The Music Festival Guide: For Music Lovers and Musicians

Freelance music writers Pruett and McGuirk have done a service to musicians and music aficionados alike in this wide-ranging guide to music festivals around the world. They give generous space to a variety of genres, from rock, indie and hip-hop to jazz, country and classical; considerations of the former groups are strongest, however, and make up the bulk of the book. (While such big classical events as the Brattleboro Music Festival in Vermont are omitted, the book does list the Boston Early Music Festival.) In this helpful guidebook, the authors highlight almost all the big festivals as well as the lesser-known ones, offering a brief intro to each and including specs on hotel and travel. For the Newport Beach Jazz Festival, for example, the authors note that the festival has""recently located to a new venue that's more suited to loud music and able to accommodate thousands of visitors."" And for the Canterbury Fayre in England, they point out that the festival""has been associated with musical innovation and experimentation.""