (including loss of venue, name changes and line-up miss-fires), the festival is now so big it's split into two sites and boasts more than 150 acts. Notable headliners have included Interpol, Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden, The Foo Fighters, Metallica, Alice Cooper and The Jam.

V Festivals
Helmsford and Staffordshire (UK)
August
Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Gold Coast (Australia)
March/April
Calgary, Toronto (Canada)
June/September
Official UK, Canada and Australia  sites
Sponsored by toothy Virgin boss Richard Branson, the V Festivals are hard to leave off the global festival itinerary - there's just so damn many of them. Not unexpectedly, every big name band you can piff a plectrum at has hit a V stage somewhere, including Muse, The Foo Fighters, Stereophonics, Oasis, Scissor Sisters, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Queens of the Stone Age … you get the idea.

Kelly Ford, June 2008