An outdoor music festival known as China's "Glastonbury" and expected to attract more than 200,000 people, kicked off Friday in the fields of Zhangbei County in north China's Hebei Province.

An outdoor music festival known as China's "Glastonbury" and expected to attract more than 200,000 people, kicked off Friday in the fields of Zhangbei County in north China's Hebei Province. [Gong Zhihong/Xinhua]

The three-day InMusic Festival, which spreads out over a 100-hectare grassy expanse, features more than 50 Chinese and foreign bands spanning metal, punk, folk, electronic and hip hop, according to organizers.

Famed Chinese singers Zheng Jun and Lao Lang will perform during the feat. Foreign acts include US pop-rockers Panic! At The Disco, Paris-based American duo CocoRosie and British post-punks Killing Joke.

Apart from the music, the big open skies and overnight camping on the vast fields would offer visitors a chance to spend the weekend outside big cities like Beijing, which is just two-hours drive away, said Liu Yifan, producer of the InMusic magazine, which co-sponsored the music feast with Beijing-based Pilot Records and the Zhangbei government.

Summer is the best time to travel to Zhangbei because the weather is nice compared with the scorching heat in Beijing and many other cities, he said.

The annual music festival rocked the Zhangbei grasslands for the first time last August, during which more than 150,000 people were there to enjoy the music carnival.