The 2018 Festival Season Is Upon Us!
With Bonnaroo happening this weekend, the US festival season has officially begun.
There are countless festivals throughout the country; from lesser known festivals like Hopscotch or Wide Open Bluegrass festivals here in Raleigh NC, to the major festivals like Coachella or Bonnaroo that draw attendees from all over the world. And each year beginning in May the other large festivals begin to please crowds looking to dance to their favorite rock, rap, country, EDM, or spoken word artists. Fans pay hundreds of dollars for tickets to these festivals per day and some even pay before knowing who is actually going to be playing the festivals each year.
Given that these festivals are typically more on the pricey side, it is much more of an investment than going to see a couple bands at a regular concert at your local music venue. So, if you had to choose one upcoming festival, what would you choose? Would you go for a more well known festival like Bonnaroo this weekend, or would you choose to go to a lesser known but equally enjoyable festival like Pitchfork Music Festival?
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Bonnaroo Music and Arts FestivalDate: June 7-10 Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, TN. Bonnaroo originally started as a very Woodstock-esque festival, focusing primarily on jam bands, and has grown into one of the largest and most anticipated festivals each year. Main attractions of this festival are the multiple stages featuring live music with a diverse array of musical styles including various rock genres, world music, hip hop, jazz, americana, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel, reggae, pop, electronic, and other alternative music. Musical acts play from around noon until 3:00am or later.
Tickets Available Now
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Pitchfork Music FestivalDate: July 20-22 Hosted by Pitchfork Media, home to the famous/infamous music taste making blog Pitchfork, the Pitchfork Music Festival consistently brings an eclectically relevant and sonically forward-thinking lineup of can't-miss and must-know acts.
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LollapaloozaDate: August 2-5 Lollapalooza started as the brainchild of Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell in 1991 as part of the band's farewell tour. This festival initially ran through 1997 before its revival in 2003 where it has grown to become a national cultural touchstone. The festival draws more than 150,000 annually to Chicago's Grant Park for a diverse lineup that includes pop, rock, hip-hop, dance/electronic music, and much more.
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Outside LandsDate: August 10-12 The festival grounds included the Polo Fields, Hellman's Hollow/Speedway Meadow, and Lindley Meadow; with stages in each of these areas. Bringing in 40,000 to 60,000 attendees a day, the inaugural festival was mostly a success; however, it was criticized for its lack of crowd control. The festival was also geared to the new green movement and included numerous initiatives to make the festival eco-friendly, like inviting participants to use public transport to get to the event via Muni. The second edition of the festival was held between August 28 and 30, 2009, and streamed live on YouTube via the festival's YouTube account. The festival continues to be a big hit year after year despite early struggles.
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HopscotchDate: September 6-8 Hopscotch is a multi-venue festival, much like Austin's SXSW or Chicago's first years of Riot Fest, and takes over the entire city of Raleigh NC every year. This festival hosts a variety of indie, r&b, and rock bands across music venues, bars, clubs, and outdoor stages scattered throughout the city. In order to fully embrace the festival, you'll find yourself sprinting from venue to venue and catching an Uber to get across town in time to catch part of a band's set. The festival is also known for their 'day parties' which are free shows throughout Raleigh that include local and national acts that may not be included in the main lineup of the festival; by 6pm each night, the venues begin requiring wristbands to enter.
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Riot FestDate: September 14-16 Riot Fest is the punk-rock/emo step-brother to Pitchfork and Lollapalooza festivals. The festival began as a multi-venue festival but has molded itself into a much larger destination festival in a single location. The festival is widely known for being the host to a band reunion or having bands play full album sets.
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Pilgrimage Music & Cultrural FestivalDate: September 22-23 Pilgrimage is a mecca of great bands, excellent local food, and unique arts. Co-founded by Better Than Ezra frontman/guitarist Kevin Griffin with business partners Brandt Wood and Michael Whelan in 2015, the festival started as a spiritual counterpoint to New Orleans' venerable Jazz & Heritage Festival. Pilgrimage then doubled in size in its third year and snagged Justin Timberlake as a top billing headliner. With a who's-who of indie rock, Nashville country, jazz and southern blues artists on the billing as supporting acts, the festival continues to grow.
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Austin City Limits Music FestivalDate: October 5-7 & 12-14 Austin's Zilker Park is host to one of the season's final festivals, Austin City Limits. Created in the image of the historic television program of the same name, ACL has blossomed into a multi-genre powerhouse offering up eight stages, more than 140 bands, and two weekends worth of rock, rap, dance, R&B and, of course, country. The cherry on top is local fare of Austin area eateries providing tacos, brews, vegan options and more at the ACL Eats Food Court.
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Voodoo Music and Arts ExperienceDate: October 26-28 The Voodoo Experience has hosted more than 2000 artists and over one million festival goers during its existence. The festival has been twice nominated for Pollstar's Music Festival of the Year. It was acquired by Live Nation Entertainment in 2013 and is produced by C3 Presents. Don Kelly, Voodoo's former General Counsel and COO, is now Festival Director and oversees the event. With Live Nation at the helm, you can expect huge names to be included in the lineup each year, and what is better than enjoying all of this music in such a historic city as New Orleans.
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Given the opportunity to go to one of these amazing festivals, which would you choose? Would you choose the more well known festival vs the more stacked lineup? Or would you go for proximity and cost over anything else?
Honorable mention
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Vans Warped Tour - Final Cross Country TourDate: June 21-August 5 2018 marks the end for the last remaining major touring festival. The Warped Tour has been a summer staple in the alternative, punk, and emo scenes since 1995 and it is a bitter sweet end to an era. With a packed lineup of bands appearing on the entire tour, there are other notable bands that will be appearing on select dates as special guests. With low ticket prices and an entire summer of cities to see this festival, this year's Warped Tour should be on everyone's summer itinerary just to say you went to The Warped Tour once. "Hanging out behind the club on the weekend
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