This year's festival, which will run from Oct 10-12 and Oct 18-19, will have 100 domestic bands and 15 foreign bands performing at Haidian Park.

Organisers estimate that about 100,000 people will attend.

Like Shen, Zhang Fan started the music festival with no big ambitions. Zhang was handed the rock and roll dream 14 years ago when he was appointed headmaster of Beijing Midi Music School, the earliest private conservatory of modern music in China.

Zhang, who had his own rock band then, accepted the job without any grand plan in mind. "Our purpose was to provide a place for people to have fun, to relax and to communicate via music," Zhang recalls. The continuing popularity of the Midi Music Festival can be attributed to its original simple plan of "providing young people with music in an open space with greenery and sunshine".

Zhang, together with domestic music labels, has brought in big-name performers from home and abroad as well as offered a launch pad for the country's new talents.

Zhang says the festival is evolving naturally - many of those who attended the original shows keep returning, while young people are also drawn in.

Last year, big names including Locksley and Dave Stewart hit Beijing. The stalwarts this year include Swedish rock act The 21st Century Noise, Finnish female rock group Likka Royal, Norwegian synth-punk band Surferosa, as well as rockers from Germany, the UK and Spain. Chinese rock acts, such as Brain Failure, The Verse and AK47, will continue to storm the stage.

Profit, however, remains a secondary concern. In years gone by, Midi has never made money, nor have many other music festivals. Despite hopes that admission fees might help the formerly free concert break even, Midi lost 200,000 yuan ($29,000) last year.

But with increasing support from sponsors, including Motorola, clothing company Lee, and guitar-maker Gibson, Zhang is quietly confident. "We hope to break even this year."

(China Daily September 25, 2008)