Over the past few weeks as the weather has been cooling, I’ve stumbled across quite a few articles saying goodbye to not only summer but the festival season as well. Many people think that music festivals are exclusive to the summer season but here at FestPop we know better. Not only are there hundreds of fall and winter music festivals, the summer festival season is barely starting for our friends living in Australia. Don’t get me wrong, summer festivals are awesome because the days are longer, the weather is great, and school is out. But have you ever tried partying all night long in the snow while listening to music from your favorite artists? Or how about taking a week long cruise where you are whisked off to a private island where you can enjoy some of the most amazing tropical weather that can only be experience during the earlier months of the year? I am here to show that essentially music festivals have no boundaries. They occur during every month, every season, and in every part of the globe. Here is a short list of some of FestPop’s favorite music festivals taking place around the world throughout the year proving that festival season is never over.
January
Holy Ship (Miami, FL- Bahamas) – The music festival scene is expanding at a mind-blowing rate and is now taking on international waters. Holy Ship is a three day cruise where you can relax while sailing through the Caribbean with some of the biggest names in electronic music as entertainment. After three days of partying on board, the cruise concludes with a private yet epic beach party on the coast of the Bahamas.
[Photo Credit: Rukes]
Sydney Festival (Sydney, Australia) Sydney Festival is a massive three week festival that takes place in Australia’s largest city and capital of Sydney. Unlike most music festivals, Sydney Festival uses the whole city as a venue with event locations spread throughout the whole city. Festival goers will get to experience all of Sydney’s major attractions including the Sydney Opera House, CarriageWorks, and Hyde Park.
3OA Songwriters Festival (South Walton, FL, USA) – Once again proving that winter festivals don’t have to be cold and depressing, this festival takes place in the beachside neighborhoods of South Walton. Any music lovers trying to discover new and unique songwriters who produce genuinely good music will love this festival. If you’re a songwriter looking for exposure this could be the right festival to build your fan base. 3OA is known for having one of the most open-minded and underground music loving crowds out there.
7000 Tons of Metal (Miami, FL – Jamaica) – A five day festival at sea for all you Metal Heads who want to get away and enjoy good music with like-minded fans. This year’s cruise will set sail from Miami and head for Jamaica where it will dock for a day of unforgettable beach parties. The 2015 lineup was recently released so get ready to bang through the Caribbean with bands such as Apocolyptica, Cannibal Corpse, Threshold, and many others.
[Photo Credit: SickChirpse]
Southbound Festival (Busselton, Australia) – This Indie festival is responsible for bringing some of the well-known names in Indie music to the Gold Coast. Past headliners include the Artic Monkey, Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Taking place in Busselton on the coast of the Indian Ocean, this festival promises a beach-side camping experience you never forget.
February
Rock Legends Cruise (Ft Lauderdale, Fl – Nassua, Bahamas) – This is a cruise that is destined to take you down memory lane. Feelings of nostalgia will engulf you as you sail off the coast of Florida to the heart of the Caribbean while enjoying a slew of classic rock bands. Passengers can also take part in the various on board ship activities including rock climbing, a boxing ring, and a full-sized volleyball and basketball court. Trying to get on your parents good side? This may be exactly what they need in their Christmas stocking
Capetown Electronic Music Festival (Cape Town, South Africa) – This may be the only electronic music festival in the world that you won’t see mainstream artists at. CEMF’s features mostly underground electronic music artists who are bound to have you giving them a second listen on the car ride home. A festival like this is great for electronic music lovers who want to venture away from the artists who seem to headline every major electronic music event across the world.
[Photo Credit: Capetown Electronic Music Festival]
Copenhagen Winter Jazz Festival (Copenhagen, Denmark) – Over the past few decades the deutch capital Copenhagen has transformed into one of the Europe’s central locations for music and film festivals. The Copenhagen Winter Jazz festival hosts over 250,000 guests over a ten day period. Festival goers can attend a whopping 1000 concerts spread out over 100 venues. These venues include everything from concert halls to small coffee shops downtown. Every jazz fan should find a way to make it to event at least one time in their life.
[Photo Credit: Kristoffer Juel Poulsen]
Igloofest (Montreal, Canada) – Montreal’s premier outdoor winter electronic music festival brings together music lovers together to party in sub-zero degree weather. Instead of the usual minimal clothing we see at other electronic music festivals, Igloofest attendee dance the night away on a bed of snow wearing more layers than you would to your grandma’s house on Christmas. There is even a one piece competition where festival attendees attempt to outdo one another by wearing the ugliest, most fluorescent, and attention-grabbing winter attire they can find.
[Photo Credit: Igloofest]
March
Ultra Music Festival (Miami, FL, USA) – Ultra is one of largest and well known electronic dance music festivals in the entire Northern Hemisphere. Over-crowding is a well-known problem for this festival but, with top artists like Tiesto, Calvin Harris, and Diplo performing, it’s understandable why so many dance music fans flock to Miami for this festival each year. To solve this problem, Ultra decided to bring the music experience to you. The Ultra experience has expanded itself to 8 different countries including Argentina, Japan, Europe, the UK, and South Korea.
[Photo Credit: Rukes]
Extreme Thing (Las Vegas, NV, USA) – What started out as a small show at a skate park has transformed into Las Vegas’ leading rock and alternative music festival. With no age limit, Extreme Thing is a festival that the whole family can enjoy. Besides music this festival also provides action sports entertainment including professional wrestling exhibitions, a Pro BMX dirt challenge, and a fun scooter competition for the younger crowd.
McDowell Mountain Music Festival (Phoenix, AZ, USA) – McDowell Mountain Music Festival is a three day music event that takes place in the Arizona capital of Phoenix. Currently, this is the only festival in Arizona that gives 100% of its profits to charity. Community involvement, corporate participation, and charity are the three values McDowell Mountain Music Festival wishes to promote at the event.
SXSW (Austin, TX, USA) – With a whopping 80 stages there’s no wonder SXSW is one of the biggest festival in North America. Although you will first hear about the mainstream artists such as Jay Z and Lady Gaga there are hundreds, yes hundreds, of chances to hear some underground music from artists you’ve never heard of before. Over the past few years SXSW has also earned critical acclaim for the film aspect of the festival. Many films that didn’t get into Sundance make the cut at SXSW adding a complete cultural experience to the festival.
Aura Music and Arts Festival (Live Oak, FL,USA) – Aura Music and Arts Festival is a spiritual gathering for likeminded individuals to come together to share good vibes while taking part in the music, yoga, art, and various workshops the festival provides. High tech visuals, one of a kind architecture, and one of the most breath taking natural amphitheaters in US will provide attendees with an unforgettable almost psychedelic experience.
April
Coachella (Indio, CA, USA) – This gathering in the desert is the Hollywood of music festivals and I mean that in the literal sense. Coachella is the festival to attend to see and be seen. Besides the chart topping artists featured in the lineup expect to see many of Hollywood’s biggest stars casually walking around the festival. With over 500,000 guests it’s no wonder Coachella has had to extend their festival to take place over the course of two weekends. Known for its big surprises expect unannounced appearances, onstage collaborations, and the occasional hologram or two.
[Photo Credit: Rukes]
Country Thunder (Florence, AZ, USA) – Attention all country fans this is the must attend festival for you! Featuring four days or whiskey, two stepping, rowdy behavior, and the top country acts in the US, Country Thunder guests are guaranteed a damn good time. Prepare to camp out under the Arizona sun while enjoying music from the likes of Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, and the Band Perry. For its size and popularity Country Thunder definitely give you a bang for your buck. Four day presale passes can be purchased for a mere $99 dollars.
New Orleans Jazz Festival (New Orleans, LA, USA) – As a celebration of the Jazz culture in New Orleans this festival incorporates all of jazz’s modern influences including gospel, R&B, afro- carribean, rock, and soul music. All of these influences can be seen from the festivals past headliners including Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jimmy Buffet. Besides music, culture and history are the main themes of this event with four “villages” guests can go to if they want to learn more about jazz and NOLA culture. These villages include Louisiana Folklife Village, Native Amerian Village, and the Grandstand, and the Cultural Exchange Pavillion.
May
Mysteryland (New York, NY, USA) – Mysteryland’s multi-faceted approach has been a winning formula for no less than two decades. The festival offers its guests a creative journey, combining music with theatre, movies, interactive installation art, street performers and spectacular shows at bizarre decorated stages. To create this amazing spectacle, the festival organizers collaborate with a wide range of creative people from all over the world. As a nomad Mysteryland travels across the globe to find international artists willing to work with the festival and to make it an even richer experience. The inaugural Mysteryland USA was held in the iconic location, Bethel Woods.
[Photo Credit: Chris Hong]
Lighting In A Bottle (Bradley, CA, USA) – Lightning In A Bottle celebrates art, music, performance, sustainability and life. The history of LIB spans more than a decade, and friends, family, and co-horts of The Do LaB are thrilled and astounded that it’s been more than ten years of making miracles and catching Lightning in a Bottle! This past Lightning In A Bottle was held at the San Antonio Recreation Area in Bradley, CA. Past artists included Beats Antique, Gramatik, Moby, Little Dragon, and the Lucent Dossier Experience.
Beale St Music Festival (Memphis, TN, USA) – The 2015 Beale Street Music Festival marks the 39th anniversary of the festival which each year attracts music enthusiasts from all 50 states and a dozen foreign countries to the storied city where rock-n-roll and blues music all began. Over the past decade the festival has attracted over 1.1 million music fans to the multistage three-day event, best known for its eclectic mix of contemporary rock, blues, soul and modern talent and its musically inspired setting. The festival is held in a beautiful 25 acre riverfront park at the foot of historic Beale Street overlooking the mighty Mississippi River.
Sasquatch! Music Festival (Quincy, WA, USA) – On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed 2013 festival (which sold-out in a record 90 minutes) Sasquatch! Music Festival returns in 2014. The festival will run May 23-25 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The Gorge — the internationally lauded and Billboard “Top Amphitheater” award-winning concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.
[Photo Credit: Matthew Lamb]
June
CMA Music Festival (Nashville, TN, USA) – The CMA Music Festival is a four-day music festival centered on country music hosted each June by the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning in 1972 as Fan Fair, the event now draws over 400 artists and celebrities who hold autograph sessions and perform in one of the many concerts offered throughout the festival.
Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, NV, USA) – Electric Daisy Carnival has grown exponentially over the past seventeen years. Now hosted annually at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway as a three-day event, EDC is one of the nation’s largest music festivals, and North America’s largest dance music event with attendance and acclaim topping even the most well-known mainstream music festivals. The internationally acclaimed carnival-themed event features full-size carnival rides, art installations, hundreds of costume-clad performers, and the largest stage built in North America. From a single-day festival, EDC today is a weekend long, multidimensional entertainment experience that combines the world’s most renowned dance music talent with leading-edge production and sound design.
[Photo Credit: Bonnaroo]
Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN, USA) – An escape into Excitement. Music. Art. Discoveries. Trees. Fresh Air. Green Grass. A mini film fest. Friends (Old / New). Adventure. Overwhelming happiness. Hugging a stranger by accident. Sharing and Generosity. Bonnaroovian Dancing. Hyperbolic verbiage. System overload. The perfect bite of ice cream. Sandals. Fallovers. Chirping Birds. Flashing Lights. Food and Drink. Variety. Singing. Laughing. Short shorts. High-Fives. Rocky IV in the cinema tent at 3am. Spicy Pie. Memories. Someone dressed up like Teen Wolf. Holy Cow(!) Moments. Interesting factoids. Egg sandwiches. More music. Adventure. Deep Breaths. Big smiles. This. That. The Other. Hellos and Goodbyes and reminders of all that we have to celebrate and look forward to next year and in the future.
Written by FestPop Staff Writers
Tatiana Woods and Chris Hong
Email comments to: Press@FestPop.com