Top 7 upcoming Music Festivals in the USA 2023

Music festivals have transformed, changed, metamorphosed, transmuted, and transfigured themselves over the last decades. We all know that guy or girl who complains about Coachella or Burning Man. Everyone’s talking about our beloved musical blessings as if they weren’t touched by the angels of the arpeggios… When in fact… we’re all just craving for an entrance.

2023 isn’t going to change that. That’s why we’re going to talk about the best music festivals in the USA.  

We’re going to shower you in facts, lineups, history, and precious information. Therefore, grab your favorite notepad, sharpen your rainbow pencil, and fire up the best music you can get your hands at.

Hence…

Best Music Festivals in the US in 2023

Many think about the modern music festival in the US, as if it fell into the social media personalities' attention spectrum, without really committing to the wide musical grace. Sure, it may be true that many have turned into a social gathering, but over the course of modern music history, big names like Coachella or Lollapalooza made it to where they are right now, due to insane performances. Not because of some outfits… That’s why we’re going to present to you the best aspects of your audio consecration.

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Lollapalooza Music Festival

 Other packages available.

We’ve all seen the Simpsons episode, Homerpalooza. Admit it. 

Well, Lollapalooza had a rough start as well. Jane’s Addiction leader Perry Farrell started it in 1991 as a multicity venue for his band’s farewell tour. Acts played in that tour, which reached 20 cities across the United States and Canada. The events were profitable, therefore, a similar tour was planned in 1992, with a second stage added. The festival again visited many cities across North America, establishing the format of Lollapalooza through 1997… but… everyone began to lose money, canceling the whole deal in 1998. In 2003 the name was resurrected, yet, still struggling financially. So, of course, the gig got canceled again in 2004.

Farrell got desperate and after finding new backers, Lollapalooza was given a third chance in 2005 - this time taking place only in Chicago. It turned out to be such a success that a fourth day was added for 2006, and Lollapalooza became an annual event. This household name now attracts over 200.000 attendees, including many families. It’s a wonderful gathering of music, dance, comedy, and crafts booths, which transforms it into a multi-genre delight, providing also a platform for political and non-profit artists and groups. 

But with all those side dishes, can it still be a good festival? Well, let’s have a small look at this year's biggest names: 

Headliners of the Lollapalooza Music Festival:

Billie Eilish, Karol G, Kendrick Lamar, The 1975, Odesza, Tomorrow X Together, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lana Del Rey.

You can check Line up here: https://www.lollapalooza.com/lineup 

Editorial Choice: Thirty Seconds to Mars

Variety Magazine highlights Thirty Seconds to Mars among the 170 plus artists performing at this year's festival.

Pitchfork Music Festival

Other packages available.

Once again, Chicago’s summer vibes bring out the best in music, local food and art in a true cultural feast. Organized by independently focused music source Pitchfork Media, this three-day event is music heaven that melts Rock, Hip-Hop, Electronic, Jazz, Punk, and many other genres and subgenres. It has a record fair, fantastic food shops, local art, and beverages from local and national vendors.

Before we jump into the festival's history, here’s this years lineup, so you can get a taste of (and by some tickets for) this three days pre-Lollapalooza entity: 

Headliners of the Pitchfork Music Festival:

The Smile, Alvvays, Perfume Genius, Big Thief, Weyes Blood, King Krule, Bon Iver, Kelela, Koffee.

It all started with the Chicago-based Internet music and reviews publisher of the same name, back in 2005. The following year, the company organized its own Pitchfork Music Festival. It was held over two days in July and attracted more than 36.000 fans to hear some awesome 40 bands, including Band of Horses or Mission of Burma over two main stages. Through the years the venue expanded to three days, pulling in music of all genres and bands of all sizes. To ensure Pitchfork became more than just a music festival, In 2008, concert-goers could register to vote. More than 1200 people did so. In a proactive and eco-friendly move, In 2010 the organizers purchased carbon credits to offset the traveling the musicians would do to reach the festival including many other forward thinking green ways to live. 

Pitchfork Festival branched out in 2021 with the first ever Pitchfork Festival London and Pitchfork Festival Paris, proving its success and growth.

You can check Line up here: https://pitchforkmusicfestival.com/schedule/

Editorial Choice: Snail Mail & Perfume Genius

Pitchfork.com (it was a website before it was a festival…remember?) highlights Snail Mail & Perfume Genius among many more to watch out for over the course of the weekend.

Burning Man! More than a Music Festival? 

Other packages available.

Even though it’s not actually a music festival, Burning man deserves to be on the list. What matters is that there’s music involved in this legendary, psychedelic, almost mythological week just outside Las Vegas.

This badass festival was inaugurated in 1986 when Larry Harvey and Jerry James - two members of the San Francisco arts community - burned a two-meter tall wooden effigy of a man on San Francisco’s Baker Beach in celebration of the summer solstice. Only twenty people witnessed the event. This started a small tradition of burning wooden men, with more and more people attending. Until the year 1990, when the police intervened at the last minute and forbade the structure from being set ablaze. Consequently, the event was moved to the Black Rock Desert, where it was burned on the Labor Day weekend, in early September. 

The Burning Man festival expanded dramatically over the next two decades. It expanded to an entire week, preceding Labor Day. In 2010, attendance rose exponentially, exceeding the 50,000 mark. That meant that each year a temporary city - with named streets, villages, and camps - gets erected in the desert to accommodate all of the attendees. After the festival, however, that city gets completely obliterated, keeping with the “leave no trace” policy of the festival organizers.

Unlike most other festivals, Burning Man is virtually vendor-free. People are expected to bring with them whatever they need for a week’s subsistence. In the end, it’s an exercise, a challenge, balancing human cooperation, self-reliance, individual expression and creative collaboration in the formation of an artistic community.

Sure it’s expensive, but it’s an experience like no other! 

Editorial Choice: Help to create Black Rock City

Seeing as there is no lineup at Burning Man, NationalToday.com recommends getting involved in many activities, including joining volunteer teams and creating pieces of art. 

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival

Other packages available.

This funny-named multi-themed festival started out on jam bands and folk-rock, until it expanded to include an impressive array of genres and was once praised by Rolling Stones magazine as being amongst the “50 Moments That Changed Rock & Roll”. That’s honestly pretty cool if you ask us.

The first Bonnaroo was organized by veteran music promoter Ashley Capps back in 2002 and it attracted surprisingly over 70.000 visitors. What’s so interesting about the venue is that it's not limited to any genre. At the four-day multistage festival, attendees can hear a variety of music, from Rock and Jazz to Hip-Hop and even World Music.

GENRE-TARGETED RELEASE PROMOTION

That’s why this year includes artists like: 

Headliners of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival

Zeds Dead, Liquid Stranger, Kendrick Lamar, Odessa, Foo Fighters 

Don’t forget to dive deeper into the lineup where artists like Paramore, Sheryl Crow and Lil Nas X are screaming to be watched. 

And if you get tired of first-class music, there’s always a central area of the festival site, called Centeroo, which is open 24 hours a day, offering food and craft vending and other activities where you can also watch films, sample specialty beers or dance all night at the Silent Disco.

Editorial Choice: Jacob Collier

Live Rate highlights multi-instrumentalist music prodigy Jacob Collier as one of the must see top live performances of the weekend.  

The Governors Ball Music Festival

Other packages available.

The mighty city of the east coast of the United States brings to this list a newbie festival, filled with big and juicy names and companies. 

Founded and launched in 2011, The Governors Ball Music Festival is an annual multi-day music festival hosted on Randall’s Island in New York City. Initially established and operated independently by Founders Entertainment, Gov Ball was just recently acquired by Live Nation in an agreement made so that the excellent festival might continue to “remain competitive and match the high costs of booking top talent for its events,” reports the New York Times.

Over the last six years, the New York festival has transformed from little more than a one-day event featuring primarily underground artists into a three-day musical extravaganza to be reckoned with. Consistently chock-full of an eclectic mix of big-league names, Gov Ball has quickly earned a seat at the table with the likes of Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Made In America, Sasquatch and otherwise.

Get your ticket to the big apple to see musicians like:

Headliners of the Governors Ball Music Festival

Lizzo, Odessa & Kendrick Lamar 

Don’t just stop with the headliners, be sure to also check out acts such as Haim, Lil Baby & Lil Naz X. 

Editorial Choice: Kim Petras/Suki Waterhouse/Sofi Tukker

Thrillist recommends Kim Petras, Suki Waterhouse and Sofi Tukker to look out for on top of all the great headliners and acts strewn across the weekend.  

Electric Forest Music Festival

Other packages available.

Hungry for some electro nectar? 

When the summer of 2010 rolled around, the leaders of the Rothbury Festival announced that they would be “on hiatus” for the year. They cited various artist’s conflicting touring schedules as the reason for the postponement. 

That’s how In the summer of 2011, Electric Forest was born at the JJ Resort. Tiësto, Kaskade, Lettuce, and Excision all helped christen this next chapter in Forest history. Production giants Insomniac Events partnered with the festival for the first time this year as well. 

This colorful festival fuses bands with electronic DJs, taking over in the form of a forest as an alternative to the field-only festival we are used to. Festival-goers are immersed in the colors of the nature surrounding them, as thumping sounds follow them around from stage to stage.

This year's forest lineup includes:

Headliners of the Electric Forest Music Festival

Odessa, Illenium, Zeds Dead, Above & Beyond.

Editorial Choice: Chromeo & Madeon

Topshelfmusicmag.com suggests multiple non-headline acts to keep an eye out for at Electric Forest Music Festival. Chromeo & Madeon make the cut as stand outs! 

Austin City Limits Music Festival 

Other packages available.

$Inspired by a concert series of the same name, the festival is an eight-stage celebration of all things music, along with an art market, delicious food and drink, a dedicated family area, and much more. 

Originally a one-weekend event, the festival successfully expanded to two weekends in 2012 after the local council voted unanimously to allow it to do so.

This monster festival has gathered many of the best names in music history. This year pulls in the big guns with this awesome lineup:

Headliners of the Austin City Limits Music Festival

Kendrick Lamar, The Lumineers, Foo Fighters, Shania Twain, The 1975, Alanis Morissette, Mumford & Sons, Odessa, Hozier and Yeah Yeah Yeahs - to name a few…

As mentioned above, other than the musical performances, there are many other attractions at the ACL. These include the Austin Eats and the ACL Art Market. The former is a food court that was inspired by the New Orleans Jazz Fest and features food from the top caterers and restaurants in Austin. The latter is an exhibition of the works of local artists. Furthermore, there is an ACL Cares section at the festival that allows festival-goers to give something back to the community. Some of the good causes that are supported by the event include Austin Music Foundation, HeadCount, Keep Austin Beautiful, and United Way for Greater Austin.

Editorial Choice: The Mars Volta

Rolling Stone highlighted progressive rockers The Mars Volta among special appearances over the two weekend stints. Be sure to check out more information on their website for other highlight acts. 

As we wrap up our musical journey, we hope this guide helps you find your next unforgettable concert experience. In the sea of music festivals, these seven have stood the test of time, pushing boundaries, and constantly evolving. Whether you're craving the electric energy of a dance tent or the intimate acoustic sets in a wooded glade, there's a festival out there waiting to welcome you. So prepare your festival kit, save those dates, and get ready to immerse yourself in the music - your next grand adventure awaits!

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