Where to catch We Were Evergreen and other indie greats in 2015

There’s no shortage of awesome indie festivals happening all over the world at all times of the year. And yet, the only festival we ever seem to hear about is South by Southwest. How can one festival hog so much hype? We’re here to fight the power. The power of South by Southwest’s press machine, that is. Here are a handful of indie festivals you won’t want to miss if you’ve got the air miles to get to them.

Noise Pop 2015 – San Francisco, California
With a name like Noise Pop, you know this festival has to deliver the goods when it comes to emerging music, but it also always features a fine selection of emerging visual arts and film. In terms of musical acts, the lineup is already announced and you can count on seeing bands like the Cathedrals, The New Pornographers, Hot Flash Heat Wave, Chasms and Balms. Solo acts include Tony Molina, Devon Williams and Lindsay Lowend.

By: Larm 2015 – Oslo, Norway
This three day festival represents the very best of the current and emerging Nordic music scene. To try and earn spots at By:Larm, roughly 1500 bands apply yearly and the best of the best are selected by a distinguished jury to be exposed to the major international audience this festival brings. This year you can expect to see Anna of the North, Chain Wallet, Gidge, Hawkon, Kimichi, Palmface, Samaris, Soak and Vulcano, amongst many other acts that are sure to be on a much wider radar at this time next year.

Solidays – Paris, France
Well if you simply must see Paris, for a music-lover, there is perhaps no better reason to go than the Solidays music festival. Solidays offers the opportunity to take in over 40 concerts in a three-day period, with over 150 French and international acts performing, We Were Evergreen included. As Solidays is a festival organized by the Solidarite sida foundation, it is a major fundraiser for organizations fighting against AIDS, especially in Africa. All performers agree to take a reduced performance fee in order to keep charitable proceeds high. If that isn’t quite thrilling enough for you, then there’s also bungee jumping…

Parkpop 2015 – The Hague, Netherlands
A favorite haunt of We Were Evergreen, the Parkpop festival is over 32 years old and in that time has grown from a small gathering in a park to a music festival that attracts some 350,000 visitors every year. Parkpop runs for one day per year and one day only. It features three different stages and is the largest free admission music festival in all of Europe.