Passionate music lover and Dance Music Manchester fan, Erhan Korhaliller (@Ekorhaliller), wrote us this interesting run-down of some alternative festivals abroad – not in the sunshine, but in the snowy slopes of Europe. If you’re looking for a place to rave and have an awesome time with a difference, read on!

Snowwboxx

Where: Arinsal, Andorra
When: 22nd-28th March
Line Up: Roses Gabor, The Other Tribe DJ set, Eton Messy D/R/U/G/S & much more

One of the new festivals kicking off this year is Snowwboxx, promising to bring a touch of Balearic sun to the snowy slopes or Arinsal, Andorra. Throw into that the duty-free clubs and bars on the resort (1 euro a pint!) and we see a very messy week ahead! Before the flight home, be sure to check out the drink the bar dry party; Snowboxx is determined to send you home still hammered on Andorras finest. Alas, fear not serious skiers and boarders, after all Andorra was the host of the Alpine Ski World Cup 2012.

Not to be outdone, Snowboxx will be taking you up the mountain to the panoramic stage for a huge party which promises to have you gasping at the views Offering a cheaper alternative to Snowbombing, Snowboxx promises to be a week full of misadventures and not for the faint hearted!
http://www.snowboxx.com/

Horizon

Where: Bansko, Bulgaria
When: 23rd-29th March 2013
Line Up: Jackmaster, Loefah, Crazy P, Ben Pearce, Phaeleh & much more

The much anticipated Horizon Festival opens its doors to revelers for the first time this year in Bansko, Bulgaria. Bansko is the most popular and modern ski resort is Eastern Europe and away from the festival itself offers a lively nightlife scene. Horizon is exclusively taking over the town’s facilities for one week only!

There are over 20 parties spread over clubs, ice rinks, on the slopes and in the forests! On the slopes there will be DJ’S hosting raves in the piste bars, and stages will be ran by audio doughnuts, Flux, Pulse Radio, Shapes, Trix and Resonance Records.
http://www.togetherski.com/

Basscamp Night and Day Sessions

Where: Morezine, France
When: 14th March- 19th March
Line Up: TBC

Into its second year, Basscamp once again takes over Morezine for 5 days and 5 nights only. Last year the likes of Marco Del Horno, A Skills, Foamo, High Rankin and The Correspondents tore up the little French village that comes to life when Basscamp pulls up for some musical mayhem.

Altitude Comedy Festival

Where: Mayrhofen, Austria
When: 18th – 22nd March 2013
Line Up: John Bishop, Michael Mittermeier, Terry Alderton and tons more!

If music isn’t your thing then why not check out Altitude Comedy Festival and roll down the slopes in laughter. With an impressive 2013 line up including the ever impressive John Bishop, this year’s festival is sure to top 2012’s success!

Set in the same location as Snowbombing, Altitude offers a different dimension to your ski trip. Aside from the festival it’s also worth visiting Mayrhofens local nightclub made of entirely of snow!
http://www.altitudefestival.com/

Snowbombing

Where: Mayrhofen, Austria
When: April 1st- 6th April
Line Up: Carl Cox, Seth Troxler, Skream, Kasabian, Example, Disclosure & much more

Known as the ‘Glastonbury on Ice’, Snowbombing is the pioneer of the alpine music festival. Starting off with just 200 people and a couple of DJs going to the alps for a party with their ski’s, Snowbombing has grown into a huge festival with over 5,000 revelers descending upon Mayrhofen.

Ever been to a rave and been told to keep your hands out of your pockets (in case you fall), to keep on dancing (to stave off the cold) and to watch your alcohol intake (due to high altitude)? The Igloo, formerly known as the arctic disco isn’t one of your normal dancing jaunts, in 2012, Seth Troxler’s set in the igloo was one of the highlights of the festival, with skiers returning off the lifts craving for more.

This year the line up is back, bigger and better with the likes of Carl Cox keeping its roots firmly placed in its dance origins plus the talents of guitar specialists Kasabian.
http://www.snowbombing.com/

For those of you going to European festivals this year, you might be wondering about how to get there, or how much it’s all going to cost to get to places, which could turn out to be shockingly expensive! Now, of course festivals are all about the music, the raving and the drinking, but these little details are pretty important and often get overlooked in all the excitement.

This is where Music Festival Holidays come in. These guys offer professional and affordable organised travel packages to festivals abroad, in European destinations such as Croatia, which are often difficult to reach due to poor public transport links and high travel costs. MFH are the main travel provider for Hideout Festival, and work closely with many other festivals like Sziget, Benicassim, Outlook, MELT, Sonar, Tomorrowland and Snowboxx.

If you’re looking to use a tour operator to organise an affordable group summer holiday and an easy solution to get to those hard-to-reach festivals, we’d recommend MFH. They organise your festival pass along with flights and coach travel to and from the festival, plus stop-offs for party nights out en-route to the event.

With 25 years experience in the travel market, MHF are your port of call for organising your perfect music festival holiday!

Find Out More

Check out the website to find out about packages, payment and all the options on offer. Stay tuned for awesome competition giveaways coming up too – you could be the winner of two Hideout Festival tickets!

Website: www.musicfestivalholidays.co.uk
Twitter: @MusicFestHols
Facebook: www.facebook.com/music-festival-holidays

As if the line-up isn’t teasing enough, the guys behind Cocoon in the Park released a teaser trailer for the festival to tantalise your musical taste buds.

Cocoon’s fourth annual open air event, plays host to a DMM favourite,  Sven Vath and a handpicked selection of his house and techno team of superstar DJs, as they command the decks in the stunning grounds of Temple Newsham. The 450 year old mansion, just outside Leeds, provides the perfect location for an open air, completely unique, one day festival.

As with all Cocoon events, expect an awesome production of dancers, a bespoke lighting show, breathtaking pyrotechnics and an all around epic performance from all of those involved.

Lineup:
Sven Väth
Loco Dice
Cassy
VisionQuest (Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves)

Coaches are available from Manchester, Leeds, London, Birmingham and Newcastle so there are no excuses to miss out. After the incredible VisionQuest CD in Mixmag last month, we cannot wait for Cocoon in the Park 2012, a soundtrack to the DMM office at the moment. Cheers for that Seth, Ryan and Shaun!

Tickets are still available (we’re not quite sure how and they won’t be available for long) online from just £43 here.

DMM have just heard some really exciting news about a brand spanking new dance music festival from the team behind the Mint Club and Mint Warehouse, taking place on Saturday 29th September 2012,  12 midday – 1am, at the breathtaking Lotherton Hall,  Leeds.

10,000 lucky festival-ravers will enjoy the all day festival, spread over four awesome stages and carefully curated by leading club nights including System, Jungle Jam, Bitch, Flux, Bigger Than Barry and more to be announced soon. What we have seen of the incredible lineup, sets up a red hot festival, boasting an eclectic, diverse collection of the best DJs and live acts in house, techno, disco, drum and bass and mainstream dance.The stunning venue for this must-attend party is a mere 13 miles from Leeds City Centre and is one of Great Britain’s favourite boutique festival locations, hosting massive dance and University events within the beautiful Edwardian grounds, perfect for an end-of-summer party.More information on tickets, coaches and lineup additions to follow soon. So watch this space or like the Mint Festival on Facebook / follow Mint Festival on Twitter.

In just 72 days; the tents will be up, the bars will be stocked, the stages set up and the staff eagerly waiting for the flood of people ready to come through the gates for this year’s most anticipated festival! On July 27^th – 28^th Global Gathering returns to Long Marston Airfield, Stratford Upon Avon and in it’s 12^th year running, we think it’s going to be it’s biggest year yet! With headline performances from Armin Van Buuren, Skrillex, Chase and Status, Nero and Friendly Fires.

The festival has just announced new additions to the already colossal line up that is bursting at the seams with incredible live acts and DJ’s from across the globe! Now, in the brand new arena ‘House’ headlining the event is the incredible Nicky Romero, the hard partying Australian DJ and Producer Tommy Trash, Dada Life, R3hab – electro house lover who has made successful remixes for the likes of Lady Gaga, Calvin Harris and Lil’ Wayne. The upcoming star Rob Guson will be doing exactly what it says on the tin and playing some really tasty house music. Having featured at the festival only once before, it’s going to be a brilliant addition to the festival!

Also new this year is the Ec-lectricity Arena, who simply believe in good music no matter what genre it is! They have booked melodic music craftsmen James Zabiela, Redlight, Hessle Audio (consisting of Pearson Sound, Ben UFO and Pangaea) the bass heavy Breakage, DJ and producer Mosca who binds dancehall and tech house to create a mash up concoction – perfect for Ec-lectricity Arena. Jackmaster, Rockwell, Disclosure, George Fitzgerald and the incredible vocalist featured in SBTRKT’s – Pharoah; Roses Gabor will also be playing, live and fierce!

This year is going to be huge for Global Gathering, they literally have something for everyone and when I go this summer, I’m going to make sure I see people other than just my favourites. Definitely the year to be adventurous and mix it up a bit! The Electric Arena is standing out for me the most; Annie Mac, Fake Blood, Jackbeats (DJ set.. Pretty cool) and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs… I can just imagine the vibrant, fun, bass fuelled beats being pumped around the tent and it’s going to be a dancing sensation being inside there!

A State of Trance and Godskitchen are two arenas I’ll be checking out, after watching Armin Van Buuren at Global Gathering in 2010 I was blown away, the atmosphere was so uplifting there was a possibility we might of taken off and flown into space, truly incredible and a must see again! Armin will also be broadcasting his show ‘A State of Trance’ live from the festival to millions of listeners all over the world – an absolute first for Global Gathering!

There is much more going on and for the full line up here, there is literally every genre under the sun, I recommend doing a lucky dip and going wherever it takes you. There is so many incredible DJ’s and live acts just waiting to be discovered so take a chance and have fun!

Tickets are still available and start at £105 + fees for standard weekend camping! Buy tickets for Global Gatehering Here