Songlines Magazine Archive Features

Festival Profiles

In every corner of the globe - from rainforest to desert, from inner city to lonely steppe - festivals spring up celebrating the music, dance and culture of the people who live there. Our intrepid reporters go in search of these festivals, bringing their vivid experiences back to the pages of Songlines.

Songlines Music Travel is currently running trips to the highlighted festivals (in bold).

  • Africa Festival, Würzburg, Germany >
  • Alpentone Festival, Altdorf, Switzerland >
  • Carriacou Maroon and String Band Festival, Grenada >
  • Celtic Colours, Cape Breton, Canada >
  • Celtic Connections, Glasgow, Scotland >
  • Cervantino Festival, Guanajuato, Mexico >
  • Couleur Café, Brussels, Belgium >
  • Darbar Festival, London, UK >
  • Essaouira Festival, Essaouira, Morocco >
  • Fes Festival of Sacred Music, Fes, Morocco >
  • Festival in the Desert, Essekane, Mali >
  • Festival Med, Loulé, Portugal >
  • Festival of the Niger, Segou, Mali >
  • Festival of a Thousand Stars, Arba Minch, Ethiopia >
  • Festival of World Cultures, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland >
  • Fiesta des Suds in Marseille, Marseille, France >
  • FMM Sines, Sines, Portugal >
  • Folklandia, Turku, Finland >
  • Forde Festival, Forde, Norway >
  • Garma Festival, Northern Territories, Australia >
  • Guca Brass Band Festival, Guca, Serbia >
  • Hebridean Celtic Festival, Lewis, Scotland >
  • International Oud Festival, Jerusalem, Israel >
  • Jaipur Festival, Rajasthan, India >
  • Jerez Flamenco Festival, Jerez, Spain >
  • Jewish Culture Festival, Krakow, Poland >
  • Jodhpur RIFF, Rajasthan, India >
  • Kaustinen Festival, Kaustinen, Finland >
  • Knockengorroch, Scotland >
  • Kriol Jazz Festival, Cape Verde >
  • La Grande Rencontre, Canada >
  • Lake of Stars Festival, Lake Malawi, Malawi >
  • La Mar De Musicas, Cartagena, Spain >
  • Larmer Tree, Wiltshire/Dorset, England >
  • Les Mediterraneennes, Argeles-sur-Mer, France >
  • Mawazine Festival, Rabat, Morocco >
  • Musicport, Bridlington, England >
  • Musiques Metisses, Angouleme, France >
  • Nuits d’Afrique Festival, Montréal, Canada >
  • Nuits de Nacre, Tulle, France >
  • Nomads Festival, Zagora, Morocco >
  • Oslo World Music Festival, Norway >
  • Rai Festival, Oran, Algeria >
  • Rainforest Festival, Sarawak, Borneo >
  • Rite Of Spring Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland >
  • Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark >
  • Saint Louis Jazz Festival, Saint Louis, Senegal >
  • Selam African Festival, Stockholm, Sweden >
  • San Francisco World Music Festival, USA >
  • Sauti za Busara, Stone Town, Zanzibar >
  • Savannah Music Festival, Georgia, USA >
  • Sfinks Festival, Boechout, Belgium >
  • Shetland Folk Festival, Lerwick, Scotland >
  • Sziget Festival, Hungary >
  • Ulsan World Music Festival, Ulsan, South Korea >
  • Warsaw Cross-Culture Festival, Poland >
  • WOMADelaide, Adelaide, Australia >
  • WOMAD New Zealand, Taranaki, New Zealand >
  • World Creole Festival, Dominica >
  • World Music Festival, Chicago, USA >
  • World Performing Arts Festival, Lahore, Pakistan >
  • Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham, England >
  • Zampogna Festival, Maranola, Italy >

City Guides

Our city guides are the indispensable travelling companion for the discerning music lover who wants to get under the skin of their destination. We give you the overview, the bars, the clubs, the festivals, the radio stations and newspapers to discover the true heart of the world's music capitals.

  • Addis Ababa >
  • Amsterdam >
  • Athens >
  • Bamako >
  • Bangkok >
  • Bangalore >
  • Barcelona >
  • Beijing >
  • Belém >
  • Belfast >
  • Belgrade >
  • Berlin >
  • Bristol >
  • Brussels >
  • Budapest >
  • Buenos Aires >
  • Cairo >
  • Cape Town >
  • Copenhagen >
  • Cork >
  • Cuzco >
  • Dakar >
  • Delhi >
  • Dublin >
  • Edinburgh >
  • Glasgow >
  • Havana >
  • Helsinki >
  • Istanbul >
  • Johannesburg >
  • Lisbon >
  • Liverpool >
  • Ljubljana >
  • London >
  • Madrid >
  • Manchester >
  • Marrakech >
  • Marseille >
  • Melbourne >
  • Mexico City >
  • Montreal >
  • Montreux >
  • Moscow >
  • Naples >
  • New Orleans >
  • New York >
  • Oslo >
  • Paris >
  • Portland >
  • Rio de Janeiro >
  • Rome >
  • Salvador >
  • San Francisco >
  • São Paulo >
  • Sarajevo >
  • Seville >
  • Shanghai >
  • Stockholm >
  • Sydney >
  • Tallinn >
  • Tokyo >
  • Vienna >
  • Warsaw >
  • Wellington >
  • Zagreb >

Beginner's Guides

Profiling the careers of world music's greatest stars and most enduring legends, our specialist writers introduce you to the personal histories and musical journeys of the masters of every tradition and style. We also guide you through the best and worst of their albums and suggest similar artists for you to discover.

  • Alan Lomax >
  • Albion Band >
  • Ali Farka Touré >
  • Altan >
  • Angelique Kidjo >
  • Asha Bhosle >
  • Astor Piazzolla >
  • Baaba Maal >
  • Bi Kidude >
  • Buena Vista >
  • Caetano Veloso >
  • Camarón de la Isla >
  • Capercaillie >
  • Carlinhos Brown >
  • Carmen Miranda >
  • Cesaria Evora >
  • Django Reinhardt >
  • Eleftheria Arvanitakir >
  • Fairuz >
  • Fela Kuti >
  • Femi Kuti >
  • Franco >
  • Gilberto Gil >
  • Gipsy Kings >
  • Goran Bregovic >
  • Huun-Huur-Tu >
  • Jacques Brel >
  • Khaled >
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo >
  • Lata Mangeshkar >
  • Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares >
  • Lila Downs >
  • Los Van Van >
  • Mahmoud Ahmed >
  • Manu Chao >
  • Manu Dibango >
  • Maria Bethânia >
  • Marta Sebestyen >
  • Mercedes Sosa >
  • Milton Nascimento >
  • Miriam Makeba >
  • Muzsikás >
  • Natasha Atlas >
  • Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan >
  • Oliver Mtukudzi >
  • Omara Portuondo >
  • Oum Kalthoum >
  • Paco de Lucía >
  • Pandit Jasraj >
  • Planxty >
  • Rachid Taha >
  • Ray Barretto >
  • Ry Cooder >
  • Salif Keita >
  • Shahram Nazeri >
  • Solas >
  • Susana Baca >
  • Taraf de Haïdouks >
  • Tom Zé >
  • Tony Allen >
  • Totó La Momposina >
  • Toumani Diabate >
  • Tranglobal Underground >
  • Trilok Gurtu >
  • Varttina >
  • Woody Guthrie >
  • Yothu Yindi >
  • Youssou N'Dour >