StudentPunch Foreign Festival Of The Year

To coincide with our look at a couple of the music festivals on these shores we have been scouring the rest of Europe for a festival to be named our favourite foreign festival of the year. There were many candidates from many nations, Bennicsim in Spain Airwaves in Iceland and Pukkelpop in Belgium to name but a few. But they all fell down in at least one area. Beni cause it’s in a desert, Airwaves cause it’s a tenner a beer and Pukkelpop cause, well it’s in Belgium (I kid I kid).

So after this extensive search we came across one clear winner, Rock En Seine in Paris. What made us come to this conclusion? Right let’s take the location first.

Rock En Seine is slap bang in the middle of Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The setting in Domaine National De Saint-Cloud is on the banks of the river and ensures that if you don’t fancy camping you can find a nearby hostel or hotel to stay in. Much better than a desert in Spain, oui?

France is the biggest wine producing country in the world so whilst a pint might be expensive you will have no issue finding a bottle of semi decent wine for less than £3. So that’s got the beating on Iceland then!

Getting there is dead easy, not to mention cheap, as well. You can catch a flight from either Edinburgh or Glasgow to Paris or if you fancy having a bit more of an adventure you can go by Eurostar.

The value for money at Rock En Seine is also exceptional. A three-day camping pass will set you back the grand total of around £100. That’s around the same cost as a day pass for most UK festivals.

At that sort of money in the UK you would be expecting to see some tribute bands or a couple of worn out rockers but Rock En Seine have managed to come up trumps.

Over the three days you get to take in the delights of Blink 182, Cypress Hill, Massive Attack, Queens Of The Stone Age, Stereophonics and Arcade Fire to name but a few. Paolo will be flying the Scottish flag as well. The line up is also scattered with up and coming UK and French artists like Two Door Cinema Club and Quadicolor.

So it’s clear on location, booze, price and line up Rock En Seine is our Foreign Festival Of The Year. So let’s form a new Auld Alliance and join our French counterparts at the end of August.

StudentPunch not to be missed: Arcade Fire

StudentPunch one to watch out for: Jonsi (the happiest music I have heard in ages – Ed)