Seven Festivals: Who You’ll Meet Depending on Where You’ll Be This Season
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With warm weather and colorful foliage soon to take the place of chilly temperatures and snow storms, we are officially in festival mode. For music lovers, Spring and Summertime are an excuse to aggregate with fans and talent across countless genres at festivals everywhere from sunny California to the U.K.. While some of the bigger fetes are decades old, evermore new festivals are popping up to put a fresh spin on the old tradition. The shift isn’t unlike the music industry itself, with genres breaking into sub-genres and niches to fit the tastes of an increasingly voracious public. No sooner have new movements started to take root than the sounds become scenes, each with its own (counter) culture.
So, if you were to swing by the industry’s most popular festivals this season, just who or what might you encounter…
When/Where: April 12-14, 19-21 / Indio, California
Music: 2 Chainz, Phoenix, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Who You’ll Find:
– Celebrities revelling in pretend anonymity for a weekend
– Flower-children dressed in denim, crop tops, and hippie hair accessories
– Individuals who identify their vocations as “dragon slayer” and “gypsy festivalarian”
When/Where: June 15 – August 4 / Across the U.S.A.
Music: New Years Day, 3OH!3, Allstar Weekend, Motion City Soundtrack
Who You’ll Find:
– Teenagers with the invite “free hugs” written on their bodies
– A plethora of unsigned rock bands asking someone–anyone–to listen to their demos
– Elaborate hairdos…plenty of mohawks and every color dye imaginable
– Sk8rs
When/Where: August 30 – September 1 / Randall’s Island Park, NYC
Music: Bingo Players, David Guetta, Avicii
Who You’ll Find:
– EDM lovers clad head-to-toe in neon – sometimes an outfit, sometimes paint
– Wrists full of funky, beaded bracelets
– Halloween in the Summer? Hardcore fans dress up in costume
When/Where: June 13-16 / Manchester, Tennessee
Music: A$AP Rocky, Paul McCartney, Mumford & Sons
Who You’ll Find:
– A bunch of people covered in mud
– …and who generally need a shower (the festival is one big camp out)
When/Where: August 2-4 / Chicago, Illinois
Music: 2 Chainz, Ellie Goulding, The Cure, The Killers
Who You’ll Find:
– A bit of everything, really: bros, hipsters, more people covered in mud and paint, and a handful of strange costumes
When/Where: August 17-18 / Hylands Park & Weston Park, England
Music: Calvin Harris, Paloma Faith, James Arthur, Jessie J, Ellie Goulding
Who You’ll Find:
– EDM-curious (e-curious?) music fans
– Park enthusiasts
– Harry Potter fans (check out the golden snitch on the festival’s website)
When/Where: August 31 – September 1 / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Music: Beyoncé, 2 Chainz, Calvin Harris, Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky
Who You’ll Find:
– Fans of Blu Ivy Carter
– Beer drinkers (after all, the fest is sponsored by Budweiser)
– Fitted hats
And there’s a taste of what you’re bound to run into out and about at this year’s music festivals…we’ll meet you out there to see what else pops up!