THE pick of Europe’s festivals in October (and maybe all year for that matter) is Krakow’s Unsound (October 11 to 18, full-week tickets sold out, individual event tickets still available). As famous for its imaginative use of the city – last year a salt mine was one of the venues – as for its extraordinary, educative lineups, Unsound 2016 features sets from the likes of Demdike Stare, Foodman, Moritz von Oswald and Optimo’s JD Twitch, and revolves around the theme of “dislocation”.
Another of Morocco’s ever-lengthening list of high-quality festivals is Moga, which goes down in various venues around the Unesco World Heritage-listed coastal city of Essaouira from October 14 to 16 (weekend tickets €80 to €120). Ame, DJ Tennis and Lee Burridge are among the bill’s top international names.
If Morocco still isn’t far enough afield for you then Mutek’s Mexico City edition (October 21 to 23) might be. Standouts this year include Powell, µ-ZIQ and Mexico’s own Murcof.
Closer to home, the always excellent Simple Things returns to various venues in Bristol on October 22 (day tickets £35), with a supremely varied bill of DJs and live acts taking in names such as Death Grips, Jessy Lanza and Warpaint. Horror composer John Carpenter performs a retrospective of his soundtrack work at a closing concert the following day.
Finally, Robot returns for its ninth edition in the Italian city of Bologna from October 5 to 9. Line-up and ticketing has yet been announced, but this correspondent would recommend its mix of heavy-hitting DJs, experimental live acts and stunning food and architecture to anyone.
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