Continuing our regular European festival previews, IQ gives readers a snapshot of what’s in store this weekend as August turns to September…

EDM spectacular Mysteryland returns to Haarlemmermeer, near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, boasting DJs including Oliver Heldens, Charlotte de Witte, Adam Beyer, Nicky Romero, R3hab, Joris Voorn, Sub Zero Project, Ben Nicky, Warface and Fedde Le Grand.

MEO Kalorama returns to Lisbon (29-31 August) as well as making its debut in Madrid. Kalorama Madrid will take place at the Recinto Ferial Fairgrounds, sharing the same dates as its Portuguese counterpart.

The Portuguese edition will star the likes of Massive Attack, Sam Smith, LCD Soundsystem, Jungle, Burna Boy and Raye, alongside artists such as Peggy Gou, Loyle Carner, The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, Ezra Collective, The Kills, Gossip, Olivia Dean, Fever Ray, Soulwax and Yves Tumor.

The Spanish spin-off boasts a near identical lineup including LCD Soundsystem, The Prodigy, Raye, Massive Attack, Sam Smith, Jungle, Peggy Gou, Ezra Collective, Gossip and Yard Act.

Switzerland’s Summerdays runs in Arbon from 30-31 August, headlined by James Blunt and Rag’N’Bone Man. Other acts will include The Kooks, Scooter, Tokio Hotel, Plüsch and Gavin James, while partner festival Seaside in Spiez features many of the same names on alternate days, plus singer-songwriter Alice Merton.

Zurich Openair returns for its second and concluding weekend (30-31 August), topped by Peggy Gou, Jorja Smith, James Arthur, Kygo, Rin, Marc Rebillet, Tom Grennan, Sido, Anne-Marie, Lost Frequencies, Aurora, Sugababes and Kenya Grace.

Slovakia’s Uprising Festival (30-31 August) in Bratislava can count on the likes of Rich The Kid, Yemi Alade, Sigma, Tommy Cash, the Congos, The Orb and Black Sun Empire.

Loyle Carner and LCD Soundsystem will headline Forwards Bristol

The UK’s End of the Road (29 August-1 September) will bring Idles, Slowdive, Fever Ray and Bonnie “Prince” Billy to Larmer Tree Gardens, Blandford Forum, Dorset. It will also feature the likes of Richard Hawley, Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney, Lankum, Jockstrap, Baxter Dury and CMAT.

Loyle Carner and LCD Soundsystem will headline Forwards Bristol (31 August-1 September), which has artists such as Four Tet, Jessie Ware, Underworld, Floating Points, Romy, Greentea Peng, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Yard Act, Yussef Dayes and Joy (Anonymous).

Norwich’s Sundown (30 August-1 September) will star acts including Tom Grennan, D-Block Europe, FLO, Mahalia, Kenya Grace, Clavish, Hedex, Wilkinson and Sammy Virji.

Lindisfarne Festival (29 August-1 September) on the Northumberland Coast will host headliners The Vaccines, Tom Walker, Orbital and De La Soul, plus hundreds of acts over eight stages including Everything Everything, Kula Shaker, Redlight, 808 State, Republica and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin.

German psytrance festival Indian Spirit (28 August-6 September) welcomes Tristan, Avalon, Neelix, Vini Vici, Ghost Rider, Berg, Imagine Mars, Bliss, Electric Universe and Hidden Secret, among others.

Jazz Re:Found (28 August-1 September) takes place in Cellamonte, Monferrato, Italy, topped by Ezra Collective, Glass Beams, Fink, Greentea Peng, Let It Happen, Marcos, Valle, Mulatu Astatke, Nino Frassica, Gilles Peterson, Mr Scruff and Jamz Supernova.

And Romania’s Jazz in the Park (30 August-1 September) will showcase Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, Cymande, Avishai Cohen Trio and Orchestra Baobab, to name but a few, in Ethnographic Park, Cluj-Napoca.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

AEG’s European festivals CEO Jim King has spoken to IQ about the firm’s efforts to cultivate a “strong hub” for touring artists through its collection of late summer festivals.

The company’s All Points East (APE), Rock en Seine and Forwards Festival are all coming up in the next few weeks, while it has also aligned with Spanish independent promoter Last Tour on the latter’s Cala Mijas and MEO Kalorama festivals in Spain and Portugal, respectively.

First held in 2018, APE returns this Friday in London’s Victoria’s Park with the first of two weekends, featuring Stormzy (18 August) and a Field Day event headlined by Aphex Twin and Bonobo (19 August). It will then welcome headliners The Strokes, Jungle, Dermot Kennedy and Haim from 25-28 August.

“We’ve got a strong All Points East again this year,” says King. “It’s an event we’re still building and a relationship that we’re still building with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the community there.

“We’re really pleased with the way their programme is going. They’re really well curated lineups, which our team put together very passionately. So that’s great and it’s allowed us to consolidate our European position at the end of the summer.”

“The artists moving between those four shows has created a really strong hub”

AEG switched APE from its previous May slot to coincide with Rock en Seine at the end of August. The 20th anniversary French festival, which was acquired by AEG in 2017 in partnership with media investment group LNEI, takes place in Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, Paris on 23 and 25-27 August, topped by Billie Eilish, Florence + the Machine, Placebo, The Chemical Brothers and The Strokes.

“Rock en Seine had its best year ever [last year] since it started and I think we’ll go beyond that again this year with sold-out shows every day,” says King. “I love that show. It’s such a great site. We’ve talked about London being super-important culturally, but magical things happen when you’re in Paris and I always find it really exciting. You go there in an elevated state of emotion, if you like, and then you’re more receptive to being entertained.”

Meanwhile, AEG’s relationship with Last Tour on Cala Mijas and MEO Kalorama festivals, set for 31 August-2 September, will see Florence + the Machine headline both events, with The Strokes also performing at the former.

“The artists moving between those four shows has created a really strong hub,” says King. “We’re calling it ‘The Camino’, which allows these artists to move between as many or as few of those shows as they want. It just creates a very strong end of August, beginning of September run for artists coming into Europe or those who are based here.”

In addition, AEG teams with events company Team Love on 30,000-cap Forwards in Bristol, UK. The metropolitan festival, which debuted in 2022, returns to Clifton Downs for its second year from 1-2 September, headlined by Erykah Badu and Aphex Twin.

“It’s a very demanding industry at the moment. If you’re not on your game as a promoter, you’re going to be challenged”

“Forwards forms part of that run of shows as well,” notes King. “We had a great show last year – we broke even in year one, which is beyond our expectations for any new festival, and we’re building on that for year two. So that’s been a really good start. We set up our European festival division a few years ago now, and the building of that is still taking place, but the benefits of it are thankfully already with us, and we think it puts us in a really strong position for the next five years.”

Around 550,000 tickets were sold for AEG’s flagship BST Hyde Park Festival earlier this summer, topping the previous best of 530,000 set last year. The London concert series was headlined by Guns N’ Roses, Take That, Blackpink, Billy Joel and Lana Del Rey – plus two nights each from Pink and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. And King says he is not surprised by the number of successful shows to have gone ahead in the UK this summer.

“Certain parts of the industry, one could argue are outperforming expectations, but that’s not to say that we weren’t confident they will be successful,” he adds. “If you look at events out there, you can see the quality ones in terms of the way they’re presented and operated, and the value point for them and the lineups which they have.

“I’m not surprised at all that they’re being successful. I’m also not surprised at all that the ones that aren’t presenting that level of quality aren’t as successful either because it’s a very demanding industry at the moment. And if you are not on your game as a promoter or as an artist, then you’re going to be challenged. But if you are, the chances are you’re going to be rewarded for it.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.