Events
Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To
Slide Nr 1It’s been a year since the spectacularly failed Fyre Festival went down in a blaze of schadenfreude. The luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas sounded too good to be true – and it was. We’d rather not get stranded in the Caribbean without food, water or music, so we’ve selected some island music festivals that have stood the test of time. From remote ocean outposts to easily accessible beaches, here’s where to get your festival fix, Robinson Crusoe-style.
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Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 2A festival on island time doesn’t have to be disorganised and chaotic, as Island Time Music Festival proves. This is a Caribbean island music festival without the disaster relief vibes. Not only is it entering its ninth year, it takes place on Isla Mujeres, an island with a well-established tourist infrastructure. It’s also a community effort, with local businesses contributing, so proceeds can go to a local school benefiting special needs children. Concerts, parties and events take place in venues across the island
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Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 3On the other hand, why even travel to the sunny Caribbean when anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock could tell you that Scandinavian festivals are where it’s at? Eclectic lineups featuring cutting-edge indie discoveries, intimidatingly cool crowds, beautiful scenery and endless Nordic daylight hours, paired with the inevitable whirlpool, hot spring or sauna, make for a unique experience worth braving the weather… and, in the case of Træna, the journey. Even from Oslo, it takes most of a day to get to the remote Norwegian archipelago, but that doesn’t stop the festival from selling out most years – and confidently proclaiming: “Paradise doesn’t have to be in the tropics.”
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Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 4Similarly confident in the ability of its line-up, setting and unique atmosphere to trump concerns as trivial as whether or not the sun will shine, Tiree Music Festival announces its 2018 dates accompanied by a defiant “Whatever the weather!” and some intimidating images of festival patrons being rained on in previous years. The Isle of Tiree, the most westerly island of the Inner Hebrides, is actually known as the sunniest island in the UK, with beautiful sandy beaches and excellent surf breaks. If the weather takes a turn for the British, a dram of Scotch will warm your heart, even on a rainy festival afternoon. [Photo: Alan Peebles]
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Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 5Even further from the Scottish mainland, the Shetland Folk Festival beckons. Somewhat confusingly, it takes place on Mainland, which is in fact the largest of the Shetland Islands – but the fact that it takes an overnight ferry to get there should settle any doubts. The organising committee invite patrons to join them and visiting artists for a warm-up session at the ferry bar, which is possibly the most island festival thing we’ve ever heard. In addition to events held at the Festival Club in the island’s largest town Lerwick, other concerts on the remoter islands require additional ferries.
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Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 6Not remote enough? Head to the Faroe Islands. This rugged, weather-beaten archipelago lies closer to Iceland than the Kingdom of Denmark it’s an (autonomous) part of. At G! Festival, bands play on a serene beach in a secluded bay right next to the village of Syðrugöta on Eysturoy Island, temporarily increasing its population tenfold. Unfortunately, the beach has flooded on more than one occasion, leaving the audience literally dancing in the ocean. Luckily there are always a few hot tubs and saunas close by.
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Events
Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 7You don’t have to undertake a long, arduous ocean-crossing journey to feel transported to a remote island. In West Cork, it only takes a hop and skip on the ferry from Baltimore, and within minutes, you’re on quaint Sherkin Island. The island, one of many in scenic Roaringwater Bay, has long inspired artists. The Dublin Institute of Technology even runs a visual arts programme on this unlikely outpost, about as far away from the capital as you could get within Ireland. Since 2016, Open Ear, an annual boutique electronic music festival, gives music fans the opportunity to enjoy that feeling of being a million miles away, just off the mainland.
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Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 8If you would prefer to count on sunny weather and sandy beaches as an essential part of your island festival experience, Australia has you covered. In fact, North Stradbroke Island may offer more sand than you had bargained for. After a few days on the second largest sand island in the world, you’ll be shaking its fine, white grains out of your shoes, bags and underwear for weeks to come. Especially if you avail of the on-site beach at Island Vibe Festival, Queensland’s chilled-out music experience featuring reggae, soul and indigenous sounds.
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Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 9If you’re really going for castaway vibes, head to an ever-so-slightly more remote Australian island. Norfolk Island is so isolated, even Aussies tend to forget it’s part of the Commonwealth of Australia (and islanders, incidentally, are quite happy to keep it that way). This tiny volcanic rock way out in the Pacific Ocean is almost 1,500 kilometres from the Australian mainland and self-sufficient by necessity. The 25th iteration of its very own Country Music Festival is an excellent excuse to find out more about this unique island.
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Events
Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 10Your Paradise is everything Fyre Festival wanted to be – except with competent organisers, who have been pulling off a quality electronic music festival in an island paradise in Fiji for five years running. From parties on a private beach and DJs under palm-leaf-covered cabanas, to influencers sipping cocktails aboard swanky yachts, it’s a true destination festival that deserves its “paradise” moniker. It ain’t cheap, but at least you’ll get what you paid for.
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Events
Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 11British Columbia’s Gulf Islands and Washington State’s Puget Sound, i.e. the islands between Vancouver and Seattle, are teeming with music festivals all summer long. On the Canadian side, Mayne Island hosts indie-oriented Campbell Bay Music Fest; Hornby Island presents a ten-day festival showcasing all types of music, from classical and folk to pop and rock; and Gabriola Island, nicknamed the Isle of the Arts, successfully launched its new music festival just last year. Across the border, Orcas Island is home to the annual eponymous Chamber Music Festival, and Oak Harbor Music Festival brings a genre mix to Whidbey Island each Labour Day.
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Events
Land Ho! 15 Island Music Festivals To Escape To.
Slide Nr 12Beaver Island Music Festival offers a very different island festival experience. For starters, it takes place on an island in Lake Michigan, not in the ocean. The line-up is largely recruited from the regional and local music scene, so you won’t find any international stars headlining. Perhaps more importantly, the location reads “family fun in the forest”, rather than “decadent fun in the sun”. One thing the family-friendly event has in common with all the other island festivals on this list: it offers an escape from the mainland, from everyday life and an opportunity to enjoy some carefully curated music in a unique setting.
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