B’Estfest Goes For Euro Vote

Having seen such old Eastern Bloc gatherings as Serbia’s Exit Festival, Poland’s Heineken Open’er and Hungary’s Sziget win Europe’s “Best Festival” Award, Romania’s B’Estfest Summer Camp appears determined to live up to its name.

This year’s lineup announcement points out that ticket prices for the three-dayer start at euro 60 ($78) and a cold beer costs only one euro ($1.31).

They’re the sort of prices that first attracted western Europeans to Serbia, Poland and Hungary, as many young people saw those countries’ festivals as an ideal holiday destination.

After skipping 2010 because an overcrowded Balkan market would make it hard to move tickets, last year Emagic’s revamped B’Estfest Summer Camp decided to compete.

It did about 13,000 per day for a bill that had Skunk Anansie, Mika and Pendulum, faring much better than D&D East Entertainment’s Rock The City and Sonisphere, which was canceled due to poor sales.

Apart from changing the name from B’Estfest to B’Estfest Summer Camp, Emagic chief Laura Coroianu moved the event from the 30,000-capacity Romexpo site near the centre of the Romanian capital to a greenfield site on the edge of Lake Pasarea.

The acts on this year’s bill July 6-8 include Pulp, Garbage, Stanton Warriors, Kreator, Selah Sue, Milow, and Skindred.