France

From the plain of Clisson, where Hellfest turns a small western village into the global capital of metal every summer, to the Breton moorlands of Les Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix — the country's largest festival — France is a festival nation of rare density. Come summer, from open fields to city parks, it unfolds a sonic geography all its own: rock and pop on the lawns of the Saint-Cloud estate at Rock en Seine, just outside Paris, and the charity-fuelled celebration of Solidays on the Longchamp racecourse.

But it is on the electronic front that the French Touch left its mark on the world, and Lyon still carries the torch with Nuits Sonores, while Paris reinvents the green festival at We Love Green. The South-West, meanwhile, nurtures a different tradition — that of jazz, celebrated each summer beneath the Gascon plane trees of Jazz in Marciac. To help you find your way, FestT works out your FestiScore — how closely a line-up matches your favourite artists — and keeps dates, headliners and ticketing up to date. Explore festivals city by city below, too.