July 27-29

Naeba Ski Resort, Japan

Just consider the basic ingredients of this magical music event. For setting, there's the Hiroshige-esque mountains of Niigata, upon which 11 stages are interspersed between alpine forests and grassy slopes and valleys. When it comes to organisational acumen and crowd control, who can beat the Japanese and their inimitable knack for tidiness and respect towards tent neighbours? Add 100,000 fans plus 100 international artists spread over thee glorious days, and the sum of these parts is Fuji Rock, one of the world's great music festivals. This year's line-up suggests a high-water mark in the festival's 12-year history: Radiohead, The Stone Roses, Spiritualized, Jack White, Refused, The Shins, James Blake, Explosions in the Sky, Caribou, The Field, Justice, At the Drive-In and more.

Summer Sonic

August 18-19

Tokyo and Osaka, Japan

If three days of camping in the mountains sounds like too much of a commitment, Summer Sonic has for many years offered a convenient urban alternative. Split between Osaka and Tokyo, this two-day bash is held in city sports arenas that are easily accessible by the two cities' metro systems. Summer Sonic always strikes a balance between huge pop stars and hot indie acts. This year is no different, with Rihanna headlining alongside Green Day, while other highlights include New Order, Sigur Ros, Franz Ferdinand, Tears for Fears, Crystal Castles, SUBTRKT, Garbage, The Cardigans, Ke$ha and Jamiroquai. If you're still dancing after the lights come down, hop in a cab and hit one of Tokyo or Osaka's world-class techno clubs for an all-night after-party - Womb, Air and eleven are all banging until sunrise.

Jisan Valley Rock Festival

July 27-29

Jisan Valley Ski Resort, Icheon, South Korea

Turning four this year, Jisan is a relative newcomer to the Asian festival circuit, but South Korea's biggest rock event has quickly gained ground on its Japanese counterparts. Heavy rains turned the grassy Jisan Valley Ski Resort into a mud pit last year, but that didn't stop more than 90,000 fans from turning out for the 74-band line-up en masse. Unique perks of Jisan: delicious Korean festival fare, including naengmyeon (cold noodles) and the resort's Olympic-sized pool, open to festival-goers in need of a refreshing (and cleansing) dip. This year Radiohead and The Stone Roses make a headline stop, along with Owl City, Elvis Costello and The Imposters, Beady Eye, M. Ward and James Blake - not to mention at least a dozen top K-pop acts. Here's hoping for clear skies and dry camping.

Rainforest World Music Festival

July 13-15

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Easily the most exotic option of the summer festival season, this three-day world music event held in the rainforests of Borneo is much more than just a concert. Indigenous music workshops, lectures, impromptu jam sessions and the occasional mud dancing all complement the shows.

There are plenty of hotels - ranging from budget to luxury - in the surrounding area, along with a few jungle and beachside resorts. Nonetheless, booking ahead is advised. Headlining artists will be known only to the hard-core world music aficionado, but the festival nonetheless attracts about 30,000 attendees each year to its spectacular setting in the shadow of Mount Santubong.

Java Rockin' Land

July 6-8

Carnaval Beach Ancol, Jakarta, Indonesia Java Rockin' Land was founded in 2009 and has since become the biggest rock festival in Southeast Asia. With 10 stages set up around the sprawling seaside resort development of Ancol Dreamland on Carnaval Beach, past years have been models of well-managed festivals for this fast-emerging, music-loving region.

The official 2012 line-up won't be announced until next month, but if past years are any indication, expect a mix of mostly Southeast Asian pop and rock acts, along with a few big names from the West in the headline slots. The Smashing Pumpkins, Happy Mondays, The Vines, The Cranberries, Blood Red Shoes, Stereophonics and Wolfmother have all made appearances in the past editions.

The best of the rest

Asia has made great strides, but let's not get too carried away: Britain, Europe and the US still dominate the globe when it comes to loud sounds in sunny environs. Most of these flagship events have been around for decades. If you're escaping Hong Kong's summer swelter for a more clement northwesterly clime, there's almost certainly something exciting happening in the neighbourhood. But tickets are going fast, if they're not already sold out, so you had better hurry - or start checking eBay.

Starting in Britain, where music lovers often boast of being the most devout festival-goers anywhere, Latitude Festival (July 12-15) brings Bon Iver, Elbow, Metronomy, Lana Del Rey, Yeasayer, M83, Buena Vista Social Club and many more to Suffolk this year. Glastonbury, always an international favourite, is taking this year off due to a portable toilet shortage across much of England induced by the London Olympics. But luckily Bestival (September 6-9) on the Isle of Wight is back as big as ever, serving up Stevie Wonder, New Order, Hot Chip, De La Soul and Soulwax, among many others.

Moving on to Scandinavia, where festivals are as well crafted as the furniture and leather goods, Roskilde (July 5-8) in Denmark features Bjork, The Cure, Mew, The Roots, The Shins and Bruce Springsteen.

In sunny Barcelona, long-running Sonar (June 14-16) packs more than 100 DJs into three days of near non-stop dancing. New Order, Richie Hawtin, Deadmau5, Luciano, James Murphy, Die Antwoord, Squarepusher and Nicolas Jaar will all be there.

Across the Atlantic, the US has always boasted festivals both boutique and monstrously large. One of the big ones, Chicago's Lollapalooza (August 3-5), was founded in 1991 by Jane's Addiction singer and occasional Hong Kong resident Perry Farrell. This year Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, Black Sabbath and Jack White headline, and indie acts such as Passion Pit, Bloc Party, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and dozens more support.

Also in Chicago, but decidedly less mainstream, the Pitchfork Music Festival (July 13-15) highlights all the new genre-bending acts that the taste-making music website has boosted to internet fame over the past year, along with more established indie eminences. Vampire Weekend, Feist, Wild Flag, AraabMuzik and Sleigh Bells are all scheduled to play grassy Union Park.

Bonnaroo (June 7-10) is the continent's highest-grossing music event. Hosted annually on a 283-hectare farm in Manchester, Tennessee, the festival pleases all palates, with classic rock stars (The Beach Boys), hippie smoke dragons (Phish), indie heroes (Radiohead) and hip hop legends (GZA, Blackstar) all filling out the docket. Brace yourself for Tennessee's summer weather - this is most definitely not dry.

The festival to beat all festivals, of course, is Burning Man (August 27- September 3), which lures about 50,000 people into the heart of the beautiful but forbidding Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada each year. More than just a music festival - although there is plenty of music - Burning Man is more of an on-going social experiment.

Currency is forbidden; mutant vehicles roam the landscape; nudists are often in the majority; and the event culminates in the burning of the eponymous giant wooden effigy.

You could say it has to be seen to be believed, but a week in Black Rock City will probably have you doubting your memory.