Rock festival
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A rock festival, or rock fest, is a large-scale outdoor rock music concert, featuring multiple acts, often spread out over several days. The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.
Today, many rock festivals are annual events sponsored by major corporations. Besides rock, many feature multiple genres of music such as pop, dance, and electronic. Some owners of radio stations produce radio festivals that only include bands of a specific style of rock (according to what the station wants to promote).
See also music festivals.
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Historic festivals
The following is a sample of one-time rock festivals of historical significance.
- Monterey Pop Festival (1967)
- Woodstock (1969),Woodstock 1994, and Woodstock 1999
- Altamont Speedway concert (1969)
- California Jam (1974)
- Live Aid (1985)
- US Festival (1983 & 1984)
- Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto (2003)
- Live 8 (2005)
Travelling festivals
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A recent innovation is the travelling rock festival where many musical acts perform at multiple locations during a tour. Successful festivals are often held in subsequent years.
Current festivals
The following is a list of some (not necessarily the most important) rock festivals that take place on a regular basis. Most are held at the same location on an annual basis. Some, like Farm Aid are held at different venues with each incarnation. For a full list of festivals, see List of music festivals
North America
- All Tomorrow's Parties (California)
- Bonnaroo Music Festival (Manchester, Tennessee)
- Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (Indio, California)
- Edgefest (Canada)
- HFStival (Washington D.C.)
- Farm Aid (USA)
South America
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United Kingdom
- All Tomorrow's Parties (Camber Sands, East Sussex, England)
- Glastonbury festival (Pilton, Somerset, England)
- Isle of Wight Festival (Isle of Wight, England)
- Reading and Leeds Festivals (Reading, Berkshire and Leeds, England)
- T in the Park (Kinross Scotland)
- V Festival (Chelmsford and Staffordshire, England)
- Greenbelt Festival England
Europe
- Aerodrome, (Wiener Neustadt, Austria)
- Nova Rock, (Nickelsdorf, Austria)
- Montreux Jazz Festival, (Montreux, Switzerland)
- Oxegen Festival (Kildare, Ireland)
- Pinkpop Festival, (Landgraaf, Netherlands)
- Rock Werchter, (Werchter, Belgium)
- Roskilde Festival, (Roskilde, Denmark)
Australasia
- Big Day Out, (Australia and New Zealand)
Asia
- Fuji Rock Festival, (Naeba, Japan)
- Alternative Rock Festivals in Japan (http://www.jonwilks.com/festivals.html)
No fixed location
- Terrastock (historically North America or Britain)
External links
- BBC: "How festivals captured the summer" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4097006.stm) June 20, 2005