2011 Apr 28 Full Guide To This Weekend’s Music Festivals
Even though we have four music festivals lining up over the same days this long weekend, only one of them – the Chaoyang Pop Music Festival – is actually in the city. Struggling to look for ways to get out to the other three? Here are some tips that might help:
Midi Music Festival:
By car – click here for location on Google Maps, and set your GPS to Jinglangdao Park (京浪岛公园)
Closest subway station – Pingguoyuan (苹果园) on Line 1. Last train departs at 10.55pm daily
Shuttle bus – Pingguoyuan subway station to Midi Festival, 10am-7pm
Midi Festival to Pingguoyuan subway station, 8-10pm
Price: RMB 5 (one way)
Strawberry Music Festival:
By car – click here for location on Google Maps, and set your GPS to Tongzhou Canal Park (通州运河公园)
Closest subway station – Tongzhou Beiyuan (通州北苑) on Batong Line. Last train departs at 10.52pm daily
Shuttle bus (free) – Tongzhou Beiyuan to Strawberry Festival, 10am-3pm
Strawberry Festival to Tongzhou Beiyuan, 7-10.30pm
Or take bus 322, 342 or 738 from Tongzhou Beiyuan to Dongguan Daqiao (东关大桥) then follow the music.
Food and Accommodation:
From past experience, both Midi and Strawberry festivals have traditions of serving good but pricy chuan'r, noodles, Cantonese-style meatballs, awkward Western food, terrible ice-cream and some other snacks (including muffins and donuts). Our tip: Have a big breakfast.
Many hotels near the festivals are already sold out, but here are a few hotels that still have rooms near Strawberry Festival, and here's a list of hotels provided by Midi Festival. You might need a Chinese friend to help you on this if you don’t speak the language.
Drinks:
Variety of drinks – Midi Festival has a better reputation for organization, especially when it comes to drinks. A 300-sqm Jägermeister tent will once again be set up at Midi; Tiger beer will also set up a “beer garden" next to the festival's Tang Stage.
On the east side of the city at Strawberry, there will be special “Absolut Strawberries.” Be prepared for some vodka.
Cheap drinks – try different beer booths, as prices often differ. A beer can cost RMB 20 or only RMB 5. I don’t think you need me to teach you how to sneak a bottle or two in, though your drinks will be confiscated if your ruse is uncovered by security.
Free drinks – Yes, there are often free drinks, and I'm not talking about offers from creepy guys, or girls. My friends and I spotted a tiny booth with a “Free Beer” sign (in English) on it at a music festival once, and there was indeed real, free beer. Another way to get free drinks is to gatecrash the VIP zones – sometimes they are private, sometimes they are just there to walk straight in and you’ll even discover staff waiting just to serve you. Good luck!
Camping:
Forget about it. Feel free to bring your tent, but you are not allowed to stay overnight at any of the festivals.
Music Valley Music Festival
Full information is available at the festival’s official website.
PS. If you’re as conscious of color-coding as our Style Editor, make sure you bring a jacket to match your daytime outfit – you’ll likely need it after dark. Beijing can be really cold at night – especially out in the suburbs.
Now have fun. Be stupid by all means, but be safe. Enjoy yourselves!
Photos from Matt Gambo and Midi Music Festival
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Our Music Editor has been doing a fine job prepping us on what to expect from the music festivals. This year we can choose from Midi, Strawberry or Music Valley – or hit up all three, since they each take place over the span of three days (April 30-May 2).
Once you've settled on the lineups of your liking, however, you still face another dilemma: finding the perfect outfit.
How Did Midi Festival Turn Into Strawberry Festival? Midi Speaks Out
With its 12-year history, Midi Music Festival is the granddaddy of China’s music festivals – highly respected and influential. In 2011, they originally planned to hold four music festivals– Beijing and Shanghai in May, Rizhao (Shandong) in August and Zhenjiang (Jiangsu) in October – and had been promoting all of them since the beginning of the year. Last month, though, rumors began to spread that Strawberry Music Festival (organized by Modern Sky Records) would be taking place in Zhenjiang in October instead of Midi. Organizers of both festivals eventually confirmed the rumors via the Internet. Midi fans reacted with great confusion and anger, and Midi Festival held a press conference on August 22 to explain exactly what happened.
Music Valley Music Festival - Full Lineup
If the shepherds quarrel, the wolf has a winning game. Apparently, two music festivals is not enough for the May holiday.
And as Midi and Strawberry's music festival fight gets more and more intense, a third party sneaks in as well - Music Valley Music Festival (tickets at here). Taking place at Beijing Yuyang International Ski Resort, it goes on for only two days from April 30 to May 1 and has only two stages, but their lineup is not any less competitive than the other two festivals:Festival Fight: Strawberry VS. Midi - Round 3
If the first round of our Festival Fight was just a warm up, and Midi played its big cards in the second stage what will happen in this final round?
Legendary might be one of the most over used words in music related articles. But it’s a word that has to be used to describe Strawberry’s final day lineup. There’s bold folk musician Zhou Yunpeng, the unique Second Hand Rose and the leaders of China’s metal scene, Yaksa. Who’d imagine, the final surprise comes from the festival’s Taiwan Stage, after three days of youngsters, it’s Hu Defu to play last. He may be called Bob Dylan of Taiwan, but even that is not enough to describe his contribution to China’s modern music industry … I’ll just have to skip those one thousand words.
Festival Fight: Strawberry VS. Midi - Round 2
After the first day warming up, the music festival fight hits intensity on the second day. Here are the Day Two lineups for Round 2 of our festival fight.
Strawberry’s local lineup is no weaker on May 1st. Watch out for Beijing’s post-punk representatives Re-Tros and Hedgehog’s upbeat tunes. Bands lining up on the Overload Stage (metal stage) don’t seem as strong as the first day’s but the last band, Liquid Oxygen, are definitely worth a look.
davient
Re: Full Guide To This Weekend’s Music Festivals
What do you mean no camping?
At MIDI there is a camp site marked on the map (Right hand side labelled S). Has it been canceled?
Full page MIDI Map
kopde
Re: Full Guide To This Weekend’s Music Festivals
the camping site is outside the festival...