Perhaps surprising to some, the central Chinese city of Xi’an is once again becoming quite the destination for music festivals. Having been the site of a Strawberry Festival (Modern Sky) in 2010, the record label returns to the ancient capital the first weekend of June with another edition of Strawberry. Following that, the Summer Parade “Forests International Music Festival” will set up shop during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday break (June 11-12). The latter festival’s lineup includes regional indie favourites Deserts Chang (TW) and My Little Airport (HK) as well as mainland headliners Omnipotent Youth Society, Snapline and MC Shitou. For pop fans, Della Ding (丁当) somewhat inexplicably headlines the second day.
We last wrote about Xi’an when the Zebra Festival that was supposed to be there was cancelled in the lead up to the 2012 transition. However, the return of festivals to the city this year, as well as global brands such as adidas looking to put on events in the city, means that Chengdu and Wuhan may soon have company in the exclusive “hip second-tier city” club.