You may have heard stories about mind-blowing music festivals in Europe. They've been perfecting the wonderful madness of the music festival for a bit longer than we have. The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts in England, which started in 1970, draws nearly 200,000 attendees. Artists like Joe Strummer of The Clash and U2 have written songs about the festival. But, you don’t have to cross the Atlantic for a few days of nirvana in the sun with loads of live music. America has a few epic festivals coming up over the summer break that you might want to head to with some friends.
Here’s a rundown of this year’s summer music festivals:
Sasquatch! Music Festival
George, Washington
May 27-30
This year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival lineup includes a few of the biggest acts to come out of the Evergreen State, including Foo Fighters, Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie. However, attendees will also get a chance to see several up-and-comers like producer Gold Panda, electronic artist Twin Shadow and the Brooklyn indie dance-punk band Sleigh Bells.
Tickets for the event from Sasquatch! are already sold out because of the lineup, but there are plenty of places online to still find tickets at a reasonable price.
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
Manchester, Tennessee
June 9-12
Spin Magazine called Bonnaroo the best festival of the summer. This year, recent Grammy winners like Arcade Fire and The Black Keys will perform.
Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills & Nash, a former UF student, will team up with Neil Young and other members of Buffalo Springfield at this year’s Bonnaroo as part of their recent reunion. Attendees will also get a chance to see artists like Lil Wayne and Girl Talk.
Tickets for the festival are available at http://bonnaroo.com for $249 plus application fees.
Pitchfork
Chicago, Illinois
July 15-17
Since 2005, the enormously influential online music publication Pitchfork Media has hosted a music festival in Union Park in Chicago. The 2011 festival will feature performances by Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio, which released a new album earlier this week.
Attendees will also get a chance to see Web-hyped artists like the English electronic-soul musician James Blake, the young L.A. rap group OFWGKTA and the Louisiana stoner-rap king, Curren$y.
A three-day pass to the festival sells for $110. For more information, check out http://pitchforkmusicfestival.com.
