10 Virtual Festivals & Shows To Attend This Summer
Montreux Jazz Festival
Until 18th July, every evening at 8:30pm Montreux Jazz Festival will broadcast an iconic concert from its archives on YouTube. Further surprises will also pop up on the festival’s social media as the event celebrates its 54th anniversary. Labelled the ‘54th Summer of Music’, this digital event will offer a series of 16 performances including Angelique Kidjo & Friends in 2016; a festive ode to women and Africa at the 50th edition of the Festival; the first coming of the legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker in Montreux in 1983; the moving encounter between Charles Bradley and his audience in 2016, a year before his death; and Rag’n’Bone Man and Tom Misch’s landmark concert in 2019, punctuated by performances by Loyle Carner and FKJ.
Until 18th July
Visit MontreuxJazzFestival.com
Royal Albert Home
Next up in the Royal Albert Hall’s #RoyalAlbertHome series is a day dedicated to some of the most exciting names in country music, who will deliver exclusive home sets as part of a Nashville Meets London takeover. Launched in August 2016 as a music festival, Nashville Meets London has developed into a global music brand, providing opportunities that support the spread of country and Americana music. For this one-off online concert, they’ll be presenting Nashville’s most versatile band The Cadillac Three, American country music singer Michael Ray, Canadian singer-songwriter Tenille Townes, and Yorkshire-native, Twinnie.
18th July and ongoing
Visit RoyalAlbertHall.com
United We Stream
Every weekend United We Stream features performances from singers, DJs, bands and others from across Greater Manchester and around the UK. Live every day from 7pm, everything is completely free to watch, although viewers are encouraged to buy a ‘virtual ticket’ for a price of their choosing. All proceeds will go towards helping Greater Manchester’s best-loved venues through this crisis, fighting against homelessness in Greater Manchester and to Nordoff Robbins – the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity.
Visit UnitedWeStream.co.uk
Glyndbourne Open House
Glyndebourne Opera House has thrown open its doors to everyone, everywhere: at 5pm each Sunday, viewers can enjoy world-class opera in their living room for free. In true Glyndbourne Festival style, viewers are encouraged to dust off their finery, clink a glass with friends and family and be united with opera lovers from across the globe. We’re looking forward to watching Rossini's The Barber of Seville, which will be streamed online from Sunday 19th July.
Various dates
Visit Glyndebourne.com
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone sees Nick Cave perform solo at the piano at the iconic Alexandra Palace, and fans can join the global live streaming event on 23rd July. In this one-off performance, audiences around the world will have the chance to watch Cave play songs from his extensive back catalogue, including rare tracks that most fans will be hearing for the first time. The songs are taken from across the breadth of Cave’s career, including early Bad Seeds and Grinderman, right through to the most recent Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album, Ghosteen. The performance will be filmed by award-winning cinematographer Robbie Ryan (The Favourite, Marriage Story) in Ally Pally’s West Hall. The film will be streamed as a live experience and will not be available to view online following the event.
23rd July
Visit NickCave.com
Tomorrowland – Around the World
Belgian festival Tomorrowland is set to open its door to pioneers from all corners of the globe, for one weekend only. Tomorrowland Around the World is set to be a two-day digital music festival experience, bringing together some of the planet’s biggest names in electronic dance music across eight stages and the world’s best technology in 3D design, video production and special effects. Festival visitors will be able to navigate easily through a newly created Tomorrowland location with a PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet – you don’t need special VR goggles – and explore the entire festival site in an interactive way together with friends. The weekend will offer its guests a packed schedule with plenty of things to do, see and experience. The musical line-up includes Afrojack, Alan Walker, Armin van Buuren, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Lost Frequencies and Steve Aoki.
25th-26th July
Visit Tomorrowland.com
Burning Man – Virtual Black Rock City
People who go to Burning Man are not just ‘attendees’, they’re active participants in every sense of the word: they create the city, the interaction, the art, the performance and ultimately, the experience. Burning Man 2020 will take place in the virtual ‘Multiverse’. In the Multiverse, Black Rock City exists online, a virtual metropolis which will be digitally instead of in the desert. Participants are invited to ponder the real, the surreal and the paraphysical, and a chance to encounter our alternate selves who may have followed, or are following, or will follow different decision-paths to divergent Black Rock City realities.
30th August-7th September
Visit BurningMan.org
Virtual BBC Proms 2020
In the year that the Proms turns 125 years old, the 2020 season brings the spirit of the event to music-lovers at home with hits from the archive and incredible live performances. The BBC Proms will continue its annual festival with eight weeks of world-class performances by the world's greatest classical musicians of the past, present and future. Complete archive concerts will be available live on BBC Radio 3 and on demand on BBC Sounds. A selection of archive concerts will also be available on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. In the final two weeks of the season, performances live from the Royal Albert Hall will be available on BBC Four and streamed directly to iPlayer, as well as on Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
17th July-12th September
Visit BBC.co.uk
HIF Weekender
Harrogate International Festival is launching its first free virtual festival: the HIF Weekender, bringing world-class culture to everyone at home this July. The weekender is a celebration of the arts, featuring performances and interviews with internationally acclaimed musicians, best-selling authors and innovative thinkers to coincide with what would have been the popular literary weekend. Speaker highlights include Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Jenny Harris and Val McDermid.
23rd-26th July
Visit HarrogateInternationalFestivals.com
The Factory at Manchester International Festival
Manchester International Festival (MIF) has invited some of the world’s most exciting artists to create free online artworks that imagine what might be to come in The Factory – MIF’s future year-round home. Virtual Factory, the festival’s new series, has launched with Your Progress Will Be Saved, an online experience created by avatar artist LaTurbo Avedon that reimagines The Factory as a space within the hugely popular videogame Fortnite Creative. Elsewhere, Viewpoints is designed to encourage debate and insight into the themes and work featured in the festival. From interviews, articles to podcasts and immersive content, you can browse via watch, listen, immerse or read.
Visit MIF.co.uk
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