More than 20,000 music fans descended on the ancient town of Xiangcheng, Huoli Island, Suzhou, Jiangsu province, last weekend for the Holisland Rock Festival, featuring Cui Jian and Canadian punk band Simple Plan, among others.

In the next two months there will be six more music festivals across the country, including Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Erdos in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

With the success of the Midi Music Festival, Modern Sky Music Festival and Strawberry Music Festival, music festivals are quickly becoming part of the mainstream - a mixed blessing for a genre that has prided itself on being underground.

The Holisland Rock Festival, featuring China's pioneer rocker Cui Jian and Canadian punk band Simple Plan, draws more than 20,000 fans on the opening day in Suzhou. [China Daily]

"The spirit of rock has been building in recent years among fans connected with the underground indie rock music scene," says Shen Lihui, the founder and organizer of Modern Sky Music Festival and Strawberry Music Festival, which have drawn nearly 100,000 people during the past three years at Beijing's Chaoyang Park and Tonghuihe Riverland Park.

 

Shen, who founded the indie music label Modern Sky in 1997, has signed contracts with over 100 indie bands and artists - such as New Pants, Joyside, Queen Sea Big Shark and Carsick Cars - who have become the main focus of outdoor music festivals and live shows around the country.

"I started when the country's music scene was still at an embryonic stage and rock musicians were largely ignored by the local media," says Shen, who was the lead singer with pioneering punk band Sober. "But in the past few years, we've seen a boost for rock music. And it seems that music festivals have become a trend in cities. I'm glad to be a part of it."

"Unlike our generation's rockers, who were poor and lacking stages, today's indie bands have more opportunity, especially at music festivals, which have over 10,000 fans screaming for you. It's very exciting," he says.

Mainstream music in China has long been dominated by Cantopop and Taiwan pop music acts that emphasize image over musical ability.

But now, the situation has changed and Chinese rock has a mass audience.

From Aug 27-29, Shen's company will hold the Greatwall Tanglewood Forest Music Festival in Yanqing county, under the Great Wall. With three stages in Tanglewood Forest Valley, the music festival will feature over 100 rock bands and singers.

And it's not only Beijing. Last year, Shen took the three-day Strawberry Music Festival to Xi'an, Shaanxi province, which attracted more than 20,000 fans a day.