8 Music Festivals Not to Miss
Music festivals loom large in rock history, but it took organizers several decades to iron out the kinks. Woodstock gave its name to a generation, but the concert itself was a debacle that nearly bankrupted its promoters. The tragic events at Altamont, held just months later, were immortalized in the Albert and David Maysles documentary Gimme Shelter (it is perhaps obvious, in retrospect, that hiring a motorcycle gang to provide security and paying them in beer is not a winning formula). Since then, festivals have gone mainstream, with family-friendly fare and corporate sponsorships replacing warnings about brown acid. Here are eight of the industryâs biggest.
South by Southwest
What began as a showcase for rising talent has become a sprawling 10-day-long trade show, industry meet and greet, and PR swag extravaganza. While youâre much more likely to find a free breakfast (courtesy of some aspiring tech start-up or another) than you are to discover musicâs next big thing, South by Southwest is simply too big for promoters and performers to ignore. Despite perennial pleas to âkeep Austin weird,â thereâs no sign that the festival will be returning to its humble roots any time soon.
Coachella
The first Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was held shortly after the disaster that was Woodstock â99, and the future of the event was far from certain. Organizers persevered, however, and the festivalâwhich was moved from October to April after its first yearâbecame a fixture in the annual concert season. Rescheduling the festival to April not only allowed organizers to avoid Indioâs sometimes brutal desert temperatures but also gave them an advantage over other promoters. As the first major festival on the calendar, Coachella often boasts high-profile reunions and serves as a launching point for North American tours.
Bonnaroo
Since 2002 the otherwise sleepy town of Manchester, Tennessee, has played host to Bonnaroo, a music and arts festival that allows attendees to camp on-site. By creating a home away from home for concertgoers, organizers fostered what they called âa Bonnaroo state of mind.â The notion of music as a shared experience is continued onstage, where the annual Superjam unites artists from an array of genres in a one-of-a-kind all-star celebration.
Glastonbury
The grand old man of the British festival circuit is pushing the half-century mark, but itâs not showing any sign of slowing down. Glastonbury had an inauspicious start (its inaugural performance was the day after Jimi Hendrixâs death), but, for the princely sum of ÂŁ1, attendees received both admission to the festival and free milk from festival organizer Michael Eavisâs farm. Ticket prices have, not surprisingly, increased quite a bit since then, and, although attendees no longer receive free milk, Glastonbury is one of the few festivals to provide guests with free drinking water. Eavis has remained directly involved in the festival since its beginnings, and charity and responsible land stewardship are central to Glastonburyâs mission. A significant portion of the festivalâs profits are donated to groups such as Greenpeace and Oxfam, and organizers periodically schedule âfallow yearsâ to allow the land around the festival to recover.
Roskilde
Many festivals pride themselves on the diversity of their lineups, but few can approach the dizzying variety that can be found at Roskilde, the largest festival in northern Europe. Roskilde offers seven days of music that runs the gamut from hip-hop to avant-garde to mainstream pop. All profits from the festival are donated to charitable organizations such as Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and the World Wildlife Fund.
Fuji Rock
As festival settings go, itâs hard to top Fuji Rock, which brings arena-filling performers to the idyllic postcard landscape of Japanâs Niigata prefecture. Despite the rural backdrop, the festival is just two-and-a-half hours away from Tokyo by train and shuttle bus. Japanese acts can be found in abundance, but major global acts often occupy the headlining slots. Organizers take great pains to preserve the pristine condition of the festival grounds with a âleave no traceâ policy that results in virtually all waste being recycled.
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Newport Folk Festival
Best known as the place where Bob Dylan infamously âwent electricâ in 1965, the Newport Folk Festival has since evolved quite a bit. Perhaps embracing the Louis Armstrong maxim that âall music is folk music,â the festival (which was relaunched in 1985 after a 15-year hiatus) is just as likely to feature alternative rockers as Americana or trad artists.
Lollapalooza
Once upon a time, Janeâs Addiction front man Perry Farrell conceived of a rock festival that would bring together a host of disparate music subcultures. The first Lollapalooza saw original gangsta Ice-T sharing a stage with punk icon Henry Rollins and goth legend Siouxsie Sioux. Well, that was in 1991. Ice-T, who once recorded a song titled âCop Killer,â is now best known as a TV detective, Rollins is something of an elder statesman of progressive rage, and SiousxieâŠhasnât aged a day, and weâll try not to dwell on the possible explanations for that. The new Lollapalooza is a destination festival that draws upward of 300,000 people to Chicago each year, and the presence of Kidzapaloozaâa childrenâs area sponsored by boutique food and drink companiesâoffers ample evidence that Lolla organizers are aware of their changing target demographic. With more than 100 acts on eight stages over three days, Lollapalooza offers something for everyone, and, thanks to broad âradius clausesâ that contractually limit when and where else performers can play, it might be the Midwestern U.S. concert stop for many bands in a given year.