South By Southwest just wrapped up in Texas and Canadian Music Week in Toronto just closed, signalling the start of 2013 music festival season. Now’s the time to start planning your trips and travel to experience some great music and arts festivals.
Here’s a run down of some of the multi-day festivals running up and down the Western United States and Canada this season:
(Not all the festivals have their artist line-up announced but genre and some featured artists are listed where available)
Country Thunder Arizona 2013 – Florence, AZ April 11-14, 2013 – Country – Toby Keith, Lady Antelbellum
Coachella 2013 – Indio, CA April 12-14 & April 19-21, 2013 – Multi-Genre – Stone Roses, Blur, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stagecoach 2013 – Indio, CA April 26-28, 2013 – Country – Toby Keith, Lady Antelbellum
Bottle Rock Napa Valley 2013 – Napa, CA May 9-11, 2013 – Multi-Genre – The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Train
Sasquatch 2013 – George, WA May 24- 27, 2013 – Multi-Genre – Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Bloc Party
15th Annual Punk Rock Bowling – Las Vegas, NV May 25-27, 2013 – Punk – Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Subhumans
Ink N’ Iron 2013 – Long Beach, CA June 7-9, 2013 – Punk/Rockabilly – Tattoos, Hot Rods, Burlesque : Iggy & The Stooges, Sharon Jones & Dap Kings
Sled Island Music Festival – Calgary, AB June 19-22, 2013 – Multi-Genre – Jesus & Mary Chain, John Spenser Blues Explosion, Thee Oh Sees
Sierra Nevada World Music Festival 2013 – Boonville, CA June 21-23, 2013 – Roots / Reggae – Damian Marley, K’naan
Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV June 21-23, 2013 – EDM – Carnival Rides, Electronic Artists
Victoria International Jazz Festival – Victoria, BC June 21- 30, 2013 – Jazz – Serena Ryder, Bettye LaVette, Esperenza Spalding
Boonstock 2013 – Gibbons, AB (near Edmonton) June 27- 30, 2013 – Rock / Dance – Everlast, Limp Bizkit, Benny Benassi, Eric Prydz
Waterfront Blues Festival 2013 – Portland, OR July 4 – 7, 2013 – Blues – Mavis Staples, John Hiatt & The Combo
Calgary Stampede 2013 – Calgary, AB July 5-14, 2013 – More than just cowboys, multi-genre music – Tim McGraw, Carly-Rae Jepsen, Raghav, Our Lady Peace
Keloha Festival 2013 – Kelowna, BC July 5-7,2013 – Rock/Pop – Tokyo Police Club, The Sheepdogs, The Pack AD
Vancouver Island MusicFest 2013 – Comox Valley, BC July 12-14, 2013 – Folk/Rock – Kris Kristofferson, Indigo Girls, Sue Medley
Rock The Shores 2013 – Victoria, BC July 13-14, 2013 – Rock – Weezer, Sam Roberts Band, Mother Mother
Vancouver Folk Music Festival – Vancouver, BC July 19-21, 2013 – Folk – TBA
Vancouver International Jazz Festival – Vancouver, BC July 21 – Aug 1, 2013 – Jazz – Herbie Hancock, Esperenza Spalding
Motion Notion – Golden, BC July 25-29, 2013 – EDM – TBA
What The Festival 2013 – White River Canyon, OR July 26-28, 2013 – EDM – TBA
Capitol Hill Block Party – Seattle, WA July 26-28, 2013 – Rock
Center of Gravity 2013 – Kelowna, BC August 2-4, 2013 – Dance/Hip Hop – Lupe Fiasco, Morgan Page,
Pickathon 2013 – Happy Valley, OR August 2-4, 2013 – Indie Rock – Tift Merritt, Feist, Andrew Bird
Watershed Festival 2013 – George, WA August 2-4, 2013 – Country – Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Terry Clark
Shambhala Music Festival – Salmo, BC August 7-12, 2013 – Electronic
Edmonton Folk Festival – Edmonton, AB August 8-11, 2013 – Folk – Bruce Cockburn, The Head & The Heart, Neko Case
Squamish Valley Music Fest – Squamish, BC August 9-10, 2013 – Multi-Genre – Queens Of The Stone Age, Vampire Weekend, Band Of Horses
Outside Lands 2013 – San Francisco, CA August 9-11, 2013 – Multi-Genre – TBA
Rockin’ River Music Fest 2013 – Mission, BC August 15-17, 2013 – Country – Big & Rich, Joe Nichols, Brad Paisley
Salmon Arm Blues & Roots Festival 2013 – Salmon Arm, BC August 16-18, 2013 – Blues/Roots – City & Colour, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
Pacific National Exhibition – Vancouver, BC August 18 – September 2, 2013 – Multi-Genre – nightly concerts TBA
The Big Time Out 2013 – Cumberland, BC August 18-19, 2013 – Multi-Genre – Elliott Brood, Black Mountain
Burning Man – Black Rock Desert, NV August 26 – September 2, 2013 – Art/Experience
Bumbershoot Festival 2013 – Seattle, WA August 31-September 2, 2013 – Multi-Genre – TBA
MusicfestNW (MFNW) 2013 – Portland, OR September 4-8, 2013 – Multi-Genre – TBA
Rifflandia Festival 2013 – Victoria, BC September 12-15, 2013 – Multi-Genre – TBA
10th Anniversary Decibel Festival – Seattle, WA September 25-29, 2013 – EDM – TBA
BreakOut West Festival – Calgary, AB October 3-6, 2013 – Multi-Genre/Conference – TBA
Come experience Canadaès only mountain top festival. TALL TREE MUSIC FESTIVAL in beautiful Port Renfrew, BC will feature over 60 artists on 3 stages, June 28, 29, & 30th. With incredible views of the coastal mountains and pacific ocean. Artists included: Hollerado, A Tribe Called Red, Hey Ocean, Humans, The Zolas, Sweatshop Union, Wake Owl, Gold & Youth, The Funk Hunters, Quoia