Mediterranean Music Festivals Guide 2018

Primavera Sound
Barcelona, Spain, 30 May-3 Jun
One of Europe’s best festivals, Primavera Sound’s line-up is incredible yet again, featuring everyone from Björk and Lorde to Nils Frahm and Vince Staples. Partying all night and leaving when the sun comes up – what’s not to love? For a similar vibe on a smaller scale, hit Primavera’s sister fest in Porto (7-9 Jun). 
Day tickets from £75; full festival pass from £189. Fly: Edinburgh or Glasgow Prestwick to Barcelona El Prat via Ryanair. Visit: Park Güell

Sónar Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain, 14-16 Jun
Typical, eh? You wait all year for a great festival, and then two come along in the same city in the space of a fortnight. Mind you, there are worse problems to have – Sónar's line-up is, as usual, a sparkling selection from across the electronic music spectrum. Highlights include Thom Yorke, LCD Soundsystem, IAMDDB, and the rarely-spotted Despacio soundsystem from 2manydjs and James Murphy. 
Day tickets £50, night tickets £69; full festival pass £157. 

Beaches Brew
Marina de Ravenna, Italy, 4-7 Jun
Beaches Brew has been running since 2012, always offering a solid line-up at a beautiful location on Italy’s north-east coast and always free – you literally just need to get there and sort your accommodation out, whether that be a hotel, bungalow or campsite. This year’s initial line-up includes Ezra Furman, Khruangbin, Liima, Sudan Archives, Downtown Boys and Flohio. 
Free Entry. Fly: Edinburgh to Bologna via Ryanair. Visit: Cineteca di Bologna

KALA
Kala, Albania, 20-27 Jun
Explore the beautiful Albanian Riviera with Kala festival; set to take place for a week at the end of June at a stunning undiscovered paradise beach location in Albania. The 2018 line-up already includes Todd Terje, The Black Madonna, Hot Chip Mega Mix, Peggy Gou, Ross from Friends and OR:LA. 
From £441 pp for three nights, includes accommodation & festival access. Fly: Edinburgh via Ryanair or Glasgow International via Jet2 to Corfu, Greece where you can get a boat to Kala. Visit: Blue Eye Spring

Exit
Novi Sad, Serbia, 12-15 Jul
Exit is an award-winning summer music festival held at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia. The festival’s 19th edition will include performances from Fever Ray, Ziggy Marley, Alice Merton, Richie Hawtin, Nina Kraviz, Idles and Ben Klock with loads more already confirmed and more TBA. 
Tickets from £89. Fly: London Heathrow via Air Serbia or London Luton via Wizz Air to Belgrade Nikola Tesla. Visit: Kalemegdan Citadel, Belgrade

Sea Dance Festival
Budva, Montenegro, 14-16 Jul
2017’s festival saw Sean Paul and Fatboy Slim rip up the dancefloor on the beautiful beaches of Budva in Montenegro. Voted best medium-sized European festival in the 2014 European Festival Awards, Sea Dance is easily one of Europe’s hottest summer destinations. Go for a few days either side of the festival and enjoy Montenegro’s towering mountains with hiking and mountain biking trips.
Tickets TBC. Fly: Edinburgh via easyJet or Glasgow via Jet2 to Dubrovnik. Visit: Lovćen National Park

Ortigia Sound System
Siracusa, Italy, 25-29 Jul
Sun! Exciting historical architecture! The sea! OSS is an annual celebration of electronic and dance music from around the world, set on Oritigia, the Sicilian island and UNESCO World Heritage site. We await details of this year's line-up, but last year's bill – featuring Avalon Emerson, Palms Trax and Mount Kimbie – suggests we're in good hands.  
Tickets £39. Fly: Manchester to Catania via Easyjet. Visit: The Ear of Dionysius (Orecchio di Dionisio)

Paredes de Coura
Paredes de Coura, Portugal, 15-18 Aug
Paredes de Coura is one of the biggest festivals in Portugal, running annually since 1993 in Praia do Taboão, Paredes de Coura in the north-west of Portugal. This year’s line-up so far includes Arcade Fire, Skepta, Big Thief, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and Curtis Harding. 
Tickets from £88. Fly: Edinburgh to Porto via Ryanair. Visit: Corno do Bico Protected Landscape

Dimensions
Pula, Croatia, 29 Aug-2 Sep
An underground electronic music festival at a legit Roman fort (Fort Punta Christo), Dimensions is the perfect place to enjoy electronica, house, techno, world, disco, dubstep and other electronic sounds. James Holden & The Animal Spirits, Helena Hauff, Jon Hopkins and Open Mike Eagle are just some of the acts you can catch this year. 
Weekend tickets from £110. Fly: Edinburgh to Pula via Jet2. Visit: Amphitheatre de Pula

MENT
Ljubljana, Slovenia, Jan/Feb 2019, dates TBC
Slovenia’s MENT festival was launched in 2015 and is an international showcase festival taking place across several venues in Ljubljana and at the European Festival Awards in 2017 it picked up two awards: Best Indoor Festival and Best Small Festival. Alongside the music, MENT also hosts a conference focusing on the music industry and creativity. 
Tickets TBC. Fly: London Luton via Wizz Air or London Stansted via easyJet to Ljubljana. Visit: Ljubljana Castle