The summer music festival season is well underway and there are plenty of options if you fancy singing along to your favourite bands in foreign fields. Hold your lighter in the air and let Patrick Cooke guide you through four of the best that haven’t yet sold out.

Pukkelpop

Where: Near Hasselt, Belgium
Dates: August 16-18
Cost: €155 for adult ticket with camping
Headliners: Björk, Foo Fighters, Bloc Party, The Black Keys

If you missed out on tickets for the already sold out Lowlands festival in neighbouring Holland, Pukkelpop is a good alternative that features many of the same headliners.

Whereas 100 years ago the fields of Flanders reverberated to the sounds of artillery fire; since 1985 it’s been rock music that has broken the summer tranquility here.

Maybe they’re not considered as hedonistic – dare I say as interesting – as their Dutch neighbours, but the young, open-minded Belgians who flock to this festival from Flanders and beyond certainly know how to enjoy themselves.

Relatively cheap in terms of ticket prices compared to other festivals in western Europe, Pukkelpop offers 200 acts across eight stages, with many huge international names on the bill.

Unfortunately, Pukkelpop hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons last year when a freak storm caused the festival to be cancelled after five people died. But lessons have hopefully been learned and organisers are expecting another sell-out.

If Pukkelpop tickles your eardrums then book soon – last Tuesday the official festival website announced there were not many tickets remaining.

Getting there: Fly to Eindhoven with Ryanair or Brussels withAir Malta.

Way Out West

Where: Gothenburg, Sweden
Dates: August 9-11
Cost: 1895 kroner (€218) for adult ticket
Line-up: Kraftwerk, Blur, Bon Iver, Florence + The Machine

In case you didn’t know, the people of Sweden have changed over the centuries from rampaging Vikings to chic, stylish pacifists with a penchant for high taxes.

So instead of bearded barbarians drinking mead from horns, at Way Out West you’ll find über cool and impossibly beautiful young Swedes enjoying the sweet melodies of Bon Iver and Florence + The Machine while drinking extortionately priced alcohol.

This is not your typical music festival. For one thing, official camping facilities are not offered at Way Out West, but the lovely city of Gothenburg has an abundance of hotels, hostels and campsites to satisfy all tastes and budgets.

And staying away from the festival site also gives you chance to explore Sweden’s second largest city, which boasts a stunning coastline and archipelago among its many attractions.

The festival site is a green oasis in the city called Slottsskogen (Castle’s Forest). Located in the middle of Gothenburg, in the summer months it is usually filled with Swedes having picnics, playing frisbee and looking all summery and, yes, beautiful.

To a large extent the line-up reflects that laidback vibe, so expect to spend many blissful hours lying on your back and allowing the sounds of summer to wash over you.

Getting there: Fly to Malmo with Ryanair or fly to Oslo with Ryanair or Norwegian Air.

Sziget Festival

Where: Óbudai Island, Budapest, Hungary
Dates: August 6-13
Cost: €225 for adult ticket with camping
Headliners: The Stone Roses, The Killers, Glas Vegas, Snoop Dogg

Crowned the Best European Major Festival at last year’s European Festival Awards, Sziget draws well over 300,000 revellers from across the world to a leafy island on the Danube.

Its great location between Buda and Pest means festival-goers can flutter between the island and the sights of this beautiful capital city.

So one moment you could be moshing in a crowd of black-clad metal-heads, the next you could be chilling in your speedoes in one of the city’s famous outdoor spa baths.

The atmosphere is unbeatable – the good-natured hordes of rockers, hippies, teeny-boppers and generic students rub along just fine, and there are plenty of attractions on the island itself, from football games to bungee-jumping.

Although it boasts more than its fair share of international headliners, one of Sziget’s main attractions is its eclectic line-up. It may appear a little Tal-Lira-esque at first – full of cheap junk from obscure countries – but you will soon appreciate the goods on offer.

This is a seven-day party with 1,000 acts playing on 60 stages, and fans of doom metal, indie rock, folk, rap and dodgy European oompah bands will leave equally sated.

There are also lots of official and unofficial parties organised around the city before, during and after the festival.

And if that’s not enough, this is also one of the best-value festivals in Europe. Although ticket prices have increased in recent years, food and drink – including the ever-present spritzers Sziget-goers seem to love – are still available at bargain prices compared to Western European standards.

Getting there: Fly to Budapest with Air Malta or fly via Rome with Easyjet/Wizz Air.

Bestival

Where: Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight, UK
Dates: September 6-9
Cost: £180 (€224) for adult ticket with camping
Headliners: Stevie Wonder, Florence + The Machine, New Order, Sigur Rós

The fancy dress theme this year is ‘Wildlife’ – which means visitors to Bestival can expect to be partying alongside human squirrels, kings of the jungle and probably the odd mushroom or two.

Expect to see the unexpected at Bestival – anything can happen, and it usually does.

To go with this year’s fancy dress theme, Bestival will launch its very own Insect Museum and Animal Tug of War (presumably with humans taking part, though put nothing past Bestival organisers).

Its tranquil setting on the Isle of Wight is ideal for four days of zaniness. Let’s just hope the British summer has brightened up by then – the recent Isle of Wight Festival was badly affected by heavy rainfall and the subsequent mud bath.

But rain or shine, there are plenty of great musical acts and weird and wonderful attractions at this year’s Bestival.

Whether you’re settling down next to the gypsy fire in the Enchanted Forest, rummaging through the dressing up box in the Bollywood Field or singing along to Stevie Wonder, you’ll be feeling all sunny inside, whatever the weather.

Getting there: Fly to London with Air Malta, Easyjet or Ryanair and catch a ferry from Portsmouth with www.wightlink.co.uk.