Summer Is Music Festival Season. Are You Ready?

Photo credit: Big Funk Photography

Music is beneficial to all in many ways. As Bob Marley once said, “When it hits you feel no pain.” Music is a crucial tool in one’s life that can be either absorbed or ignored. When you choose not to incorporate music in your life, you are forfeiting a chance to bond socially with all types of people, to relax and relieve stress, and to escape social norms expected of you in day-to-day life.

I personally crave regressing back to that carefree, childlike state of mind through experiencing the magical atmosphere of peaceful bliss that happens when we simply coexist together in nature and collectively listen to great music. The beautifully colorful clothing, lasers, lights, and toys—hula hoops, poi, face paint, and glowsticks—also help to amplify the whole festival experience. No matter your preference in genres, there is a festival out there for you…you just have to find it! Thus, I’ve developed a Summer 2015 Festival Schedule to help guide you to where you need to be in the following months:

Click on any of the events for detailed lineups.

If you’re into mainstream music with incorporation of some experimental artists, you may enjoy a trip to:

Hangout Music Festival: May 15–17,  Gulf Shores, Alabama

Governors Ball Music Festival: June 5–7, Randall’s Island Park, New York City

Bonnaroo: June 11–14, Manchester, Tennessee

Firefly Music Festival: June 18–21, The Woodlands, Dover, Delaware

Lollapalooza: July 31–August 2, Grant Park, Chicago

If you’re into EDM, you might enjoy:

CounterPoint: May 22–24, Kingston Downs, Georgia

Electric Daisy Carnival: June 19–21, Las Vegas, Nevada, & May 23–24, New York City

Electric Forest: June 25–28, Rothbury, Michigan

Shambhala: August 7–10, Salmo River Ranch, British Columbia

Summer Set: August 14–16, Somerset, Wisconsin

Imagine Music Festival: August 29–30, Atlanta, Georgia

TomorrowWorld: September 25–27, Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia

If you’re into jam bands, you may enjoy festivals like:

Purple Hatters Ball: May 8–10, Live Oak, Florida

Summer Camp: May 22–May 24, Chillicothe, Illinois

All Good Music Festival: July 9–11, Summit Point, West Virginia

Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival: July 30–August 7, Bridgeport, Connecticut

If you like a little bit of anything and everything that sounds good, you should probably find yourself at:

Wakarusa: June 4–7, Ozark, Arkansas

Camp Bisco: July 9–11, Albany, New York

If you like jazz and blues, check out:

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: April 24–May 3

Chicago Blues Festival: June 12–14

If you’re into rap/hip-hop, hit up:

Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival: July 11

If you’re someone who likes to plan far ahead, prepare yourself for the epic Dominican Holidaze, December 3–7 on a boat cruising around Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Last but not least, for all my diehard Deadheads out there, I must mention the pricey-yet-epic Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well show, with the band’s original members performing together again one last time, celebrating 50 years of rocking out. The show is July 3–5 in Chicago, Illinois.

Do yourself a favor and find a festival that’s right for you this summer, take a few days off, and just go! Escape from the ordinary and absorb what life is all about when you free yourself from the constraints of routine life. If you find yourself not able to travel far, perhaps you might be interested in a local reggae mini-festival at the Charleston Tea Plantation  on July 18 with Slightly Stoopid, Dirty Heads, and The Expendables.