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, Germany >
  • Alpentone Festival >
  • Celtic Colours >
  • Celtic Connections >
  • Couleur Café >
  • Darbar Festival >
  • Essaouira Festival >
  • Fes Festival >
  • Festival in the Desert >
  • Festival of the Niger >
  • Festival of a Thousand Stars,
    Arba Minch, Ethiopia >
  • Festival of World Cultures >
  • Fiesta des Suds
    in Marseille >
  • Forde Festival >
  • Garma Festival >
  • Guca Brass Band Festival >
  • International Cervantino, Mexico >
  • Jaipur Festival >
  • Jerez Flamenco >
  • Jodhpur Rajasthan International
    Folk Festival, India >
  • Kaustinen Festival >
  • Knockengorroch >
  • Krakow Jewish Culture Festival >
  • Lake of Stars Festival,
    Malawi >
  • La Mar De Musicas >
  • Larmer Tree >
  • Les Mediterraneennes >
  • Loulé, Portugal >
  • Mawazine Festival, Morocco >
  • Musiques Metisses >
  • Nuits d’Afrique festival,
    Montréal >
  • Nomads Festival, Morocco >
  • Oran Rai >
  • Oud Festival, Jerusalem >
  • Rite Of Spring Festival,
    Reykjavik >
  • Saint Louis Jazz Festival,
    Senegal >
  • Selam African Festival,
    Sweden >
  • San Francisco
    World Music Festival >
  • Sarawak Festival >
  • Sauti za Busara >
  • Savannah Music Festival,
    Georgia, USA >
  • Sfinks Festival >
  • Shetland Folk Festival >
  • Ulsan World Music Festival,
    South Korea >
  • WOMADelaide >
  • World Creole Festival >
  • World Music Festival, Chicago >
  • World Performing Arts Festival, Lahore >
  • Wychwood >
  • Zampogna Festival >

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 >
  • Barcelona >
  • Beijing >
  • Belém >
  • Belfast >
  • Belgrade >
  • Berlin >
  • Brussels >
  • Budapest >
  • Buenos Aires >
  • Cairo >
  • Cape Town >
  • Copenhagen >
  • Cork >
  • Cuzco >
  • Dakar >
  • Delhi >
  • Dublin >
  • Edinburgh >
  • Glasgow >
  • Havana >
  • Helsinki >
  • Istanbul >
  • Johannesburg >
  • Lisbon >
  • Liverpool >
  • London >
  • Madrid >
  • Marrakech >
  • Marseille >
  • Mexico City >
  • Montreal >
  • Moscow >
  • Naples >
  • New York >
  • Oslo >
  • Paris >
  • Rio de Janeiro >
  • Rome >
  • San Francisco >
  • São Paulo >
  • Seville >
  • Stockholm >
  • Sydney >
  • 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 >
  • Ali Farka Touré >
  • Altan >
  • Angelique Kidjo >
  • Asha Bhosle >
  • Baaba Maal >
  • Buena Vista >
  • Caetano Veloso >
  • Camarón de la Isla >
  • Capercaillie >
  • 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 >
  • Lila Downs >
  • Manu Chao >
  • Manu Dibango >
  • Marta Sebestyen >
  • Mercedes Sosa >
  • Milton Nascimento >
  • Miriam Makeba >
  • Muzsikás >
  • Natasha Atlas >
  • Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan >
  • Oliver Mtukudzi >
  • Oum Kalthoum >
  • Paco de Lucía >
  • Pandit Jasraj >
  • Planxty >
  • Ray Barretto >
  • Ry Cooder >
  • Salif Keita >
  • Shahram Nazeri >
  • Solas >
  • Susana Baca >
  • Taraf de Haïdouks >
  • Tony Allen >
  • Totó La Momposina >
  • Tranglobal Underground >
  • Trilok Gurtu >
  • Varttina >
  • Youssou N'Dour >