Summertime. There’s no better season for taking in amazing music at live venues around the country. What a time to be able to experience the sounds we all love in person with fun music festivals!
With festival season getting underway, we are providing you with a handy guide to several big music festivals taking place around the United States. And we’re really psyched to see so many of the artists who’ve shared their playlists with us (yeah, Echosmith!) and who we’ve featured in spotlights (yo, Lauryn Hill!) as part of the summertime action.
Consider this your one stop-shop for all things summer music festivals: locations, dates, lineups, etc. We have you covered.
Check out our list of music festivals to consider below. As you’re reading through the list, let us know if we missed any of your favorites in the comments section below.
Vans Warped Tour
It’s the end of an era for the Vans Warped Tour, as 2018 will be the tour’s final cross-country run for the long-running tradition, which started in 1995. The Warped Tour features several dates in various locations and brings along some of the best acts in rock music. The tour begins in Pomona, California on June 21 and concludes in West Palm Beach, Florida in early August. This is your last chance to check out the Vans Warped Tour in your city!
Dates: June 21 through Aug. 5
Location: Various cities
Notable Performers: Simple Plan, 3Oh3!, Bowling For Soup, Sum 41, We The Kings, All Time Low, Echosmith and many others
Electric Forest Festival
The Electric Forest takes place in FanLabel’s home state of Michigan, and began in 2011. The two-weekend event is set in, well, a forest type scene and features the best sounds from electronic musicians and jam bands. Some of the headlining acts will perform at both weekends, while others will come and go, so be sure to take a look at the lineup.
Dates: June 21-24, June 28-July 1
Location: Rothbury, Michigan
Notable Performers: The String Cheese Incident, Marshmello, Galantis, Zhu, Chromeo, Bassnectar
Pitchfork Music Festival
The Chicago-based music festival put on by Pitchfork Media celebrates it’s 13th year in 2018. The festival sees more than 40 bands over the course of three days, and focuses more so on emerging and up-and-coming artists, while mixing in some established musicians. According to the website, the festival has attracted more than 50,000 attendees and also offers more than 50 vendors, as well as speciality fairs.
Dates: July 20-22
Location: Chicago, Union Park
Notable Performers: Lauryn Hill, Courtney Barnett, Earl Sweatshirt, Tame Impala, Chaka Khan, The War on Drugs
Lollapalooza
Also held in Chicago, Lollapalooza is one of the nation’s most notable music festivals. This year’s lineup is chock-full of superstar artists from multiple genres. As the kids say, this lineup is lit! The festival started in 1991 and initially ran until 1997. Following a bit of a hiatus, the festival was retooled to its current format and made a return in 2003. The music event has eight stages, more than 170 bands and draws 150,000 people each year. Lollapalooza is on a lot of people’s bucket lists.
Dates: Aug. 2-5
Location: Chicago, Grant Park
Notable Performers: The Weeknd, Jack White, Arctic Monkeys, Bruno Mars, Travis Scott, Khalid, Logic, Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert, Portugal. The Man and so many others
Bumbershoot
If you live in, or are planning to take a trip to, the Pacific Northwest, you should attend this late summer Seattle music festival! Bumbershoot has been around since 1971 and is one of North America’s largest music festivals. It is also one of Seattle’s largest cultural touchstones, as thousands of people travel to the Emerald City every year for the large contemporary music festival. According to the website, the name Bumbershoot, which means umbrella, pays homage to Seattle’s rainy weather, and also acts as a symbol to be “an umbrella for the arts.
Dates: Aug. 31-Sept. 2 (Labor Day Weekend)
Location: Seattle, Seattle Center
Notable Performers: J. Cole, The Chainsmokers, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, SZA, Blondie, Lovelytheband, T-Pain, Bishop Briggs, Tinashe and more
Other summer music festivals to look out for:
Burning Man, Essence Festival, Summerfest, Faster Horses, Panorama, Hot 100 Fest, Mo Pop, Outside Lands and Electric Zoo
There is no shortage of fun music festivals this summer. You can’t go wrong attending any of the aforementioned events. So what are you waiting for? Road trip, anybody?
