All You Need to Know About 2016 Music Festivals This Season

It’s that time of year again: time to get out your cut off jean shorts, throw on your favorite dancing shoes, and get into your best festival gear. Summer festivals are the highlights of this sunny season we wait so patiently for every year from our winter abodes.

As touring becomes one of the only viable ways for musicians to make a living, more and more music festivals are popping up across the country. Festivals are what draw us out into the exploratory summer season to see who’s who and what’s what and dive into the never-ending hopes of what might happen on the dance floor. Discovering new music and hearing old favorites are what create the ecstatic memories of summer days. Here, we’ve put together some of our favorite festival choices for this summer’s musical lineups.

 

SASQUATCH – May 27th to 30th – The Gorge Washington

Sasquatch has to be the most scenic festival that happens all summer. Held right over the beautiful gorge in Washington State in a natural amphitheater, it is the best backdrop for any artist, and this year their lineup is spectacular. Sasquatch has an eclectic lineup of musicians from hip hop artists like A$AP Rocky, to the electronic tones of Grimes.

 

PITCHFORK – July 15th to 17th – Union Park, Chicago

Following in the footsteps of longstanding festival Lollapalooza, the well-known music blog Pitchfork has been hosting an annual music festival in Chicago. Pitchfork has become famous for being on top of the up and comers in the music biz. During the Pitchfork festival they host a wide range of those artists just hopping on to the main stream scene. Musical acts like FKA Twigs, Porches and Blood Orange are just a few of the varied musicians Pitchfork will be showcasing this year.

 

COACHELLA – April 15th to 17th and 22nd to 24th – Indio, California

Each year the best of the best from the music industry make the trek out to L.A. to catch a glimpse of what’s happening at the forefront on the global and national scene. Because of the crazy crowds I’ve heard its best to try your luck staying out of the festival grounds and hitting the VIP parties in and around Los Angeles You never know who you might find in the city streets.

 

WANDERLUST

Wanderlust festivals occur throughout the summer in various places across the U.S. This is not a music festival, but rather a yoga festival. Wanderlust festivals offer a space to deepen into your personal practice, find other like-minded individuals, and enjoy a high caliber of teachers from all over the world. The music is more of a side note but some of the acts are quite extraordinary.

 

PANORAMA – July 22nd to 24th – Randall’s Island Park, NYC

For the past few years Governor’s Ball festival has been holding down the summer music vibes on Randall’s Island in NYC, but this year Panorama is making its island debut. With headliners like LCD Soundsystem, Kendrick Lamar, and Arcade Fire, I have a feeling it’s going to be an East Coast adventure not to miss.

 

MO POP – July 23rd and 24th – West Riverton Park, Detroit

Detroit is landing more and more on the lips of those talking about artistic movements. It has become a hotspot for a growing art scene, which has sparked a number of festivals in the city, including Mo Pop. This year’s lineup is especially exciting, with many of the headlining acts being musicians I love, yet rarely find on festival flyers. Artists like Father John Misty, Shakey Graves, Glass Animals, The Head and the Heart, M83 and Haim will be sharing their musical styles.

 

SYMBIOSIS – September 22nd to 25th – Woodward Reservoir, California

In the world of West Coast electronic music festivals, Symbiosis is the best. Held just a few weeks after Burning Man, the Symbiosis team brings many of the musicians and art installations from the dessert out to the lake. People engage in a fantasy land of lights, color, sunshine and water for a camping gathering that’s all about the art.

 

Now that we’ve helped you on your merry festival way, get that sunny weather outfit ready and book your tickets to memory-making, music land U.S.A.