Glastonbury vs Electric Picnic vs Woodstock Lineups

Festival season is fast approaching, a time where Music Fans across the globe get the chance to see all their favourite artists in one place, but which lineup is the greatest? The title of 'Best Festival In The World' can be a hot debate, and can change from year to year, but if we're talking about how 'mainstream' a festival is, everyone knows England's 'Glastonbury'. The festival last took place in 2017, and was headlined by The Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran, and is always known for having a fantastic lineup. But who are their competitors? I've taken Ireland and America's biggest Festival Lineup for 2019 to compare with Glasto, so let's see who should take the top spot.

Glastonbury 2017.

Starting with Ireland, 'Electric Picnic' is our biggest Festival, taking place at the end of August in Co. Laois, Ireland. Last year featured a, meh, lineup of Kendrick Lamar, The Prodigy, Dua Lipa and George Ezra amongst many more. EP has been criticised for appealing to the mainstream too much by some music geniuses on Twitter for past lineups, I exaggerate, but this year they've absolutely f*cking nailed the balance. The Strokes, Florence & The Machine, Hozier and The 1975 are set to Headline EP in 2019, which will also feature Billie Eilish, Miles Kane and Dermot Kennedy. It's a brilliant lineup, which proved that EP is willing to move slightly away from just 'pop'.

Electric Picnic sold out in September, six months before any announcement of a lineup was made. That's crazy. My opinion on the lineup is that it's fantastic, and I think that with more announcements which is pretty much a guarantee, it's a strong contender for Best Festival of the Year. If I were to guess who else could be announced, and if my dreams could be answered, I'd guess Liam Gallagher and Tame Impala as two more headliners, and possibly Lewis Capaldi as well. Liam and Tame should both have new Albums out by the time August comes around, both have Festival Dates booked, and are free in August for the time being. Crossing my fingers.

The Electric Picnic Lineup for 2019.

Woodstock is one of the most historically important Music Festivals, birthing the concept of the events that are held today. 'Woodstock' first took place in August of 1969 in New York, and has since seen legendary and memorable performances from acts like Green Day and Jimi Hendrix. This year will see 'Woodstock 50', the 50th Anniversary of the legendary Festival. The lineup so far is good, but has left some fans disappointed, and to be honest I've no idea why. Day 1 will see The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and The Raconteurs (Jack White) all headline, that's class. Day 2 has Chance The Rapper, The Black Keys and Greta Van Fleet, that's okay. And finally Day 3 has Jay-Z, Imagine Dragons and Halsey.

I think there's something in there for everyone. Everyone loves The Killers, The Raconteurs are phenomenal, Greta Van Fleet and Imagine Dragons are cool I guess. It's good! I do think that there is a lot of sh*t in there too, which does drag this festival down and I'd put it behind EP, but it has some great acts in there that I'd love to see. Very jealous about The Racs. Not so much about Miley Cyrus.

The Woodstock 50 Lineup for 2019.

And now to Glastonbury. Taking place at the end of June in the UK, this years lineup as actually been heavily criticised on Social Media. The Festival didn't take place last year, as it was a 'fallow year' for the Festival. It's a routine that's done to allow the grounds on which the Festival takes place on to basically heal, and not get completely destroyed. So with a year off, fans expected big things from Glasto's return, and I think they've delivered. Similar to Woodstock, The Killers and Miley Cyrus are amongst the headliners. But here we also have brand new Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees The Cure, then there's Liam Gallagher, Tame Impala, it's brilliant! Stormzy, Kylie Minogue and Janet Jackson are a bit sh*t, but I can appreciate that it allows the Festival to appeal to a much wider audience.

I think that Glasto's lineup is better than Woodstocks actually, mainly because looking past headliners, Glastonbury has some amazing names scattered throughout the poster that aren't headliners, something Woodstock is lacking in my opinion. Names like Billie Eilish, Vampire Weekend, Hozier, Two Door Cinema Club, The Wu-Tang Clan, Sam Fender, it's strong as f*ck! People really need to look beyond the headliners here, even though they're great in my opinion, the lineup as a whole is very good.

The Glastonbury 2019 Lineup.

So overall, who is the best for me? Well this is somewhat biased, but I think that considering the time still to go, and the potential for new and huge acts to be announced, I actually think Ireland's Electric Picnic could have the best overall lineup out of these three. I think it has diversity, originality, and just has so much more potential to look forward to. Glastonbury is a close second though, that lineup is phenomenal. And Woodstock, well, it's a little bit weak. Thank you for reading.