Is your musical playlist a big old mish-mash of artists and eras? You might think that would be a detriment to finding a music festival that would be just right for you, but oddly enough, that doesn’t seem to be the case whatsoever. You can in fact find a festival where the unlikely mix of Neil Young, Jay-Z, R.E.M., Slayer, and Kate Nash are all slated to turn up.

There’s something else a little special about many of the festivals we’ll be seeing this summer. A handful of them (Eurokeenes, Roskilde, Rock Werchter, Quart and Summer Jam) coincide with our long Fourth of July weekend in 2008, so attendance without burning through many precious vacation days is entirely possible.

Who’s playing at some of the festivals this year? Here’s a look at some of the artists who have confirmed, along with the time and dates of selected favorite festivals. Many of these events tend to sell out, so you’re better off booking early, rather than at the last minute. Most if not all festival Web sites feature links to ticket agencies.

AUSTRIA

Nuke Festival, July 18-19, St. Pölten.

Onstage: Les Babacools, Eddy Grant, Morcheeba, Gentleman, Söhne Mannheims, Lenny Kravitz, Iriepathi, Rodney Hunter, Nightmares on Wax.

Tickets: about 80 euros.

Frequency Festival, Aug. 14-16, Salzburgring.

Onstage: R.E.M., Die Fantastischen Vier, Flogging Molly, Blackmail, Iron & Wine, Chikinki, Babyshambles, Madsen, The Hives, Dropkick Murphys, Julia, others.

Tickets: about 99 euros.

BELGIUM

Rock Festival Werchter, July 3-6, Werchter, northeast of Brussels.

Onstage: 2ManyDJs, Adele, Air Traffic, Babyshambles, Beck, Ben Folds, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Cool Kids, Counting Crows, Digitalism, Editors, Gnarls Barkley, Jay-Z, John Butler Trio, Kaiser Chiefs, Kate Nash, Kings of Leon, KT Tunstall, Lenny Kravitz, Mika, Moby, Neil Young, Nightwish, Panic at the Disco, R.E.M., The Racounters, Radiohead, Slayer, The Verve, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Zita Swoon,others.

Tickets: about 165 euros.

Pukkelpop, Aug. 14-16, Hasselt-Kiewit.

Onstage: Thus far, only Metallica has been confirmed.

DENMARK

Roskilde Festival, July 3-6, Roskilde, about 21 miles west of Copenhagen.

Onstage: Band of Horses, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, The Campbell Brothers, The Chemical Brothers, Clutch, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Duffy, Enter Shikari, Gnarls Barkley, Grinderman, Hot Chip, Judas Priest, Kings of Leon, M.I.A., My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, Slayer, The Streets, Yeasayer, Neil Young, others.

Tickets: about 240 euros. Camping is available on-site.

FRANCE

Eurockeenes, July 4-6, peninsula of Malsaucy, near Belfort.

Onstage: Massive Attack, Moby, The Offspring, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, N*E*R*D, Grinderman, dEUS, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Gossip, Babyshambles, Cat Power, Band of Horses, The Wombats, others.

Tickets: Festival passes about 85-95 euros; about 37 euros for single day ticket.

GERMANY

Rock am Ring and Rock am Park, June 6-8, Nürburgring and Zeppelinfeld

Onstage: Babyshambles, Bullet For My Valentine, Die Toten Hosen, Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, Metallica, Motörhead, Nightwish, Rage Against The Machine, Sportfreunde Stiller, The Hellacopters, others.

Tickets: about 135 euros, including camping and parking.

Southside Festival, June 20-22, Neuhausen ob Eck, and Hurricane Festival, Scheeßel.

Onstage: Beatsteaks,· Biffy Clyro, Billy Talent, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, British Sea Power, Calexico, Deichkind, Digitalism, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Donots, Elbow, Enter Shikari, Flogging Molly, Foals, Foo Fighters, Jaguar Love, Jennifer Rostock, Kaiser Chiefs, Kettcar, Madsen, Maximo Park, Millencolin, Nada Surf, NoFX, Oceansize, Panic At The Disco, Patrice, Radiohead, Razorlight, Rise Against, Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar, Sigur Rós, · The (International) Noise Conspiracy, The Beautiful Girls, The Chemical Brothers, The Cribs, The Enemy, The Kooks, The Notwist, The Subways, The Wombats , Tocotronic, Xavier Rudd, others.

Tickets: about 121 euros for festival ticket.

Summer Jam Festival, July 4-6, near Cologne’s Fühlinger See

Onstage: Alaine, Alborosie, Black Dillinger, Cecile, Clueso, Cocoa Tea, Culcha Candela, Dub Inc., Derrick Morgan, Dr. Ring Ding, Etana, Ganjaman, Irie Revoltes, Jah Cure, Ki-Mani Markey, Lady Saw, Luciano, Miss Platnum, Mono & Nikitaman, Patrice, Pressure, Queen Ifrica, Rebellion, Shaggy, Stephen Marley, Tosh Meets Marley, The Black Seeds, Tarrus Riley, Ziggi & The Renaissance Band, others.

Tickets: Three-day ticket 88 about euros.

MELT! FESTIVAL, July 18-20, Ferropolisstrasse, Grafenhainichen

Onstage: Alter Ego, Battles, Björk, Blood Red Shoes, Tigro, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Editors, Franz Ferdinand, Friendly Fires, Kate Nash, Lightspeed, Champion, Miss Kittin, Miss Platnum, Robyn, Róisín Murphy, Stereo MCs, The Wombats, others.

Tickets: about 98 euros for festival tickets; day tickets also available.

Wacken Open Air, July 31-Aug. 2, Schleswig Holstein, six miles north of Itzehoe and 30 miles northwest of Hamburg.

Onstage: 3 Inches of Blood, Airbourne, As I lay Dying, At the Gates, Autumn, Avantasia, Avenged Sevenfold, Axel Rudi Pell, Before the Dawn, Children of Bodom, Corvus Covax, Crematory, Cynic, Destructor, Enemy of the Sun, Evocation, Exodus, Gorgoroth, Grave, Hatebreed, Head Hunter, Iron Maiden, Job for a Cowboy, Kamelot, Killswitch Engage, Kreator, Krypteria, Lordi, Massacre, Mercenary, Nighwish, Opeth, Primordial, Soilwork, The Bones, The Haunted, Torture Squad, Unearth, Warbringer, Watain.

Tickets: Officially sold out.

Taubertal Open Air, Aug. 8-10, Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Onstage: Die Ärzte, Die Fantastischen Vier, Fettes Brot, The Hives, Editors, Anti-Flag, Culcha Candela, Danko Jones, Kaizers Orchestra, Moneybrother, Nephew, Panteòn Rococò, Futureheads, Slut, Bloodlights, Boy Hits Car, Turbostaat, She-Male Trouble, The Heavy, Lily Electric, others.

Tickets: Festival pass valid for all three days is about 79 euros, including camping.

Chiemsee Reggae, Aug. 22-24, Übersee-Festival Gelände.

Onstage: Clueso, Culcha Candela, Groundation, Jamaram, Luciano, Natty King & Daddy Rings, Patrice, Shaggy, Sizzla, beNUTS, Daveman, Dr. Woggle & The Radio, Iriepathie, Marc Foggo's Skasters, Miss Platnum, Otentikk Street Brothers, Pierpoljak, Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar, Sisters, Sorgente, Wally Warning, others.

Tickets: about 79 euros; single day tickets are about 49 euros.

HUNGARY

Sziget Festival, Aug. 12-18, Obudai Island, Budapest.

Onstage: Lauren Harris, Iron Maiden, R.E.M., Die Ärzte, Sex Pistols, Kaiser Chiefs, Róisin Murphy, Jamiroquai, Serj Tankian, Flogging Molly, Anti-Flag, The Wombats, Mademoiselle K, Goran Bregovic Wedding & Funeral Band, Danko Jones, Delinquent Habits, New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, Apocalyptica, Avantasia, Exodus, Lacrima Profundere, At The Gates, 3 Inches of Blood, Pro-Pain, others.

Tickets: Festival pass and camping tickets cost approximately 150 euros; 120 euros if not camping. Single-day tickets cost about 32 euros

ITALY

Rototom Sunsplash, European Reggae Festival, July 3-12, Osoppo.

Onstage: Africa Unite, Alborosie, Alpha Blondy, Bushman, Ce’cile, Cocoa Tea, Heptones, Inner Circle, Jah Cure, Ken Boothe, Kymani Markley, Lady Saw, Michael Rose, Queen Ifrica, Tosh Meets Marley, others.

Tickets: about 120 euros before June 13, about 150 euros at the festival.

THE NETHERLANDS

Bospop Festival, July 11-13, Sportpark Boshoven, Weert.

Onstage: Neil Young, Santana, Crowded House, The Bangles, Buddy Guy, Danny Bryant, The Jimmy Bowskill Band, Stevie Ann, Racoon, Tantrum, ZZ-Top, Europe, Thin Lizzy, Little Feat, Subway to Sally, Steve Lukather, Anathema, Apocalyptica, Danko Jones, Opeth, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, Riverside, The Dana Fuchs Band, others.

Tickets: 74 euros Friday only, 59 euros Saturday or Sunday, 100 euros both Saturday and Sunday, 159 euros all three days.

NORWAY

Quart Festival, July 2-5, Kristiansand, southern Norway.

Onstage: Kings Of Leon, Clutch, The Streets, Dizzee Rascal, Gnarls Barkley, Kate Nash, Kool Keith, Friendly Fires, Parts & Labour, Unkle, Cobblestone Jazz, Battles, Spank Rock, Interpol, Death Cab For Cutie, Saul Williams, Cradle of Filth, The Enemy, Young Knives, Anti–Flag, Jason Mraz , Asobi Seksu, Liars, others.

Tickets: festival passes from 1750 Norwegian kroner (about $350); Day passes 600 Norwegian Kroner (about $120).

SERBIA

ExitFestival, July 10-13, Novi Sad.

Onstage: Manu Chao, Tiga, Laurent Garnier, Juliette and the Licks, Soulwax Live, Gossip, M.I.A., 2 Many DJ's, Primal Scream, Ben Watt, Ministry, Gogol Bordello, The Hives, Paul Weller, Nightwish, Sex Pistols, others.

Tickets: about $150 for a festival pass.

SPAIN

Festival Internacional de Benecassim (F.I.B.), July 17-20, Benacassim.

Onstage: American Music Club, Babyshambles, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, La Casa Azul, Death Cab For Cutie, Eef Barzelay, El Guincho, El Hijo, Erol Alkan, Ewan Pearson, Gnarls Barkley, Hot Chip, Joakim, John Acquaviva, Josh Wink, Justice (live), The Kills, Leonard Cohen, Mika, Moriarty, My Bloody Valentine, My Morning Jacket, The National, Róisín Murphy, Richard Hawley, Robert Babicz, The Rumble Strips, Sigur Rós, Single, Siouxsie, These New Puritans, The Ting Tings, Tommie Sunshine, others.

Tickets: about 189 euros and up.

SWITZERLAND

Open-Air St. Gallen, June 27-29, St. Gallen, .

Onstage: Lenny Kravitz, Justice, Bad Religion, The Wombats, Newton Faulkner, Miss Platnum, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Beck, The Prodigy, The Kooks, The Enemy, Sportfreunde Stiller, Ozomatli, Lightspeed Champion, Gentleman, The Fratellis, Kings Of Leon, Flogging Molly, We Are Scientists, The Gossip, others.

Tickets: about 105 euros for a festival pass; 55 euros Sunday only, 84 euros Saturday and Sunday.

Open Air Fraunfeld, July 11-13, Fraunfeld

Onstage: Jay-Z, Wu Tang Clan, Jan Delay, The Hives, IAM, Common, Stress, Fettes Brot, Ice Cube, Culcha Candela, Dynamite Deluxe, Blumentopf, Looptroop Rockers, Kool Savas, Dog Eat Dog, Ce'cile, others.

Tickets: from 106 euros for a three-day pass; from 88 euros Saturday and Sunday only; from 64 euros Sunday only.

Gurtenfestival, July 17-20, Gurten, Bern.

Onstage: The Chemical Brothers, Kaiser Chiefs, Turbonegro, Schandmaul, The International Noise Conspiracy, Culcha Candela, Miss Platnum, Him, John Butler Trio, Redwood, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Blind, Klee, Galactic, KT Tunstall, Solomon Burke, The Beautiful Girls, The BossHoss, Bagatello, William White & The Emergency.

Tickets: about 195 Swiss francs for all days (about $195).

UNITED KINGDOM

V Festival, Aug. 16-17, Chelmsford (Hylands Park) and Staffordshire (Weston Park)

Onstage: Muse, Stereophonics, The Kooks, Maximo Park, Alanis Morissette, The Futureheads, The Prodigy, The Pigeon Detectives, Newton Faulkner, Amy MacDonald, Shed Seven, Ian Brown, The Pogues, Jamie T., The Twang, Sugababes, David Jordan, The Verve, Kings of Leon, Amy Winehouse, Lenny Kravitz, The Feeling, Girls Aloud, Squeeze, Kaiser Chiefs, The Zutons, The View, Scouting for Girls, One Republic, The Rifles, The Chemical Brothers, The Charlatans, Hot Chip, Travis, Robyn, others.

Tickets: weekend ticket, including camping about £154 (about $306); without camping about £133; Saturday or Sunday only, £70, not including camping.

The Carling Weekend Reading Festival and The Carling Weekend Leeds Festival, Aug. 22-24, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire & Bramham Park, Leeds.

Onstage: Rage Against The Machine, The Killers, Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Bloc Party, Tenacious D, The Fratellis, The Raconteurs, Slipknot, The Enemy, Editors, Feeder, Biffy Clyro, We Are Scientists, Avenged Sevenfold, Serj Tankian, Dirty Pretty Things, Dropkick Murphys, Taking Back Sunday, The Subways, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Anti-Flag, Babyshambles, Manic Street Preachers, The Cribs, The Wombats, Bullet For My Valentine, Conor Oberst, Vampire Weekend, Justice, Pendulum, MGMT. others.

Tickets: All-days passes sold out; some single-day passes still available for 65 pounds (about $130) plus fees, not including camping.