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.
Historic festivals
The following is a sample of one-time rock festivals of historical significance.
Travelling festivals
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
South America
United Kingdom
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
Asia
No fixed location
