Serbia, Canada and the UK

Hosted by

Hi, this is Gemma Dempsey and welcome to another edition of The Global Gig Guide. This week we head to Serbia to the Exit Festival and Wakestock in Canada and the UK.

According to  Exit Festival’s website, this event grew out of an act of rebellion against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic – a regime that had kept Serbia out of touch with the rest of the world for years. So in the year 2000 in the city Novi Sad, thousands of young people enjoyed music and art and participated in political debate for 100 days, culminating in a ‘Get Out to Vote’ party which was held the day before the elections saw the downfall of Milosevic. From its grass roots beginnings Exit has grown to become known as the best party in the Balkans, attracting fans of music from all over the world. It is held in the historic Petrovaradin Fortress high on the banks of the River Danube offering great views of Novi Sad below. Exit continues to highlight political issues that affect this part of the world,  as well as produce an amazing festival each year.

For 2007 there is over a dozen stages to choose from - on the main stage The Prodigy, CSS, Snoop Dog, Audio Bullys and Lauren Hill while the world music stage welcomes Naked from Serbia, Banda Berimbau from Italy, Oi Va Voi from Ukraine and Balkan Beat Box from the US, Future Shock stage has emerging bands looking to get their first break with talent  coming from as far a field as Norwich to Novi Sad or for those of you who want to focus on getting your groove on head to the  My Bel Dance Arena where you will find Frankie Knuckles, Danny Tenaglia, Trentmoller amongst many others.

Now I’ve never been good at sports – goal defense at netball was about the best I could do  – basically because I’m tall and all I had to do was stand still and wear a bib with my initials on it - so its not surprising I hadn’t a clue as to what a wakeboard was – now I do – its a buoyant board (resembling a surfboard) that is used to ride over water while being pulled behind a motorboat. Fans of this exhilarating activity are also big fans of music as I have found not one but two festivals calling themselves Wakestock, one in Canada and the other in the North Wales in the UK.

Calling itself the largest Wakeboard festival in Europe, Wakestock in Wales has three sites on the stunning Llyn Peninsula and Abersoch Bay is where the Big Air Classic wakeboard competition takes place; the format is simple – best trick wins!. Music will be provided by Mark Ronson, the Bravery, The Cuban Brothers, Norman Jay and Get Cape Wear Cape Fly amongst others.

Wakestock in Canada takes place a week after the one in Wales so theoretically you could go to both if you felt so inclined. Taking place on Toronto Islands in Ontario, this Wakestock calls itself Canada’s largest action sports and music festival and is 4 days of ‘ boarding, bands and bikinis’. Music will be provided by over 25 bands including De la Soul, the Deftones, Lupe Fiasco and Goldfinger. This year  Canada’s Wakestock celebrates its tenth anniversary so if you like your music with lots of water based activities , head to Toronto Islands at the end of July.


That’s it for this weeks Global Gig Guide – as always we’d love to hear about festivals in your part of the world, so why not send us an email ?  Global@kcrw.com.
Otherwise check back with us next week for more information on Global Gigging.
The Global Gig Guide is produced  for KCRW.com by JC Swiatek and the theme music is composed by The Plush Interiors.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KCRW Presents World Music Festival at the Hollywood Bowl
July 15 Groove Armada & Café Tacuba
August 12  Reggae Night VI ft. Burning Spear; Sly & Robbie
September 9  Underworld, Paul Oakenfold with special guest Carmen Rizzo.

In Nyon Switzerland the 32nd Paleo Festival July 24-29 featuring Artic Monkeys, Natacha Atlas, Air, Pink , Robert Plant, Wax Tailor, Bjork. Arcade Fire, Midlake, Malouma…

DFest Tulsa Oklahoma July 27-28

Secret Garden Party, UK July 26 -29

Fuji Rocks, Japan July 27-29

Credits