**Summerfest – June 29 – July 3, July 5-10, Milwaukee, Wis.**
Price: $8 to $15 per day, not including headliners
Founded: 1968
Headliners: Kanye West, Katy Perry, Kid Cudi, Toby Keith, Sheryl Crow, The Black Keys
Fun fact: For the first time, Summerfest will host a half marathon and 10K run. This is just one more thing to do during the deliriously epic 11-day booze fest (Although drinking a Miller Lite while
participating might be counter-productive). Summerfest is the largest festival in the United States in terms of attendance.
**Electric Daisy Carnival – June 24-26, Las Vegas, Nev.**
Price: $180
Founded: 1996
Headliners: Tiësto, David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia, Above & Beyond, Tritonal, Sander Van Doorn
Fun fact: The Carnival is widely regarded as the top dance music event in the nation. This year, additional Carnival stops will happen in OrlandoStratton Mountain Ski Resort, Denver, Dallas and Puerto Rico. The event, which is essentially a giant rave, is now 18 and over and has moved out of Los Angeles after legal issues arose at last year’s festival.
**Pitchfork Music Festival – July 15-17, Chicago, Ill.**
Price: $45 to $110
Founded: 2006
Headliners: Animal Collective, Neko Case, Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, James Blake, Destroyer
Fun fact: Pitchfork.com is one of the most popular (and hated) music/ media websites in the U.S. This festival seems to be its way of repairing any damages done by its snarky hipster reviews.
Hopefully, it won’t try to cut off James Blake’s sound if it decides the quality of his show is dropping below a 4.7/10 rating.
**Kanrocksas – August 5-6, Kansas City, Kan. (Kansas Speedway)**
Price: $159 for early birds until 10 p.m. Friday, $179 regular price
Founded: 2011
Headliners: Eminem, Muse, The Black Keys, A Perfect Circle, The Flaming Lips, Kid Cudi
Fun fact: Gorges, parks and stadiums have all been done, but Kansas City will top them all when Kansas Speedway gets rocked this August. Is there anything comparable to jamming out while surrounded by one and a half miles of racetrack? And here’s the best part: The festival hasn’t even announced all of the headliners yet.
**Lollapalooza – August 5-7, Chicago, Ill. (Grant Park)**
Price: $215 for a three-day pass, $90 for a one-day pass, TBA
Founded: 1991 (Multiple cities), 2005 (Chicago only)
Headliners: Eminem, Foo Fighters, Muse, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5
Fun fact: This year’s edition marks the festival’s 20th anniversary, and the three main headliners all kicked off their illustrious careers in the ’90s. Perhaps the most striking part of Lollapalooza is its location in the heart of downtown at Grant Park. At sunset, there is a tough choice to make: Do I watch the great band onstage, or check out the gorgeous Chicago skyline? Your call.
**Outside Lands – August 12-14, San Francisco, Calif.**
Price: $199.50
Founded: 2008
Headliners: Muse, Phish, Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Deadmau5, The Shins
Fun fact: Besides the great music at Outside Lands, two of the best features are A Taste of the Bay Area and Wine Lands. The former showcases the best San Francisco restaurants with on-site vendors and sit-downs, while the latter lets festival-goers tap in to some of the best wine in northern California.
**Sasquatch! – May 27-30, George, Wash. (The Gorge Amphitheatre)**
Price: $285
Founded: 2002
Headliners: Foo Fighters, Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, The Decemberists
Fun fact: The Gorge Amphitheatre, located on the edge of the Columbia River, is often recognized as one of the best places to see live music in the nation. The amphitheater has won Pollstar Magazine’s award for Best Outdoor Music venue a whopping nine times.
**Bonnaroo – June 9 to June 12, Manchester, Tenn.**
Price: $249.50
Founded: 2002
Headliners: Eminem, Arcade Fire, Widespread Panic, The Black Keys, Buffalo Springfield, My Morning Jacket
Fun fact: Bonnaroo has a 100-acre entertainment village which includes, among other things, a classic arcade, cinema, silent disco, comedy club, theater, beer festival and a separate music technology village.
**Wanderlust Festival — June 23 to June 26, Bondville, Vt. (Stratton Mountain Ski Resort)**
July 28-31, North Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Price: $99.50 to $450
Founded: 2010 (Vermont), 2009 (California),
Headliners in Vermont: Michael Franti & Spearhead, Sub Swara, Andrew Bird, Krishna Das, Earthrise Soundsystem, Garth Stevenson
Headliners in California: Michael Franti & Spearhead, Girl Talk, The Wailers, Jai Uttal, MC Yogi, Steve Gold
Fun fact: What Wanderlust lacks in big-name musicians, it more than makes up for in celebrity yoga-ers. The festivals are celebrations of music and yoga, so if Spearhead and the downward facing dog pose are two of your favorite things, then this is your jam, so to speak.