Did you miss out on those Coachella tickets again? There are plenty of large-scale music festivals happening all over the country this summer that will satisfy even the most pretentious palate. So, channel your inner festival girl and check out these five summer music festivals:
1. Electric Forest Festival
Where: Rothbury, Michigan
When: June 23-26
Electric Forest Festival gives its more popular counterpart, Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, a run for its popularity.
Electric Forest creates a weekend-long mystic wonderland of electronic music. At night the festival illuminates into a colorful oasis within the deep Michigan forest.
This year’s lineup rivals any other electronic music festival with Bassnectar, Major Lazer, Adventure Club and Porter Robinson all performing. There are dozens of EDM artists, but Major Lazer and Bassnectar play three sets each. Electric Forest has several camping sites, and attendees are encouraged to live as an active part of the forest, so there’s no reason to worry about how hot it’s going to be while you wait for your bus back to civilization like you would at EDC.
2. Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival
Where: San Francisco
When: Aug. 5-7
Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival takes over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and fills it with a wide variety of music, art and food. This festival captures the free-spirited adventurism of Northern California and consistently delivers a solid lineup.
This year’s featured artists include Chance the Rapper, Foals, Lana Del Rey and Zedd, among others.
Outside Lands incorporates elements of visual art and gastronomy into the festival, showcasing a live painting wall, sculptures and tons of food trucks and breweries.
Golden Gate Park sits in the heart of San Francisco and is easily accessible from most of the Bay Area. Finding a place to stay in this expensive city can be difficult, but is worth it for this exciting festival.
3. Northside Festival
Where: Brooklyn, New York
When: June 6-12
Without the wide open areas that West Coast festivals thrive on, New York City has to get creative with its festival spaces. Nevertheless, Brooklyn still reigns as the epicenter of all things “cool,” and Northside Festival is a testament to that.
Centering itself on music, innovation and content, Northside Festival is a creative type’s dream. Up-and-coming indie artists and high-tech startups both share the limelight at this culture-forward festival.
Questlove, Kacey Musgraves and Brian Wilson all shed some mainstream popularity onto this year’s lineup despite the festival’s primarily alternative scene.
The festival place all over Brooklyn, so it integrates the everyday vibrancy of New York into this cutting-edge festival.
4. Pickathon
Where: Happy Valley, Oregon
When: Aug. 5-7
Pickathon eliminates the materialism that festivals like Coachella are starting to see more and more of.
Pickathon takes place on a farm just outside of Portland and turns its six stages into unique alternate realities aimed at transporting festival-goers to different musical worlds.
The festival consists entirely of indie artists, but rising acts like The Oh Hellos and Yo La Tengo will take the stage this year. Pickathon emphasizes the importance of sustainability and prides itself on being the first festival to be free of plastic bottles and cups—it is in Oregon after all.
5. Lightning in a Bottle
Where: Bradley, California
When: May 25-30
Coachella meets Burning Man in this transformational festival. Lightning in a Bottle oozes creativity and brings passion for music, food, art and sustainability together in a four-day event.
Electronica artists such as Chet Faker, Marian Hill and Grimes lead the musical lineup this year. Don’t expect to rage here though—the content of this festival evokes a chill, psychedelic vibe.
Lightning in a Bottle offers fully immersive environments that create a strong sense of community. Interactive play stations, a simulated village and a temple of consciousness and others help turn this festival into a new-age artistic colony.
Lightning in a Bottle combines many alluring elements, but it’s a festival that fosters a community much greater than the sum of its parts.
Follow Sean Orth on Twitter.
