Tag Archives: festivals

Week 5 and 6: Dublin, and UK Part 2! 

Hey friends! Couldn’t find the time to pop out a blog post after Somersault last week (aka I was passed out on a train through England), so here’s some of the highlights from the past two weeks!
Bristol: Bristol was awesome. Met some great couchsurfers and girls from Brighton, Banksy-hunted, drank cider in parks, and explored a city that made me so excited to move to Austin. Some neighborhoods are very similar to Austin; tons of street art, a focus on local business, and plenty of vegan restaurants. Thanks again to Anthony for finding me an awesome hostel and letting me stash my stuff at your job.


  
Somersault Festival: One festival this summer just wasn’t enough. Somersault took place in Devon, in the super south west of England. I stayed with Josh, who lived on the estate where Somersault was being held. Josh was an awesome host and festival companion, and staying inside during the downpours of the weekend was quite the convenience.

Somersault’s lineup was similar to an XPoNential Festival lineup (if you went, I’m jealous and hope that you enjoyed George Ezra and St Vincent and Pine Barons and Lord Huron and….) it included world music, local artists, and more alternative headliners. Bombay Bicycle Club’s set was probably the best one I’ve seen all summer, but I have to sit on that for a bit before I officially give them the prize. Big shout out to Jeremy Loops for being the reason I found out about the festival, and for being another one of the best sets I’ve seen a summer.


  
Back to Liverpool: Michael was my host in Liverpool and since we got along so well, I invited him to accompany me in Dublin. I stayed 2 nights at his before our early flight, enjoyed an It’s Always Sunny marathon and sharing my obsession for making spaghetti bread. His parents are saints as well, and I was really glad to see them again.

Dublin: You know it’s a good trip when you have a Guinness in your hand by 10 A.M. Michael and I did the tours of the Guinness storehouse and Jameson Distillery, went to the National Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Museum of Archaeology, wandered, and bar hopped. During our second night in Dublin we attended a huge Couchsurfing/English speaking meetup on the oldest street in Dublin (where Handel’s Messiah was first performed!!!). We met people from all over the world, and I was able to meet up with Savannah and Erich, who are from America. Savannah and Erich are Deaf and I was more than excited to practice signing with them. I could communicate pretty well and we had an awesome time, definitely one of my favorite nights out on my trip so far!


  
Cliffs of Moehr: I had one day to explore on my own, so I decided to do a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moehr. My bus stopped by Limerick, Kinvarra, and The Burren as well, but the Cliffs were definitely the highlight. Ocean water and beautiful views make for a perfect, calm day. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to!


I’m about halfway through my trip. I’ve walked though cities, jaw hanging in awe over their beauty. I’ve fallen asleep standing up. I danced, I made mistakes, I changed my plans, I still have decisions to make. I’ve been super homesick and ready to cancel my trip back to the U.S. I have about six weeks to go! Ready to learn from the experiences I have and make even more memories on this second leg of my trip!

“Who Are You Seeing?” 7 European Music Festivals to Attend This Summer

No summer is complete without a trip to a music festival; this absolutely rings true for a summer overseas. Europe is home to some of the biggest music festivals out there (Glastonbury, Tomorrowland), and I want to attend all of them, but this blog is called Beat, Broke, and Backpacking for a reason. Attending any one of these festivals will be amazing…it’s just a matter of which one(s) I choose.

Sziget – August 10-17 – Budapest, Hungary

from szigetfestival.com

Maybe I’m late to hop on the Robbie Williams train (or am I, Americans?) After seeing his name on the top of many Europeans lineups this summer, I became a combination of confused and curious. I found his performance at Knebworth on YouTube, and within three minutes of watching, I feverishly went back to Google to find out which festivals I could catch him at. Sziget is one of these festivals, on the Island of Freedom (you sold me there), and Robbie Williams shares the bill with Florence + the Machine, Tyler the Creator, and Gramatik. Check, check, check and check off my bucket list.

Longitude – July 17-19 – Dublin, Ireland

from longitude.ie

If I could travel back in time to last spring, I would reassure myself that yes, I would have the chance to see this skinny man-bunned Irish Hozier guy I saw on YouTube in concert. He’s everywhere, for good and obvious reasons. Included in ‘everywhere’ is Longitude Festival in Marlay Park, which isn’t too far from the center of Dublin. (This makes the idea of finding accommodations a lot less stressful.) James Blake was added to this lineup recently, and there are more artists to be announced. At this rate, the lineup will cover most of my Spotify listening history, so it’s definitely on my radar.

NOS Alive – July 9-11 – Lisbon, Portugal

from festival-calendar.com

It’s very hard to turn down an opportunity to see Muse, Stromae, or James Blake, especially now, as James Blake’s album may be released very soon. I’ve already talked to a few people in Lisbon who say that a ton of Couchsurfers head to this festival every year (the festival used to be Optimus Alive) in a big group, and there are also groups of festivalgoers who travel to the beach throughout the week for surfing lessons. Surfing and music in one day sounds pretty solid to me.

T in the Park – July 10-12 – Pertshire, Scotland

via tinthepark.com

I’ve watched many T in the Park sets from my bedroom via YouTube (thank you Arctic Monkeys), so this was one of the first festivals I researched when I started planning this trip. It’s moving this year to Strathallan Castle, and if a trip involves a castle, I’m most likely down (yes, I know, I’ll see a few in Europe). This year’s lineup is solid, with at least one London artist on my bucket list for each day of the festival.

North Sea Jazz Festival  –  July 10-12  –  Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands

from one2entertainment.com

I feel the need to satisfy Grade School Megan and check seeing Lady Gaga (with Tony Bennett, no less) and Paolo Nutini off my list. I’m also all for expanding my horizons and listening to more jazz. Maybe I’ll go to the Manchester Jazz Festival too. Let’s make it a summer of jazz festivals, shall we?

Somersault Festival – July 23-27 – Castle Hill, North Devon

from http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/

The music lineup for Somersault is great (Bombay Bicycle Club, Angus & Julia Stone, and up-and-coming adorable South African folk artist Jeremy Loops get me pretty hype) but I’m just as intrigued by all the other cool things to do: yoga and circus workshops, feasts, and falconry? Falconry sounds fun. I can feel the good vibes coming from this festival five months in advance.

Open’er Festival – July 1-4 – Gdansk, Poland

from http://www.atmsystem.pl/

I had no interest in checking out Poland, mainly because the only thing I know about Poland is the excellence of pierogies, but then I saw that D’Angelo, St. Vincent, Father John Misty, and Chet Faker would all be at the Open’er Festival. Then I saw how beautiful the nearby city of Gdansk looks. Then I remembered that pierogies are REALLY good, and that I might as well add a city I know nothing about to my list.

I discovered Open’er this week, and I’m sure I’m missing out on a ton of festivals that will be going on during my trip. Feel free to share your knowledge, your opinions, and anything else in the comments below!