Finals are near, and for many Fresno State students, graduation awaits, but with the summer approaching, here are a few of the best and biggest California music festivals to consider attending.
Outside Lands
August 7 – 9
San Francisco’s largest music and arts festival is considered the Bay Area’s Coachella. Each year, Outside Lands features new and upcoming artists in all music genres as well as familiar names like those in last year’s lineup: Kanye West, Haim and Arctic Monkeys.
Outside Lands brings fresh artists to the stage, accommodating many newcomers to the festival with a smorgasbord of rap, indie, rock and EDM artists. For those looking to get some variety in their music, Outside Lands takes the cake with a diverse selection of musicians and bands to see.
This year, the Outside Lands lineup is certified fresh with new faces and familiar headliners including: Elton John, The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Sam Smith, Sky Ferreira and Kendrick Lamar. Other artists playing Outside Lands are: St. Vincent, Tame Impala, G-Eazy, Billy Idol, Mac Demarco, ODESZA and Caribou. A full lineup is available online through the Outside Lands website.
Country Summer Festival
June 5 – 7
Grab your cowboy hat, put your boots on and get ready to hear some good ol’ country music at one of California’s only country music festivals.
Located at Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California, the Country Summer Festival is three days full of performances from some of country music’s top artists, such as Jake Owen, The Band Perry and Trace Adkins.
In only its second year running, the Country Summer Festival expects to attract more than 11,000 people daily and will also be promoting local bands and artists from the Santa Rosa area.
BottleRock Festival
May 29 – 31
If you think Napa Valley is just for clinking glasses and swishing wine, think again. Each year, Napa Valley hosts the BottleRock Napa Valley Festival, highlighting music, food, wine and beer.
The BottleRock Festival will be headlining artists like: Imagine Dragons, Foster the People, Public Enemy, Passion Pit, No Doubt and Snoop Dogg.
Aside from great performances and artists, BottleRock Festival will also be supplying attendees with an abundance of food vendors ranging from Morimoto Japanese seafood to Farmer Brown fried chicken to Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.