It’s festival season! That means it’s time for flower crowns, dancing in 90 degree weather, losing yourself in a crowd of amazing people/music and did I mention flower crowns? In case you’re looking for a couple of festivals to put on your bucket list, here are some pretty epic ones to check out:
1. Tomorrowland
A music festival list would not be complete without the father of all music festivals. This is the largest EDM festival in the world and it is hosted in Belgium, Germany – specifically in the town of Boom. Appropriate isn’t it? DJs such as Armin Van Buuren, Axwell, David Guetta, Hardwell, Swedish House Mafia and many more have graced the stages of this festival for just about 10 years. The stages are anything but ordinary, and the main stage has a different theme almost every year. It usually takes place the last week of July and tickets alone go for about 300 dollars for the entire weekend, not including money spent on camping.
2. Rock In Rio
This festival originated in Rio de Janeiro, has expanded to Lisbon and Madrid and is premiering in Las Vegas this year. The first time the festival was held, the headliners were all rock bands such as Queen and AC/DC making it one of the premier rock festivals of the world ever since it began. The festival has “City of Rock” built into the grounds and has become the iconic stage of the festival in Rio. The festival has now opened its stages to many different genres of music, but rock still reigns supreme. The next festival in Rio will be from Sept. 18-27 and its lineup includes Rihanna, Queen + Adam Lambert, Katy Perry and System of a Down and many more, including an array of Brazilian artists. Tickets are sold based on which headlining show you want to see, and can range from 75-115 dollars. To visit the other stages and performances, you have to buy tickets for those separately.
3. Coachella
If hipster had a country, this would look a lot like it. Coachella started out in 1999 as the anti-Woodstock and has evolved into the to-be musical festival of the United States. It’s a magical world of art, music and dancing astronauts, in which you can have a snowball fight in the middle of California and play human foosball – all while seeing epic art and even more epic bands, singers and DJs. Music wise, you’ll see everything from rock legends like AC/DC to DJs like Axwell^Ingrosso. There will also be performances like Hozier and Florence and the Machine. It’s safe to say this festival has something for almost everyone. This year Coachella happened the weekend of Apr. 10-12 and Apr. 17-19. Prices for general admission are about 375 dollars.
4. Lollapalooza
This is another festival experience that has made its way around the world. With festivals in the U.S., Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, it’s safe to say that Lollapalooza is one of the most worldwide festivals out there. The birth of this international festival experience was in Grant Park, Chicago in 2005. Before this though, the festival would tour around the U.S. The festival focuses on different types of rock, electronica and pop. Lollapalooza is not just a music festival; it’s also a food festival! The festival’s grounds have a little city of food: Chow Town. Vendors from Chicago’s best and favorite restaurants sell food all day every day, as long as the festival grounds are open. This festival also has a place designated especially for kids, Kidzapalooza, if you want to train your little ones to follow in your festival footsteps. General Admission is about 270 dollars.
5. Festival Estero Picnic
One of the newer festivals on the scene, Festival Estero Picnic is a mixture of EDM, rock and pop from artists of all over the world taking place in Bogotá, Colombia. Like the name proclaims, it’s a huge picnic with various stages and a lot of food. Their slogan is Un Mundo Distinto which means “a different world”. Their goal is to essentially create a different world where you can have a good time enjoying not only music, but art too! It began in 2010 with only a handful of artists and has evolved in 5 years to become the type of place that you can find Kings of Leon, Calvin Harris, Jack White, Skrillex and many Latin American premier artists and bands. The Killers, Zedd and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers have also graced the stages of this festival. The 2015 edition of the festival already happened in March, and we are still waiting for the 2016 dates. Tickets rage from 186-238 dollars.