Festivals Season 2013: An Intro and Quick Date Tracker

ok.. we’re all set by the look of things with just about every little detail set for the major festivals of the season. Let’s put it this way, May/June will be busy!

MIDI 2013 @ CMV | 4/29-5-01
The granddaddy has things planned ahead of time this year and lineup is also out! That’s like almost 2 weeks ahead of time and it’s surprising to me. So, what do we know? It’s going to China Music Valley and the headliner, no surprise there, is Miserable Faith. Some props to make: SUBS, longtime MIDI darling, will be headlining the Tang Stage on day 2. On the great news/what a surprise front, some Beijing local expat bands are actually in: Randy Abel Stable and Bad Mamasan have both been tapped to play. New comers, contraplan, is also slatted to make an appearance.
Full lineup in Chinese here http://weiba.weibo.com/10815/t/zsxj4gyju

Strawberry 2013 @ Tongzhou | 4/29-5/01
Strawberry might be my least favourite one but the star power in undeniable. They tapped the who’s who of Chinese rock and predictably, they’re having XTX close things off on the last day but also second hand rose, reflector and Brain Failure make appearances. Not content with all the Chinese rock stars, they’ve also got a slew of international acts ready to serenade tongzhou park: Travis (UK), Lenka and Immanu El just to name a few. Seriously though, if they were not so predictable are fucking things up, i might consider going there just to catch XTX….
Full lineup & schedule: http://ww3.sinaimg.cn/large/61fd3cd9jw1e3muv95u4uj.jpg

Dong Party @ 2 Kolegas 5/11,12
Yes, the Ditan Park Folk Festival is moving to good old 2 Kolegas. Rumours had it happening in chaoyang park but we’ll skip the reasons why it didn’t take place there. Daytime at 2K is actually quite enjoyable if we’re to go by previous experiences from having bands play ‘dazeFEAST there. There isn’t any confirmation about the bands playing yet but we can look forward to the usual suspects, all of which owe good old dong a few favours.

Hanggai Festival @ Mako 6/14,15,16
Confirmations are in and this one is shaping up to be a major one.. at least, that’s the impression i get after talking to Ilchi. A lot of bands are coming over to Beijing for this one and I don’t expect the tickets to be on the cheap side. That said, you will get quality! Heck, having Yemen Blues again is all that i care about!

mark your calendar folks and we’ll see you in the field sometime soon.