Summer Music Festival Season is Upon Us!
Ahh, yes, it is that time of the year when our favorite artists and bands are being announced as performers for music festivals over the summer. As an avid concert-goer, I’m going to share with you everything you need to know about five my favorite music festivals being held in the area!
- Firefly Music Festival – Dover, Delaware – June 16-19th, 2016 – General Admission 4-Day Pass $299+
Firefly Music Festival is one of the more unique music festivals in the area. Since Firefly is a 4-day event, most attendees camp on their campsite. You can stay at a hotel but many say a key part of the full Firefly experience is to go the camping route. This festival is open to all ages but attendees 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult. In fact, children eight and under are free in general admission and children two and under are free in VIP!
Location, Date and Time: Dover, Delaware on June 16-19th, 2016. Gates open at 5 pm on June 16th.
Ticket Pricing: General Admission passes are $299. Before you shoot it down for being too expensive, if you think about it, you’re paying around $75 per day of the festival for an amazing lineup. Not bad. VIP passes are $699 and includes VIP viewing at all stages, private restrooms, exclusive dining options for purchase, access to private cash bars and access to all areas available to general admission. There are various additional packages you can find here. Payment plans are also available.
Lineup: Mumford & Sons, Kings of Leon, Florence & The Machine, Major Lazer, Ellie Goulding, Fetty Wap, A$AP Rocky, Blink-182, Tame Impala, The 1975 and MANY more can be found here.
- Vans Warped Tour – Various Locations – Various Dates – General Admission Ticket $41.50
Vans Warped Tour is one of the biggest traveling tours in the country. Vans Warped Tour is moving to 42 cities across the country this summer and kicks off on June 22nd in Alaska! Vans Warped Tour is sponsored by Vans, Journeys and Monster Energy so there are many free things to pick up there when you go! This festival is open to all ages and even has this cool thing called a “reverse daycare” where parents who are accompanying their children can hang out. In fact, for every ticket purchased for an attendee under 18, one free pass is set aside for someone over the age of 28. This means that parents of concert-goers can attend for free!
Location, Date and Time: Virginia Beach, VA (July 6th), Syracuse, NY (July 7th), Camden, NJ (July 8th), Scraton, PA (July 11th), Columbia, MD (July 16th) and MANY more here. Gates open at 11 am on every concert date.
Ticket Pricing: General Admission tickets are $41.50 each. 3D limited edition souvenir collector tickets are available for $51.50.
Lineup: 3OH!3, Sum 41, The Story So Far, Mayday Parade, Crown The Empire, Sleeping With Sirens, Waka Flocka Flame, Yellowcard, The Maine, State Champs, and MANY more can be found here.
- Broccoli City Festival – Washington, D.C. – April 30th, 2016 – Broccoli Bite Pass $59
Broccoli City Festival beautifully blends music and activism in the public sphere to educate and engage its attendees in healthy eating and environmental sustainability. The festival focuses on recycling, energy, transportation and awareness and mobilization. Broccoli City Festivals allows vendors to participate in their Pop Up Market. There is a diverse lineup of vendors including merchants, food vendors and brands. This festival is open to all ages!
Location, Date and Time: Washington, D.C. on April 30th, 2016. Gates open at 12 pm.
Ticket Pricing: General Admission ticket, also called the Broccoli Bite Pass is $59. VIP ticket options, also called the Broccoli City Influencer Pass and the Broccoli City Lifestyle Pass, are sold out. There is an opportunity to earn a ticket through volunteering which you can read more about here.
Lineup: Future, Jhene Aiko, The Internet, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, BJ the Chicago Kid and Sango.
- Sweetlife Festival – Columbia, Maryland – May 14th, 2016 – General Admission Ticket $100+
Sweetlife Festival emphasizes the importance of a blend between music and food. Sweetlife is the musical subset of Sweetgreen which is a company that creates programs for school children to educate them on healthy eating, living and nutrition. Their goal is to inspire a healthier lifestyle for all so they invest in local communities to spread their message through their programs. To date, they’ve used their programs to educate 5,000 children. At the Sweetlife Festival they accept $5 donations for their program and spread awareness of their brand and what they do to help the community. This festival is open to all ages.
Location, Date and Time: Columbia, Maryland on May 14th, 2016. Gates open at 12 pm.
Ticket Pricing: General Admission tickets are $100. General Admission plus access inside the pavilion is $125. VIP access tickets are $150 and include access to covered VIP seating and GA pit, bars, lounges and private restrooms.
Lineup: The 1975, Halsey, Partynextdoor, Blondie, Grimes, Flume, Mac Demarco, Wolf Alice, DIIV, Shamir, and a FEW more can be found here.
- Moonrise Festival – Baltimore, Maryland – August 6th&7th, 2016 – General Admission 2-Day Pass $154.50+
Moonrise Festival is a mostly electronic dance music festival open to all ages. It’s a two-day adventure of many well-known artists in the EDM and hip-hop music industries. Moonrise Festival was founded in 2013 and is a self-proclaimed celebration of the rising moon. They give everyone interested the option to vend both days of the festival which is a great opportunity for small business owners to display their company and potentially gain new customers.
Location, Date and Time: Baltimore, Maryland on August 6th and 7th, 2016. Gates open at 11 am.
Ticket Pricing: General Admission 2-Day Passes are $154.50. Like Firefly, this is a multi-day festival so keep that in consideration when looking at ticket prices. GA tickets are technically $77.25 a day. Early Bird 2-Day VIP Passes are $229.50 and Advance 2-Day VIP Passes are $249.50. VIP Passes include viewing decks at Stellar and Lunar lounges, express entry through VIP entrance, access to secure VIP parking adjacent to the venue, access to premium VIP bathrooms, access to VIP exclusive bars with premium liquor and a Moonrise Festival VIP drawstring gift bag filled with MANY things you can view here.
Lineup: The official Moonrise Festival lineup will be announced the week of April 24th. However, past artists have been Borgeous, A$AP Ferg, Audien, Datsik, Lookas, The Glitch Mob, Bassnectar, Die Antwood, Waka Flocka Flame, Dillion Francis and MANY more.