Arvika Festival
Encyclopedia
Arvika Festival is an annual music festival
held in Arvika
, Sweden
. It takes place during three days in the middle of July, from Thursday to Saturday, with camping available from the beginning of the week. The non-profit association "Galaxen" (Swedish for "The Galaxy") arranges the festival.
Since the nineties, the festival has built up a tradition of booking many big synth-pop bands. This was initially an unintended side effect: for the first festival in 1992 the arrangers had booked Cat Rapes Dog
, Pouppée Fabrikk
and S.P.O.C.K. and about 50% of the audience that showed up was actually mostly interested in these bands since no other festival booked many synth acts. However, along with the synth bands, internationally and nationally famous rock and pop acts visit the festival every year, attracting people not only interested in synth pop.
In 2006, somewhere between 15000 and 16000 people visited the festival, breaking a new record in ticket sales, and confirming the festival's spot as one of the big ones in Sweden. In 2009 the total number of tickets sold were 22500 including all three-day and one-day passes.
Some of the most famous bands that have visited the festival include (in reverse chronological order):
In 2010 the lineup contains bands such as Babyshambles and Regina Spektor.
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
held in Arvika
Arvika
Arvika is a locality and the seat of Arvika Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 14,184 inhabitants in 2005.-Geography:The town of Arvika is situated at Kyrkviken, a bay of Glafsfjorden, Sweden's only inland fjord, a remnant of the time following the last ice age .The area is hilly with the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. It takes place during three days in the middle of July, from Thursday to Saturday, with camping available from the beginning of the week. The non-profit association "Galaxen" (Swedish for "The Galaxy") arranges the festival.
Since the nineties, the festival has built up a tradition of booking many big synth-pop bands. This was initially an unintended side effect: for the first festival in 1992 the arrangers had booked Cat Rapes Dog
Cat Rapes Dog
Cat Rapes Dog is a Swedish electropunk-, ebm- and heavy metal band, formed in 1984 by Joel Rydström and Magnus Fransson.-History:Cat Rapes Dog started out in the mid 80s with some demo releases...
, Pouppée Fabrikk
Pouppée Fabrikk
Pouppée Fabrikk is a Swedish EBM band, started in 1988 by Henrik Björkk and Leif Holm, who both hail from Karlskoga.Initially, the music of Pouppée Fabrikk borrowed heavily from minimalistic electronic acts such as Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft and Nitzer Ebb, but with the addition of Jouni...
and S.P.O.C.K. and about 50% of the audience that showed up was actually mostly interested in these bands since no other festival booked many synth acts. However, along with the synth bands, internationally and nationally famous rock and pop acts visit the festival every year, attracting people not only interested in synth pop.
In 2006, somewhere between 15000 and 16000 people visited the festival, breaking a new record in ticket sales, and confirming the festival's spot as one of the big ones in Sweden. In 2009 the total number of tickets sold were 22500 including all three-day and one-day passes.
Some of the most famous bands that have visited the festival include (in reverse chronological order):
- Depeche ModeDepeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
, Nine Inch NailsNine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
(2009) - InterpolInterpol (band)Interpol is an American indie rock and post-punk revival band from New York City. Formed in 1997, the band's original line-up consisted of Paul Banks , Daniel Kessler , Carlos Dengler and Greg Drudy . Drudy left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Sam Fogarino...
, SlayerSlayerSlayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
, Death Cab For CutieDeath Cab for CutieDeath Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
(2008) - Bloc PartyBloc PartyBloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
, Infected MushroomInfected MushroomInfected Mushroom is an Israeli psychedelic trance DJ act and electronic group originally formed in late 1997 as a duo by producers Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani in Haifa...
(2007) - Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand (band)Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
(2006) - New OrderNew OrderNew Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
(2005) - KraftwerkKraftwerkKraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
(2004) - BjörkBjörkBjörk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, HIM (2003) - Soft CellSoft CellSoft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...
, The CureThe CureThe Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, Primal ScreamPrimal ScreamPrimal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
, MuseMuse (band)Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
(2002) - Motörhead (1999)
- The ProdigyThe ProdigyThe Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
(1995) - Karl BartosKarl BartosKarl Bartos was, between 1975 and 1990, along with Wolfgang Flür, an electronic percussionist in the electronic-music group Kraftwerk. He was originally recruited to play on its US "Autobahn" tour...
as Elektric Music (1994) - Einstürzende NeubautenEinstürzende NeubautenEinstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
, Die KruppsDie KruppsDie Krupps is a German industrial rock/EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf.-History:Their initial sound throughout the 1980s combined synthesizers with metallic percussion...
(1993)
In 2010 the lineup contains bands such as Babyshambles and Regina Spektor.