Apart from the obvious tent and sleeping bag, one item on your festival packing list should be an umbrella. But don't bring just any umbrella — the funkier the better. Make it animal shaped and attach some lights and glitter. You can pop it up high in the air while on the dance floor, which gets the crowd excited and serves the more practical purpose of helping your friends spot you in the crowd.

No German festival experience is complete without the right accessories. This means channeling your inner child and stocking up on bubbles, glitter guns, confetti, face paint, wigs and costumes. Especially at hippie and hipster festivals like Fusion, Nation and Melt! you'll be an outsider if you're not dressed up in something dangly and sparkly.

So we've established that German festival-goers like to hold up various things on the dance floor — from animal shaped umbrellas to bubble guns. A particularly popular thing to hold aloft are homemade signs, such as the one above saying "Endlich normale Leute," meaning "finally normal people." A creative and funny sign will get you props from the true festival pros.

Bringing a water canister to a festival can be very useful. Getting fresh water can be a pain — the line is long and the walk there is far — so you won't want to only fill up a bottle or two once you made it. Having a container full of water helps you wash your dirty camping dishes, brush your teeth and stay hydrated. Plus you can use it as a shower and skip the long lines there as well.

One thing you should always carry with you at any festival is hand sanitizer. You do the math: thousands of intoxicated festival-goers, only a few dozen Portaloos and a severe lack of soap and running water. Hmmm. Yes. Exactly. It doesn't help the smell, but at least you'll be able to clean your hands with a bit of hand sanitizer.

As much as we'd like to think summer in Germany is one long sunny season, well, it's not. Chances are it will rain; probably quite a lot. So don't be fooled and bring only your flip-flops, because they'll get stuck in the mud faster than a lightning bolt in a summer thunderstorm. Rubber boots are a must, as they will make you feel invincible and even allow for some puddle dancing.

And gumboots aren't the only item you need to defy the rain. Packing a poncho is always a good idea as well. It's lightweight, fits into a small bag and will brighten up your day — or night — once the rain sets in. In Germany we take festivals seriously, so if you’re prepared, not even a little rain (or a lot) can stop the fun from lasting all the way through the night.

It's an unwritten rule that at festivals you'll end up losing track of your friends, no matter how many meeting points you arrange. Most festival grounds are huge and there's hardly any cell phone reception, making it almost impossible to find them again. So you'll need to get creative. One good solution: walkie-talkies, so you can buzz your buddies anytime. Got it? Ok, over and out.

Making your way back "home" to your tent after a long night of partying can be a difficult task, but finding your tent amidst the thousands of similar looking tents can make it even harder. So before you mistakenly climb into someone else's tent, possibly giving someone a heart attack, mark your camping spot with an original flag. That way, it's easier for your friends to find you as well.

While at a German hipster festival you might just want to go retro and bring a disposable camera. It won't just impress the hipsters but it will also prevent you from losing or breaking a proper one. Plus, you'll only have 24 shots, so you'll be able to fully experience the moment. And once the festival is over, you'll be able to pick up your pictures and relive your happy festival memories.

There are many festivals in Germany. The biggest open-air music festival is Rock am Ring. Over 90,000 fans will gather for three days (June 1-3) on the Nürburgring racing track to watch a long list of music acts. Meanwhile, heavy metal fans eagerly await the first weekend in August, when the small village of Wacken hosts the world's biggest heavy-metal party - the Wacken Open Air festival.

Europe's caring festival: Roskilde is organized by volunteers with all profits given to charities. The festival organizers make a point of booking young artists who are just becoming popular (pictured: First Aid Kit, 2015) as well as mega-stars like the Rolling Stones or Sir Paul McCartney.

Lake Geneva provides the backdrop for the world's most famous jazz festival. It will be held this year for the 52nd time, from June 29 until July 14. On the program are Nick Cave, Jamiroquai, Massive Attack or the Queens of the Stone Age. One of this year's star guests in Montreux is actor Johnny Depp with the Hollywood Vampires (rocker Alice Cooper, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry).

The world's biggest indoor jazz festival (July 13-15) has cult status. The 75,000 tickets were sold out months ago. For three days as many as five consecutive acts will perform on the 14 stages in Rotterdam's Ahoy concert hall. Announcements this year include Earth,Wind & Fire, Pat Metheny, Gregory Porter, CeeLo Green and others. One would like to be there.

The former amphitheater, the Arena di Verona, is world-famous for its open-air opera performances against spectacular ancient backdrops. Guiseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" made this location world famous. Since August 10 1913, the composer's 100th birthday, this opera has been regularly performed here. The festival begins on June 22 and continues until September 1.

These summer concerts take place in London from July until September. It is the world's biggest classical music festival. The last concert, the "Night of the Proms" which is held in the Royal Albert Hall is a cult event. Tickets are much sought after and quickly sell out. "Proms in the Park" is held simultaneously in Hyde Park, so that fans without tickets can watch the concert on large screens.

From June 30 until August 26 the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein transforms into a large classical music concert stage. Concerts take place in gardens and parks, on estates and at palaces. Traditionally, the first concert is held at Gut Stockseehof. Founded in 1986, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival has developed into one of the world's biggest classical music festivals.

Outdoors and free - that is the motto of the Fête de la Musique, which always takes place at the start of summer on June 21st. Free concerts are performed across 500 cities by professional and amateur musicians. From Paris, this festival idea went global. It originated in 1982 when the then French minister for culture, Jack Lang, began the initiative so that everyone could enjoy access to music.

Every year at Whitsun jazz fans will flock to the small German town of Moers in the industrial Ruhr area. The festival, which has been taking place for more than 40 years, is known for its openness to new musical trends. This has made it a leading festival for improvised music. Avant-garde icons like John Zorn (pictured) have been faithful to Moers for years.

It was once a farm near the town of Glastonbury. That changed in 1970 when around 1,500 people came together and paid one pound entrance fee to watch the likes of Marc Bolan and Al Steward perform. In 2019 it is to take place again on the last weekend in June. It is one of the largest open-air music festivals in the world.

Making friends on the camping sites surrounding the Wacken festival grounds was easy. Tents and campers are packed in so close that it was almost impossible not to. You might as well sacrifice your personal space during your days at W:O:A.

Harry and Holger drove up all the way from the "Odenwald" in southwestern Germany. Unlike most others, they didn't start the day with beer and fried sausages - but with a healthy breakfast of fresh bread rolls, scrambled eggs and bacon - washed down with a big pot of coffee.

The roof of this camper afforded a view of the complete camping grounds. There weren't any mishaps climbing up there. Grilling, though, could be more perilous. Bad burns are commonplace if people aren't careful with the kerosine. A high alcohol level in the blood is usually part of the problem.

These guys gave their friend a send-off before he tied the knot. His assigned rite of passage was to make a declaration of love to five complete strangers on the W:O:A grounds. The maid of honor (left) recorded everything on a smartphone.

Rebecca, Jonas and Louisa assured us that their mudbath would afford them protection from sunburn - "equivalent to a sunscreen factor of 60 at least," said Jonas. After posing, all three hurled themselves back into the brown masses and even dragged an "innocent" bystander in.

Many pairs of shoes didn't survive the mud. Soles wore out and entire shoes got stuck. Somebody decided to give them a final resting place.

Empty festival grounds in the morning showed the aftermath of the previous rainy day. Before: a green meadow. After: a giant sea of mud, plowed through by tens of thousands of feet. In 2016 a drainage system was installed under the infield. Doesn't seem to have been very effective though.

As evening broke and the top acts performed, the infield was transformed into a sea of waving heads and hands in the air. The big video screens were a blessing for many standing way at the back. Here, the German rock band Accept was joined by a complete symphony orchestra in a metal-classical fusion.

Doro Pesch doesn't miss a season in Wacken. She came this time not with her own band but as a guest vocalist in various acts, including Saturday evening's first concert with the Swedish epic death metal band, Amon Amarth.

A grim expression is just as much a part of metal as loud guitars and headbanging. Clawfinger's bass player André Skaug has both the look and the headbanging down pat. Offstage, his demeanor is friendlier.

Wacken fans know they'll never stay completely dry during the festival. Hardly a W:O:A without at least one good downpour. Armed with capes, the fans party to their bands' music even if inundated.

Pyrotechnics are not only part of the stage acts. In the medieval Wacken Village, fire issues forth from big iron sculptures. The "Wasteland Area," inspired by Mad Max films, is illuminated by ignited special effects. Fire bowls burn even in the backstage and VIP areas, creating the trademark W:O:A look.