Winter holidays have passed quickly, and there are the wonders of the new year ahead. Best to begin it with careful planning of the festival season. Here, we suggest a few February events that would be a great starting point.
Simple Things
Bristol, UK
24-29 February 2024
Bristol is a well-known mecca for music lovers. Local festival Simple Things sums up the psychogeography and creative spirit of the city that gave the world trip hop and other related underground offshoots. The event takes over multiple venues around Bristol including Grade II listed concert hall Bristol Beacon, Rough Trade record shop, DIY arts spaces Strange Brew and The Island as well as clubs SWX, The Love INN, and county sports club Sportsmans. With this wide array of locations, the organisers (who also run a series of shows during the year https://simplethingsfestival.co.uk/shows/) bring together adventurous spirits such as intense electronic producer Gazelle Twin, dub techno duo Space Afrika, London-based practitioners of wild angular riffs Warmduscher and French noiseniks The Psychotic Monks, to name a few. The festival will wrap up with a show of Fever Ray whose maverick nature is emblematic of this eclectic and vibrant event.
More information and tickets are here.
MENT
Ljubljana, Slovenia
21-24 February 2024
MENT refers to a Latin suffix denoting an action, process or its result. Just as the name suggests, the Slovenian boutique showcase festival reveals the fascinating diversity of the Central European, Balkan and especially local music scene, which has left an imprint on the international music industry with bands like Laibach, Siddharta and most lately psych-folk trio Širom. Alongside the impressive line-up featuring 88 artists, there will be a three-day conference programme with panel discussions that cover the most relevant subjects, e.g. music promotion in specific regions of Europe, game-changing streaming transformations, DIY music distribution and more. Just like Simple Things, MENT is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, so it must be special.
More information and tickets are here.
Edition Festival
Stockholm, Sweden
22-25 February 2024
This small yet unique festival celebrates immersive arts and experimental electronic music. Taking place in atmospheric and haunting Eric Ericsonhallen, the event unites likeminded artists focusing on multimedia aesthetics and augmenting the music with ambient textures. This year’s Edition is done in collaboration with INA grm and in partnership with Elektronmusikstudion EMS, a studio producing professional electroacoustic music and sound-art equipment. In keeping with the festival’s experimental approach, the line-up features genre-bending sound artists Marja Ahti, Beatrice Dillon, Kevin Drumm, Jessica Ekomane, Amina Hocine, Okkyung Lee, Daniel M Karlsson, Lionel Marchetti, John McCowen, Stephen O’Malley, Arnaud Rivière, Flora Yin Wong. In addition to the individual shows, the programme also includes the presentation of archival works from the studios of EMS and INA GRM.
More information and tickets are here.
St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival
Australia, New Zealand
3-10 February 2024
While it’s still summer in the Pacific region, the respective countries are making the best of it with a variety of primarily outdoor events. The St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival is a travelling music tour across Australia with a strong focus on indie rock. The regular stops are Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Fremantle. Same artists will be travelling from one place to another, starting on 3 February on the Western side of Australia and finishing on the other side of the continent in Perth on 11 February. This year, the event is also taking over the Northern Island of New Zealand. The line-up in Auckland features British rapper Stormzy, American producer Steve Lacy as well as local acts. Psych outfit Unknown Mortal Orchestra is one of the collectives associated with the contemporary indie scene of NZ.
More information and tickets are here.
