No time to travel to festivals or concerts around the world? Here’s the ultimate answer to see your favourite band from wherever you are: live stream festivals. Even if there is a geoblock in place, we’ll show you how to enjoy some of the best festivals in the world through live streaming.
As travelling festival geeks we know how you feel… There are so many awesome festivals taking place in Europe, the USA and in so many other countries, that it’s impossible to visit ‘em all. Of course, nothing beats partying near the main stage when your favourite band is playing or being in the mosh pit at awesome rock & metal festivals. But there are so many reasons why you couldn’t go to these festivals yourself. Live streaming is the solution.
It's easy to live stream festivals
Heaps of major music festivals, concerts and sporting events offer fans the opportunity to watch it via live stream. Festivals offers this from their website or via an official media partner. No need to look for “illegal” live streams. Check out some of the festivals that offer (free) live streaming:
- Rock am Ring / Rock in Park (Germany)
- Pinkpop festival (Holland)
- Rock Werchter (Belgium)
- Lollapalooza (USA)
- … and more. Heaps of festivals offer a free live stream nowadays.
Getting rid of the geoblock on these (free) live streams
The only annoying thing is that sometimes these festival live streams are only available to people in a specific country or geographical area. As soon as you try to start the festival’s live stream you might see a message like “It’s not allowed to watch this live stream from your geographical location”. It always comes down to copyright issues, especially when it’s about concerts or festivals being broadcast online.
Fortunately, there is a solution. Simply use a ‘Virtual Private Network’ or VPN. That’s a piece of software that will change your IP address, so the live streaming service will think you are actually in that specific country or geographical area. Sounds complicated but it isn’t.
Setting up a VPN in 3 easy steps
My favourite VPN service is PureVPN, especially because it’s so easy to set up. You don’t need technical knowledge. Anyone can set up a VPN service.
- Select a PureVPN plan (all plans come with unlimited data transfer), starting from just around $2 a month. No long-term plans, you can start with just a month to see if you like it. No worries.
- Download the VPN software for your device: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android or any internet-powered device.
- Click to install and follow the steps. It’s all explained well and if you need more info there are detailed instructions on the PureVPN website
Another reason why I like PureVPN is that they have servers around the world, so you can live stream festivals that take place in North America, Central America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania (New Zealand and Australia).
The most important reason NOT to go for a FREE VPN service
Yes, there are also free VPN services out there. Keep in mind, that if something is free that company needs to make its money in another way. Usually, that means that they serve ads, offer a low-streaming speed or hijack your bandwidth and use it for other purposes (often illegal purposes).
See for example these interesting articles about free VPN services:
- “Popular Chrome extension Hola sold users' bandwidth for botnets” (read the article)
- “Free VPN: are VPNs safe? What are the hidden risks?” (read the article)
A bonus of a good VPN service: security
By using a VPN service you’ll be more secure on the internet. Your web browsing is secure, which is important if you’re using public WiFi hotspots a lot. You know, those free WiFi hotspots at airports, in coffee shops, McDonalds and libraries around the world. Just Google words like “dangers of public wifi hotspots” and you’ll see 1,000s results explaining how your device’s security is at risk if you just connect to a random free wifi hotspot. Or check out this video.
Using a VPN helps you to stay secure wherever in the world you are connecting to the internet. Great for entertainment like live streaming festivals and sporting events but even better for digital nomads. All kinds of travellers will benefit from a good, easy-to-use and cheap VPN service.
Other uses of a VPN
There are so many reasons why using a VPN service makes sense, especially for travellers.
- You can watch TV shows or movies from your home-country online.
- You can buy music from online shops like 7digital.com by using your own account or buy in another country’s shop.
- Get access to Netflix content from other countries
- Use apps that aren't allowed in your country (the future of TikTok?)
- Watch sporting events like the FIFA World Cup or European Cup while being overseas.
- Stream Formula 1 or Formula E.
- … So many awesome events that you can watch online by using a good yet cheap VPN service.
Nothing beats the real deal
Using (free) live streams to experience festivals and gigs is great, but nothing beats the real deal: being there and truly experiencing the power of your favourite band. As that was already said at the beginning of this blog post, I'll leave it at this. Streaming is good alternative when you don't have the time or money to be there in person. Enjoy the festival season, wherever you are.
