Photo Credit: Jens Dige/ROCKPHOTO
Rosklide is a massive 8-day festival that takes place in Denmark from June 30th to July 7th. This year will be its 48th addition, with the first one being in 1972. It has been a non-profit event since 1972. Roskilde Festival Charity Society organizes the festival to generate funds towards cultural and humanitarian causes. Since the early 70’s, they have donated over $52.7 million to charity.
The entire festival sits on a massive piece of land almost the size of over 350 football fields. As soon as gates are open, attendees rush to the iconic orange stage to be sprayed with champagne. Rosklide is full of over 30 years of traditions, music, arts, debates, and so much more. See all the magic for yourself.
A total of 130,000 people from 80 countries attended the festival making the grounds Denmark’s fourth largest city measured by population. The average age of an attendee last year was 24 years old, with about a 50/50 split between male and female festival goers. In 2016, about 26% of attendees were there for the first time. In the campsite, more than 50,000 tents are set up as attendees settle in for a week of musical delight.
Last year over 180 artists from 32 countries played across nine stages. Of those artists, 26% were Danish and 75% had never played at the festival before. This year’s the festival boasts a massive line up with major names like Eminem, Nine Inch Nails, Cardi B, Bruno Mars, Khalid, Gorillaz, Dua Lipa, and many many more!
Luckily, the festival has put together a playlist to expose to you a little bit of everything. They even have a playlist to help you explore those up and coming Nordic acts that perform the first few days of the festival.
There are so many names on that line up that every time I look at the poster I see someone new. For me, there are two, in particular, that stand out to me as artists who have recently come onto my radar. 6LACK and The Blaze are two that I am particularly excited to see out of that sea of names.
6LACK
Ricardo Valentine is a singer, songwriter, and rapper from Atlanta, Georgia popularly known at 6LACK (pronounced “black”). He began rapping at a young age, mostly participating in battles. After being inspired by Sage and Usher, he began singing and recording music in 2009. He signed with Flo Rider’s IMG Strongarm label in 2011 and then later with Interscope.
The Blaze
They have been on my radar ever since one of my favorite artists, Klingande, mentioned in an exclusive interview with us that this group is one of his favorites. The Blaze is a French duo comprised of two cousins, Jonathan and Guillaume Alric. The two are known for pairing their hypnotic sound with captivating and cinematic music videos.