Couleur Café, Belgium, 25-27 June

Sadly the words Belgium and vibrant don't always sit together comfortably, but for the past 15 years Couleur Café has been changing perceptions of what the country's festival scene has to offer. It's set in the centre of Brussels, and some 80,000 people turn up to rave here over three days, getting on down to world sounds from hip-hop to Balkan beats. This year, heavy hitter Snoop Dogg (also set to be a Glastonbury highlight) and Nas & Damian Marley will bring the noise, and there's a fireworks display on the Saturday night. A variety of home-cooked, cheap food is on offer to compliment the world-wide variety of music.

• Couleurcafe.be. Three-day festival and camping tickets are sold out, but day tickets are still available for €34. The Centre Vincent van Gogh (+ 32 2 217 0158; twin rooms from €26.50) is a groovy, central hostel. The chic White Hotel (+32 2 644 2929; doubles from €75) just south of the centre is a stack of simple white rooms, with furniture by contemporary Belgian designers

Sonisphere, across Europe, June-August

If you have a specific European destination in mind for a break this year, chances are the Sonispherefamily of hard rock and metal festivals will be happening there. Sonisphere could change your quiet, relaxing break with your partner in, for example, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Spain, Sweden, Finland, or indeed, England, into a trip that's a little bit louder than expected. The mammoth metal bands differ from country to country, but Iron Maiden, Mötley Crue and Slayer are typical. England's Sonisphere is at Knebworth from 30 July-1 August – the line-up includes Iggy and the Stooges, Alice Cooper and Gary Numan.

• Sonispherefestivals.com. Prices vary. Three-day passes for Knebworth, including camping, cost £157.50

Spraoi festival, Ireland, 30 July-1 August

Spraoi festival is a free urban festival in beautiful Waterford in the south-east of Ireland. It attracts nearly 100,000 people and the city streets act as a stage for acts from around the world. As well as music, there is an emphasis on street art, with Indian, Swedish, French and German crews bringing acrobatics, dance and juggling to the festival. There is also a programme of live music – from bluegrass to ska – at pubs and other venues, called Rhythm Routes. Sunday afternoon's parade, on a theme of flights of fantasy, is the highlight of the festival.

• Spraoi.com. Free. The festival website lists hotels doing special deals. The Granville Hotel (+353 51 305555), for example, has two nights' B&B for two, including dinner on one night, for €258

Gilles Peterson's Worldwide festival, France, 8-11 July

Set in three locations around the port in the beautiful city of Sète and reachable by TGV train, Worldwide features music chosen to complement the stunning surroundings, with names that roll off the tongue when you think of the Radio 1 DJ's worldwide musical taste. Gil Scott-Heron, Joy Orbison and the intriguing Gonja Sufi all feature, as well as a diverse range of up-and-coming DJs, bands and performers from all over the world.

• Worldwidefestival.com. Four-day passes cost €126. Le Grand Hôtel (+33 4 6774 7177; doubles from €105) in the old port is a chilled-out place to enjoy the vibe

G! festival, Faroe Islands, 15-17 July

While its neighbours in Iceland, Norway and Scotland have plenty of summer festivals to keep them entertained, the Faroe islanders have the G! festival for local music fans and visitors up for an adventure. It gives Faroese musicians a showcase for their talents as well as welcoming international artists. Dramatic hills and working ports make this a welcome change from sponsored and branded festivals – G! festival is as much a nature trip as one to waken the musical senses. Great local food, a charming way of making you feel at home and a cute and welcoming ambience make G! a force, albeit a quiet, twee one, to be reckoned with.

• Gfestival.com. 895 DKK (£105) for a weekend festival ticket, 225 DKK (£25) for a ticket to the camping area. Atlantic Airways (+298 34 10 00) flies to the Faroes from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Aberdeen

Lorient Interceltic festival, France, 6-15 August

Once a year, the town of Lorient in Brittany becomes a focus of Celtic culture. Groups from Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Galicia and Asturias take part, with each having a turn at leading the festival – it's the Bretons' go this year. Classical, folk and jazz music feature, and it's also a showcase for writers, sculptors and painters. Events are held across the city, with the larger ones taking place at the Parc de Moustoir stadium and in the fishing port. Irish band the Cranberries are the headline act on the opening night. There is plenty to talk about as Celtic languages, such as Welsh, Gaelic and Breton, struggle to survive but there are unique cultures, traditions and art forms to be celebrated too, with thousands taking part in the Parade of the Celtic Nations on 8 August.

• Festival-interceltique.com. Many events are free, but there is a charge for some – see the festival website. Tickets for the Cranberries' show, for example, cost €43. Hôtel Le Victor Hugo (+33 2 9721 1624; doubles from €45) is a good choice near the port

Sziget, Hungary, 11-16 August

A festival that has the benefit of the Danube as a backdrop, the Sziget festival in Budapest is a top option. All music genres are represented, as well as theatre and performance arts, and the island setting makes for a unique atmosphere.

It also has an astonishing 55 stages and 1,000 artists booked. This year, there'll be "a celebration of reggae and ska" with The Wailers and guests, while Yeasayer, Major Lazer, Simian Mobile Disco and a comprehensive world music, dance and Roma line-up should make it feel refreshingly different. Sziget proudly claims that only 25% of its festival-goers are from Hungary. Budapest's reputation as a top city-break destination doesn't do the festival any harm either, with many taking time to soak up the city's atmosphere, as well as raving and gigging.

• Sziget.hu/festival_english. Six-day tickets, including camping, cost €200 (€170 non-camping). Day tickets €45

Oya, Norway, 11-14 August

Norway's Oya festival has grown considerably in the past 10 years, and is now a huge four-day spectacular in the centre of Oslo. The more popular touring bands, this year including Pavement, MIA and The XX, make up much of the bill, but each year Oya is sure to include plenty of the country's finest new acts, with the shoegazing Megaphonic Thrift, renowned DJ Lindstrom and the psychedelic Serena Maneesh bringing the Norwegian noise this year. If the city centre experience, tours of fjords and eating locally-caught fish aren't enough, there is also a small, separate programme of music at night spots around Oslo during the event.

• Oyafestivalen.com. Four-day passes for the festival have sold out, but one-day tickets are available and cost about £70. There is no camping on the site, but Ekeberg Camping (+47 221 98568) is nearby. It's around 260k (£28) a night for a four-person tent. Rica G20 (+47 2201 6400; doubles from £107) is a chic new hotel in the city centre with minimalist rooms, and electric bikes to rent

EuroSonic, Netherlands, 13-15 January 2011

Long gone are the days when you had to wait until the summer to enjoy music at a festival. One of my favourite trips is just three weeks after Christmas, when the EuroSonic festival in Groningen, two hours north-east of Amsterdam, welcomes fans from across Europe. The festival focuses on European acts for the first two days and Dutch bands on the third. It operates a suitably liberal booking policy (this is the Netherlands, after all) – acts simply apply on the official website for one of the 250 performance slots. The deadline is 1 September. The gigs are at indoor venues across the city (including Vera, a mere mention of which gets touring bands all misty-eyed, thanks to early performances there by Nirvana), from the grand and theatrical to the rundown and grotty.

• Eurosonic-noorderslag.nl. Prices haven't been set for the 2011 festival; in 2010, tickets cost €40 for two days, €75 for three days. The Asgard Hotel (Ganzevoortsingel 2-1; +31 50 313 8387; doubles from €125) is in the centre of town – a historic facade hides a contemporary interior. The festival also has a list of accommodation options

Huw Stephens is on BBC Radio 1 on Wednesdays from 9pm-10pm and on Thursdays from midnight-2am. Listen to BBC Radio 1 all next week for highlights from the Sonar Festival in Barcelona. For more information about live music this summer on BBC Radio 1 visit: bbc.co.uk/radio1