Favorite US Festival

eeriepadave

Festivals are starting now with SXSW. Never been to Coachella but that one always seems to be the best one. ah crap forgot Outside Lands Festival :(

kwdaley

The original "US" Festival???

http://youtu.be/xqSya3cUdxo

helplessdancer

Jazzfest>Voodoo

It's not even close

Empty Glass

South By Southwest

SXSW is the only one listed that I've been too. Austin is a great city.

mfc2006

Austin City Limits

ACL without a doubt

intodeep

I've never been to any of them :(
I like Shaky Knees in Atlanta and I've been to the Hangout fest on the beach which is fun too.
But they are not in the same stratosphere as those.

FrankieG

Firefly Music Festival

Festivals I have been to:
Lollapalooza 2007 (Chicago)
PJ20 (2011) (Wisconsin)
Firefly 2012 (Delaware)
Made In America 2012 (Philadelphia)
Music Midtown 2012 (Atlanta)
Firefly 2013 (Delaware)
The Shindig 2013 (Baltimore)

Festivals I have tickets to:
Bonnaro 2014 (Tenn)
Firefly 2014 (Delaware)

I can't really vote on the list until I attend every festival... but Firefly was awesome. I did enjoy flying to/sleeping in a hotel for Lolla, Music Midtown, and PJ20. (Camped for Firefly and drove to/from my apartment for MIA and Shindig).

The lineup is really what makes a festival great. The atmosphere will be awesome no matter what, but I had several hours of 'downtime' at Firefly last year on Saturday which didn't ruin it, but I would have liked to had motivation to see another band.

If it wasn't for the roadtrip before Bonaroo this year then I would definitely have gone to Gov Ball... Tentatively had a 'pinky swear' that we are going to Coachella next year (but i really dont see that hapening unless PJ plays haha). Definitely a bucketlist thing to hit as many different festivals as possible.

There comes a point where no matter what happens, the trip is going to be awesome no matter what. I feel like every festival has that potential. No need to really fret about which is better because they are all well above the 'is it worth it' line.

JH6056

Austin City Limits

I've been to: SXSW, Austin City Limits, Coachella, Lollapalooza, all at least 3 times each over the last 15 years. Also been to a few others not listed, The biggie you left off is Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Probably 7 years ago I would have voted SXSW as my favorite, but for a lot of reasons it's evolved into something too big and too hectic. It's only fun now if you're in the know and know about the secret showcases or have access to the hot showcases. Even with a full festival badge (which probably costs about $600 now) you aren't guaranteed entry into the hot or secret shows.

ACL is my current favorite from a music and location standpoint. It's chill, the music is always excellent and usually a pretty diverse, and the crowds are super nice. Lollapalooza is very fun too, but something about it being in the middle of Chicago also adds to the hectic atmosphere. But I've seen some good stuff there.

Coachella is actually overall my favorite, but I didn't list it first because it's for all non-music reasons! I have had a BALL there, but it's much more for the swimming, the people watching, and the crazy celebrity run ins. I was telling someone the other day how at my 1st Coachella I almost got run over by Tommy Lee on a motorized skateboard (he came back and aplogized!), kept running into Jared Leto so by the end fo the festival he would hug me when he saw me and he left a voicemail message on my sister's answering machine (she was a massive Leto fan then), met Pharrell and kept seeing Kelly Osborn (who was always wearing something different every time we saw her... like, in the same day she had costume changes!), etc etc.. So from an "all around experience" point of view, that's my favorite. But focusing on music and the vibe specifically around the music, it's ACL.

Hoping to go to Outside Lands sometime, since I love SF and that's gotta be a good and very different vibe from Coachella as well.

Happy festival season everyone!

AndySlash

Bonnaroo

of those listed i've only been to bonnaroo and lollapalooza. i will take the camping and full sets at bonnaroo over the expensive hotels and shorter sets of lolla any day of the week.

SVRDhand13

Governors Ball

Gov Ball because I walk over the Triboro Bridge and I'm there. Amazing location for me. No transportation fees at all and the walk over the bridge is nice. Plus, last year I got a 3 day pass for $170 the week of the show when they sold for $250 on the website.

djklambake

Only one of these I've been to is Voodoo… Summerfest in Milwaukee is pretty rad, too...

kasedoug

Other

I've been to: Coachella 5x (going on 6), Outside Lands 3x, Sasquatch, Lollapalooza back when it toured, and will be going to Bonnaroo this year.

At the moment, I'd have to give the nod to Outside Lands. While Coachella would be my "local" festival and I still enjoy going, it's become more about "scene." I don't think you can beat the setting of OSL. The weather's great, love that they incorporate so much local food/drink, and I like that you're in a major city so there's stuff to do both in and around the fest instead of being in the middle of nowhere. I've heard a lot of good things about Bonnaroo though and I haven't been to Lolla since it's been anchored in Chicago, so my opinion may change.

63schoefflin

Other

I've only been to a few but I would say the best organized one is MIA it's smaller than most but during those two days you can see 95% of the main stages without missing much since the stages are so close and easy to navigate.

I have talked to many, many, many people from all over about which ones they like and don't like and the consensus is that everyone tells me Jazzfest is the best they've ever been to. Apparently it's just non-stop deep into the night and the thing that makes me want to hit that instead of Roo is the fact that it's in a city and not the middle of nowhere.

I think I might hit Forecastle this year in Louisville.

jjflash

Other

Haven't attended most if not all of these so hard to say.
Hangout Festival gets my vote. Blue skies, white sands, the Gulf of Mexico and good music = winner winner chicken dinner

Oh yeah, I've been to Bonnaroo a few times. First time was incredible (PJ), second time was fun, third time was aiiight at best. Any music lover outta go at least once. Overall though it's too daggum hot IMO to put it at the top of the list. Four days cooking in the sun, I'll pass.

Treyert14

Voodoo Music Experience

helplessdancer said:

Jazzfest>Voodoo

It's not even close

I've never been to Jazz Fest, but I had weekend passes to voodoo last year and I really enjoyed the experience. I hear that alot though. What makes jazz fest so good?

Tim Simmons

Other

Pitchfork.

Great band who are buzzed about with strong headliners. Eclectic mix of acts, poster fair, record fair. Lasts year they added craft beer. Plus the capacity is about 8-9,000, so it's incredibly manageable.

cp3iverson

Austin City Limits

63schoefflin said:

I have talked to many, many, many people from all over about which ones they like and don't like and the consensus is that everyone tells me Jazzfest is the best they've ever been to. Apparently it's just non-stop deep into the night and the thing that makes me want to hit that instead of Roo is the fact that it's in a city and not the middle of nowhere.

I think I might hit Forecastle this year in Louisville.

Jazzfest ends at 7pm everyday but thats really because its NOLA and the downtown clubs become one big jam session with the entire lineup until 6am

helplessdancer

Treyert14 said:

helplessdancer said:

Jazzfest>Voodoo

It's not even close

I've never been to Jazz Fest, but I had weekend passes to voodoo last year and I really enjoyed the experience. I hear that alot though. What makes jazz fest so good?

many things
1) very accessible via street car or taxi from downtown core
2) the bands&variety of great music...it goes on for two weekends+
3) the local food & music(jazz/funk etc)
4) it's a good time of year to visit nola(not super hot like mid summer)
5) the amount of music choices in town after the fest ends each day is insane
6) the festival ends at 7pm so you can get back to the hotel and party all night in the greatest city in the world!
i'm sure i've left out some things...

LukinFan

Roo

dankind

PJ20 was fun.

cp3iverson

Austin City Limits

Of the big 4 or 5 threeday fests I have to go with ACL. More laid back than Lollapalooza. Less fake hipsters than Coachella. Only Jazzfest can compare to ACL.

both cities have great food and great local music.