Music Festivals in Europe

Music festivals in Europe are almost innumerable, from small local events to gigantic international happenings, and appeal to every imaginable musical taste.

Find the Festivals

The European Festival Association promotes performing arts festivals of artistically high quality across Europe. The EFA site has an extensive calendar and festival list well worth perusing to pique your hunger for great European music events.

European Music Day

First launched in France, every summer solstice (June 21st) this pan-European musical event involves thousands of music lovers. Unlike festivals that focus on one composer or a type of music, European (and International) Music Day welcomes both professionals and amateurs to promote cross-cultural, cross-generational, and cross-genre musical appreciation. The festival is free and open to anyone who wants to perform traditional, pop, jazz, rock, rap, techno, or any other kind of music! Experience the day in Spain, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Luxemburg, Italy, Belgium, and the Czech Republic!

Music Festivals for Every Taste

As Mozart’s birthplace, Austria naturally hosts one of Europe’s most prestigious cultural events, the Salzburg Festival. Other music festivals of exceptional quality are Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, the Haydn festival 2009 in Eisenstadt, and Vienna Festival Weeks. In Germany thousands flock to the Schleswig - Holstein music festival to hear classical music performances in eclectic settings including with breathtaking castle, palaces, churches—and impressive shipyards! Belgium has everything from the world music of Couleur Café to the refined classical performances of young artists at the Queen Elizabeth Competition – not to mention the International Adolphe Sax competition for young saxophone players! You can find it all in France: the International Accordion Festival in Lille, hip hop in Clermont Ferrand and jazz in Nancy! The Prague Spring International Music Festival in the Czech Republic is only one of many ways to enjoy performances in this musically inclined city!

A Roman amphitheatre is the site of the Verona Opera Festival in Italy, one of many festivals in a music-rich country. Slovenia hosts well-known international festivals and lively events in even the smallest villages.Rock otocec is a huge open air festival promoting peace through music. Widen your horizons at druga godba's International Festival of Alternative and Ethno Music; listen under the stars in a 400-year-old synagogue or on a floating stage on the Drava River during the Maribor International Summer Festival!