However, this year's complaint might be "unorganized," as the festival schedule is still unavailable with less than a month until showtime.
This gives Chinese fans cause to worry about last minute no shows, such as headliner Mos Def pulling out of this year's Midi Festival in Beijing with only a few days notice.
The minority of confirmed musicians will return to the festival's 100-hectare stomping ground, boasting four main stages. Organizers decided to bring back its electronic music stage, while adding a folk stage of minority folk music including Dong, Uyghur and Tibetian musicians.
Headliners include rocker-gone-popstar Wang Feng, metal legacy act Tang Dynasty and pop-rock recluse Pu Shu, who graced the cover of Inmusic magazine's first issue back in 2007.
Chinese Glastonbury
Foreign acts are limited to four, with UK electro pop duo Orbital topping the bill. A festival curated by a music magazine is bound to bring in at least one buzz worthy act - UK shoegazers Spiritualized whose latest release Huh? earlier this year has garnered critical acclaim.
Both artists are closely associated with the festivals Li and his team admittedly wishes to emulate: Orbital played at Glastonbury in 2011 while Spiritualized will head to Zhangbei immediately following an appearance at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival.
"I go to international festivals at least once a year, and watch what they do," said Li. "We had this idea to make China's version of Glastonbury and Woodstock, something that represented what we felt would reflect a cultural turning point for China."
But one thing most huge festivals have are fresh lineups, and anyone who has been to a Chinese music festival lately will recognize this reoccurring cast of characters: earthy rockers Miserable Faith, future-disco group Queen Sea Big Shark and punk icons Brain Failure will claim late time slots.
And from a purist point of view, Inmusic is hardly a festival.
Besides the camping, food court and playground to keep kids occupied, the fest is far from reaching its goal of emulating Europe's top music events.
"Festivals must have three key ingredients; a theme, lineup and entertainment," said Jasper Donat, president of Music Matters, the Asia-centric music industry conference, "Otherwise all you've got is just a concert."
Money walks
If anything, Inmusic represents one of the few festivals that have managed to help promote tourism.
Like most of the government-run events in the area, the festival is a component of the local tourism bureau's campaign to promote "grassland culture" which includes an outdoor concert series, art exhibitions, and even a Zhangbei marathon starting this weekend.
But a beautiful locale and deep-pocketed government backing do not automatically equal success.
According to Ma Xiaoye, a researcher with the Chinese Tourism Research Center in Beijing, solely government-sponsored festivals tend to be less profitable than those that cooperate with private sponsors.
"For the first few years the government will get the operation going, but then when the government pulls out, they fail," explained Ma. "This is because economic sustainability is never called into question."
"There is a period of adjustment where the event has to find its tourists. This should dictate how the event develops in the future," he added.
Li has more hope for his festival in the grasslands, his approach more akin to "if you build it, they will come."
"The whole point is getting people out to see it, that's all," he said. "If they see a small group of people will love it, they won't think a festival is scary. It's a whole culture."
The InMusic Festival will run from Friday, July 27 to Sunday, July 29.
Source: Global Times
Print
Save