Try as we might to stay focused on what’s happening on the home front, sometimes at this time of year it’s hard to avoid a longing glance towards the Northern Hemisphere. A long summer of partying is already underway across Europe, with things set to ramp up even further over July. A stack of ‘do before you die’ events – Tomorrowland, EXIT Festival, Melt Festival and Global Gathering spring to mind – are rolling out in the coming weeks. So what have been some of the summer highlights so far?

The hedonist’s paradise Ibiza might be the best place to start. After a round of epic opening parties, the White Isle has now settled into its marathon of excess. Our very own Angus Paterson was there for a whirlwind 24 hours to witness the opening of Cream Amnesia with Paul van Dyk and Sander van Doorn, and there was nothing subtle about it.

“Ibiza is known as the island of hedonism, but it’s still a surprise to see how quickly the sense of debauchery tightens its grip on the crowd,” he wrote. “Everyone knows exactly why they’re here, and what they’ve come to do.” Read his full blow-by-blow of the night and its cast of characters here.

Things are always busy at the storied Ibiza institution Space, but this season’s schedule is on another level. We Love…Sundays will surely provide countless hazy memories, thanks to the return of Aphex Twin amongst many others, while the rest of the week sees Carl Cox continue his Revolution and Armin van Buuren take up his new Wednesday residency. Check out the highlights gallery below for what’s already been happening inside the hallowed club.

Away from Ibiza, we’ve been thoroughly wowed by the photos from Defqon.1 in the Netherlands. Taking things to an unprecedented scale this year, you can’t help but marvel at the show these guys put on. Best of all, they’ll be doing it right here in September.

The other destination that looms large in June is of course Sonar, the “annual festival of progressive music and multimedia arts” in Barcelona. This scribe was lucky enough to attend, and the festival certainly lives up to its reputation. In fact, the whole week in Barcelona feels like a celebration, with Off Sonar parties all over the city.

Sonar By Night was graced by an elite cast of electronic talent – Underworld, Magnetic Man, Paul Kalkbrenner, Shackleton, Aphex Twin; the list goes on – who took things through until 7am. Check out some of the moments below.

Of course we’re just scratching the surface of summer in Europe so far, so we’ll leave you with a couple more jealousy-inducing photo round-ups before coming back to reality…