As the weather gradually gets warmer, it brings the return of summer festival season and Irish music fans are spoilt for choice when it comes to some of the best music festivals on offer.
From huge weekenders such as Electric Picnic and Body & Soul, to more intimate affairs like Wild Roots and Beyond the Pale, music fans have plenty pf options to choose from right on their door step.
However, if you fancy heading abroad for a weekend music festival, one of the best options could be Bilbao BBK in Spain.
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It features a world class line-up featuring some of the biggest acts in the world, Spanish summer weather - with temperatures of around 25C - and very affordable ticket prices, Buzz.ie reports.
In a nutshell
Every summer the city of Bilbao, in the Basque Country, celebrates this festival of electronic music and rock, featuring top international artists.
In recent years, this has become established as one of the most important music festivals in Europe, and a key date in July for modern and alternative music fans.
For the past 15 years, thousands of people have gathered in Kobetamendi for three days to enjoy live music in a natural and unique mountain setting, close to the centre of Bilbao, a tourist and cultural destination.
There are 12 stages in the festival: seven on the festival site, one in the camping area and four in the city. Due to the musical style or the particularity of the space, each of the 120,000 festival-goers finds the perfect spot to kick back, soak up the sun and enjoy the music.
Bilbao BBK 2023
The sixteenth edition of the festival will be held from July 6-8 2023 in the mountains of Kobetamendi, a natural park overlooking the whole city and surrounding area.
Bilbao BBK always boasts a star-studded line-up and this year is no different, with Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine, The Chemical Brothers, 070 Shake, Dry Cleaning, and The Murder Capital among the acts to have been confirmed for the 2023 festival.
Also on the bill are Phoenix, Irish singer-songwriter Róisín Murphy, The Blaze, Jamie xx, Idles, Röyksopp, Fever Ray, M83, Arca, Duki, Love of Lesbian, and plenty more.
Cult indie band Pavement, who kicked off their reunion tour last year, will also be bringing their eccentric energy and catalogue of classic tracks when they headline day two of the festival.
The festival also has a stage which does not exceed 100 beats per minute and has become a key area where festival-goers put the brakes on and recharge with slow tempos.
Unlike Irish summer festivals, concert-goers are guaranteed to enjoy stunning sunshine during the festival as the average maximum daytime temperature in Bilbao in July is around 25.6C, while the average minimum temperature goes down to a still balmy 15.6C.
Ticket prices
Tickets for Bilbao BBK 2023 go on sale on March 9 at 10am, and are available to purchase here.
A camping and festival pass will cost €195, which is cheaper than Irish music festivals such as Electric Picnic (€281), Body & Soul (€239), Beyond the Pale (currently €215 until March 10), Wild Roots (€235) and All Together Now (€235).
And if you fancy bringing your kids along, under-11s get free into the festival.
The festival will donate €3 from each ticket sold to the reforestation effort in Balmaseda, Enkarterri recently affected by wildfires.
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