There are several music festivals to choose from across the USA in 2023. This year’s festival season will include something for every type of festival-goer, with selections ranging from internationally renowned events like Ultra, Firefly, Coachella, and Lollapalooza to more locally known festivals like North Coast Music Festival or Okeechobee Music Festival. Let’s have a look at the most anticipated festivals of all!
Hot 97 Summer Jam
This year, Hot 97’s Summer Jam will be held once more at Elmont, New York’s UBS Arena. The one-day festival will commemorate hip-hop’s 50th birthday on 4th June, 2023. Cardi B, GloRilla, Ice Spice, French Montana, Coi Leray, Fivio Foreign, Lil TJay, Lola Brooke and other artists will be on the lineup.
Governors Ball
From 9th June through 11th June, 2023, Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, New York, will host the Governors Ball. Lizzo, Odesza and Kendrick Lamar will be the headliners. Lil Nas X, Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, Haim, Rina Sawayama, Kim Petras and Pusha T will make appearances as well.
Summerfest
Summerfest will take place on the weekends between 22nd June and 24th June, 29th June and 1st July, and 6th July and 8th July. Along with yet-to-be-announced headliners, the festival’s lineup now include Eric Church, Zac Brown Band, James Taylor & His All-Star Band, Dave Matthews Band, Odesza, Zach Bryan, and Imagine Dragons.
Additional performers include Elle King, Sheryl Crow, AJR, Marcus King, The Avett Brothers, Noah Kahan, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Three 6 Mafia, Tegan and Sara, Bleachers, Sofi Tukker, Earth Wind & Fire, Ava Max, Lord Huron, Yung Gravy, Vance Joy, Cypress Hill, Sean Paul, Smokey Robinson, Fleet Foxes, Japanese Breakfast, Yungblud, The Pretty Reckless, Styx, and many more. The concert will take place at the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Essence Festival of Culture
The Essence Festival of Culture, now in its 29th year, will take place in New Orleans from 29th June to 3rd July. Ms. Lauryn Hill and Megan Thee Stallion will be headlining, while Janelle James, Spice Adams and Deon Cole will deliver comedic material. Wizkid, Coco Jones, Monica and other artists will be performing.
Pitchfork Music Festival
The Chicago-based Indie festival, Pitchfork Music Festival will be back at Union Park in the Windy City from 21st July to 23rd July. The Smile, Big Thief and Bon Iver will be the headliners for Pitchfork 2023. Alvvays, Perfume Genius, Kelela, Koffee, Weyes Blood, King Krule, Snail Mail, Panda Bear and Killer Mike will be the additional performers at the festival.
Pickathon
This summer, Pickathon will return to Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, a suburb of Portland, Oregon. The festival will focus on the environment and run from 3rd August to 6th August. This year’s headliners will be Lee Fields, Dehd, Madison Cunningham, and W.I.T.C.H., with Vieux Farka Toure, Joe Rainey, MonoNeon, Yot Club, Sgt. Papers, Florist, and other artists rounding out the list.
Hinterland Music Festival
The biggest music event in Iowa, Hinterland, will return to Saint Charles, Iowa’s Avenue of the Saints Amphitheatre this July. The festival will run from 4th August to 6th August. Bon Iver, Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers are some of this year’s headliners. Wallows, Sylvan Esso, Orville Peck, Alex G and Angel Olsen will be the additional performers.
Lollapalooza
The 2023 roster for Lollapalooza has been revealed. The festival will be held in Chicago, Illinois, between 3rd August and 6th August. The headliners will include Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Odesza, Lana Del Rey, Karol G, The 1975, and Tomorrow X Together, but there will be dozens of other performers as well.
Outside Lands
Between 11th August and 13th August, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California will play host to Outside Lands 2023. The 1975, Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, Lana Del Rey, Odesza, Maggie Rogers, Megan Thee Stallion, Zedd, Janelle Monáe and Zedd will be the headliners.
North Coast Music Festival
The Labour Day weekend, from 1st September to 3rd September, will see the return of Chicago’s North Coast Music Festival (also known as ‘Summer’s Last Stand’) at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. This year’s electronic music event will have Marshmello, Alesso, Zeds Dead, Flume, Duke Dumont, DJ Snake, Alison Wonderland and Lane 8 as its headliners.
Hopscotch Music Festival
The upcoming Hopscotch Music Festival will take place in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, from 7th September to 9th September. Headliners Pavement, Alvvays, Denzel Curry, Japanese Breakfast, King Krule, Margo Price, Dinosaur Jr., and Sunny Day Real Estate will perform at City Plaza on Fayetteville Street. Additional club and comedy acts will also be held as part of the festival.
The Nation’s Homecoming Festival
The ever-popular Indie band is bringing back its Homecoming Festival for the first time with its inaugural offering in 2018. On 15th and 16th September, the festival will take place at Smale Park’s ICON Festival stage in Cincinnati, Ohio. The roster will also include Patti Smith & Her Band, The Walkmen, Pavement, Weyes Blood, Snail Mail, Arooj Aftab, and other artists in addition to the hometown boys.
Music Midtown
Piedmont Park will host the three-day Music Midtown festival in Atlanta from 15th September to 17th September with a stellar roster. P!nk, Guns N’ Roses, Billie Eilish, The 1975, Flume and Lil Baby are some of the 2023 headliners. Pitbull, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Incubus, Tove Lo, Yung Gravy and Niall Horan are also on the bill.
Riot Fest
This year, the Douglass Park in Chicago will host the punk-focused, nostalgic Riot Fest from 15th September to 17th September. Foo Fighters, The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cure and Queens of the Stone Age are some of the headliners. Turnstile, The Mars Volta, Danzig, Tegan and Sara, 100 Get, AFI, PUP, Ani DiFranco, Parliament Funkadelic starring George Clinton, Kim Gordon and other artists are also scheduled to appear at the festival in 2023.
Format Festival
From 22nd September to 24th September, Format Festival will be held at the Sugar Creek Airstrip near Bentonville, Arkansas. The festival’s 2023 headliners will include Alanis Morissette, LCD Soundsystem and Leon Bridges. Its mission is to unite “the most influential minds in art, tech and music.” Modest Mouse, Jamie XX, Tash Sultana, Big Wild, Channel Tres, Little Simz, Bob Moses, Poolside, The Pharcyde and Hermanos Gutierrez are among the additional acts.
Life is Beautiful
The tenth edition of Life Is Beautiful will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from 22nd September to 24th September. The Killers, Kendrick Lamar and Odesza will perform as the headliners. Flume, Khalid, The 1975, Omar Apollo and other artists will also play.
Xponential Music Festival
The Xponential Music Festival will be held at Wiggins Park in Camden, New Jersey from 22nd September to 24th September. Old Crow Medicine Show, Tegan and Sara, and Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers are the festival’s headliners for its 30th anniversary. Sunny War, The Hold Steady and Say She She will all be featured as additional performers.
Portola Music Festival
The electronic music-focused 2023 Portola Music Festival will take place at Pier 80 in San Francisco, California, from 30th September to 1st October. Eric Prydz, Skrillex, Nelly Furtado, Labrinth, Thundercat, Rina Sawayama, Polo & Pan, FKJ, and Jai Paul will be some of the festival’s headliners.
All Things Go
On 30th September and 1st October, Columbia, Maryland will host All Things Go. There are many well-known performers on the schedule, including Boygenius, Lana Del Rey and Maggie Rogers as the headliners. Carly Rae Jepsen, Muna, Fletcher, Arlo Parks, Suki Waterhouse and Ethel Cain are a few more performers.
Austin City Limits
From 6th October to 8th October and 13th October to 15th October, ACL will be back in Austin’s Zilker Park for another two weekends. Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, Odesza, The Lumineers, and Alanis Morissette will be some of the headliners at this year’s festival. Additionally joining for one weekend each are Shania Twain (weekend one) and The 1975 (weekend two).
– Riya Sohini