Songs of spring in the air

Three outdoor music festivals opening around the country this month will be eager to prove that spring's warm weather is finally here. This year the festival scene is expanding from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to more second-tier cities, after last year's Zebra Music Festival in Chengdu.

Warming up is the Zebra Music Festival's opener in Suzhou, which will take place April 21 and 22 at Suzhou Amusement Park, combining a Ferris wheel and roller coaster with rock, electronic and pop rhythms.

From April 29 to May 1, the Zebra Music Festival will return to its birthplace, Chengdu, in Sichuan province, with more fun to offer.

In 2011, the music festival brought bands, beer and bikinis on a Shanghai beach; this year, it will create a wonderland of big tents. Singers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland, including rock singer-songwriter Wang Feng and Taiwan singer-songwriter Stanley Huang, will share the stages with some other foreign acts, such as a four-piece punk rock band from Israeli, Useless ID and French indie pop band Tahiti 80.

Elsewhere, the Strawberry Music Festival returns to Beijing and debuts in Shanghai, simultaneous from April 29 to May 1. Launched under Modern Sky label, one of the most successful indie music companies of China, the music festival, is considered to be a big party for young fans. With the usual lineups from the record company, such as the Queen Sea Big Shark and AK 47, the festival will bring nearly 50 foreign acts to the stages of Beijing and Shanghai.

For fans, who want nothing but pure music enjoyment, then Midi Music Festival, the oldest established music festival in China, will give fans its usual full lineup of domestic and foreign acts, including Marky Ramone, the drummer of Ramones. The festival will he held from April 29 to May 1 at Beijing's Haidian Park, and from April 21 to 22 at Shanghai's Century Park.

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/01/2012 page15)