Former Soviet Union countries are among those that have best used music festivals as a golden opportunity to revive their tourism. Unusual scenarios combined with costs that to the eyes of Western tourists look surprisingly low, have contributed to the success of many events, such as the Unsound Festival. Born in the cellars of Krakow bars in 2003, the festival has become itinerant over time, reaching London, New York, Tbilisi, Minsk and Adelaide. However, the concept of bringing the cream of emerging electronic music in dialogue with architecture and visual arts firmly remains at the heart of its artistic direction. An example of this is one of its most famous locations, the imposing lobby of the Hotel Forum, a brutalist building dating back to the nation’s communist era. The venue is a perfect match with musical genres, like techno, that make extensive use of the post-Soviet iconography. Unsound Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2022.

Once a symbol of the cream of indie music, Coachella has evolved into the most glamorous of music festivals, attracting the new international jet set, including influencers, models, and tycoons. The outfits of its eccentric audience and the breathtaking scenery of the Coachella Valley, in the Idaho desert, now seem to capture the attention of the gossip-thirsty media more than its hipster-chic line-up. Combining pop, indie rock and rap it can count on astronomical cachets and names including Billie Eilish, Tyler, The Creator, Maneskin and Harry Styles. Coachella is, however, also about art and design thanks to a series of installations such as that of the Architensions studio: five modular towers that reflect on the relationship between man and architecture of entertainment, subverting the trend of single-family suburban housing in the Coachella Valley.

Music, food and brutalism, is there a better deal for an architecture lover who aspires to a holiday on the coast of Normandy? Le Havre, one of the main French ports, was one of the European cities most affected by air raids during the Second World War. Today, reconstruction-era architecture has become a driving force in the city, which now dedicates the Béton music festival to Brutalism—clearly referenced in its name, a nod to béton brut, or raw concrete, the term Le Corbusier used in 1952 to describe his Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. More importantly, it evokes the reinforced concrete pioneered by Auguste Perret and his studio, the architects behind the post-war reconstruction of Le Havre. Featuring live shows, food stalls and tours of local brutalism, Béton promises to be the ideal way to wave goodbye in style to summer.

About twenty years ago, a group of volunteers converted a clay pit in Cornwall into the Eden Project, an ambitious environment halfway between a cultural hub and a greenhouse with the aim of demonstrating the possibility of regenerating a now sterile natural space that had been intruded and affected by human action. Today Eden Project is one of the most fascinating botanical gardens in the world and, consequently, an enchanting location for live music. The Eden Sessions, a summer music festival, bring gigs to the spectacular setting of Cornwall with legendary names that this year include Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Nine Inch Nails and Stereophonics, among others.

If the idea of ​​spending a week scorched by the Nevada desert sun doesn’t match your idea of a perfect holiday, the Austrian mountains may be the right alternative. Snowbombing is a one-of-a-kind festival, combining winter sports with DJ and band performances. Born at the beginning of the millennium in the French Alps as an après-ski party, Snowbombing has evolved into an articulated event that today brings artists from multiple genres to perform in locations ranging from ski slopes to igloos.

Lake Dalhalla in Sweden is one of only three sites in the world whose conformation is the result of the impact of a meteorite with the earth's surface. This asset alone would be sufficient to make the location of this classical music festival worth the price of the ticket. Nestled among rocks, the lake is, however, also a place that combines a breathtaking view with exceptional acoustics that make it ideal and, above all, sufficiently intimate for opera performances. The venue, which has been used for concerts since 1991 on the initiative of retired opera singer Margareta Dellefors, is now devoted mainly to individual concerts and hosted the Dalhalla Opera Festival, one of the most prestigious events in the classical music calendar.