Cheer Up! Summer might be coming to an end, but these seven festivals will give you something to be excited about! We’ve compiled a list of the seven best festivals taking place in the month of September!
Utopia Festival
Date: Sept 4 – 6 2015
Location: Utopia, TX
Headliners: Explosions In The Sky, Leftover Salmon, Tune-Yards
F4l Picks: RJD2, The Suffers, Holiday Mountain, Les Hay Babies
Why This Fest: Tucked away at the breath taking Four Sisters Ranch in Utopia, TX, this festival includes music, Frisbee golf and an incredible camping experience. The BYOB festival is capped at 2,000, and strives to provide an intimate, one of a kind setting. Festival founder, Travis Sutherland, exclaims, “we don’t want people to feel like they are being surrounded by strangers.”
Bestival
Headliners: Missy Elliot, Duran Druan, The Chemical Brothers, Skrillex
F4l Picks: Gorgon City, Duke Dumont, Four Tet, Rudimental, Jurassic 5, Little Dragon
Why This Fest: This UK festival has a wide array of performers and over 25 different stages/venues to keep festival goers wide eyed and entertained. It’s easy to get lost at Bestival which has nine different festival areas which embody a different theme. Our favorites include the Ambient Forest, The Bollywood Field, Magic Meadow, The Slow Motion Area and The Wishing Tree Field. Bestival creates alternate worlds for all of its festival goers.
Symbiosis Gathering
Headliners: Nicolas Jaar, CocoRosie, Tipper
F4l Picks: GRiZ, Four Tet, Eoto, Damian Lazarus & the Ancient Moons, Emancipator Ensemble
Why This Fest: “Symbiosis gathers a myriad of cultural creatives within a stunning natural location.” It is held near the border of the Sierra Nevada foothills, and built around a naturally occurring 5-pointed peninsula. Festival goers can literally swim (or boat) between stages to catch headliners. The Festival will be filled with floating art installations and decorated boats to climb aboard. Symbiosis wants to create a diverse and unparalleled experience. To say that this festival is unique is an understatement!
Telluride Blues and Brews Fest
Date: Sept 18 – 20 2015
Location: Telluride, CO
Headliners: ZZ Top, Sharon Stone and The Dap-Kings, Greg Allman
F4l Picks: The Bright Light Social Hour, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Revivalists, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Why This Fest: This festival takes place in the beautiful Rocky Mountains and features a great lineup filled with blues, jam bands and gospel music. Along with the breath taking scenery and music, there will be a multitude of microbreweries serving up delicious beer throughout the festival (probably could’ve guessed that from the name). What you might not have been able to guess is on the Saturday of the festival there will be a grand beer tasting with 56 breweries and over 150 beers to try!
Catskill Chill Music Festival
Date: Sept 18- 20 2015
Location: Hancock, NY
Headliners: MOE. Lotus, Zappa Plays Zappa
F4l Picks: Lettuce, The Motet, Borham Lee, Break Science, Consider The Source
Why This Fest: Along with a great array of jam bands, this festival allows attendees to become a part of the action! On the Saturday and Sunday of the festival, there is an hour and a half window where festival goers can get up on the “Open-Mic Stage” and showcase their own talent. With a lineup full of great musicians, what better place to get discovered than Catskill Chill Music festival?
Decibel Festival
Headliners: Nicholas Jaar, Bonobo, Thievery Corporation
F4l Picks: Clark, Dan Deacon, STWO, Laurel Halo, Daniel Avery,
Why This Fest: This Festival does not take place in one location, but takes place in venues all throughout Seattle. The primarily electronic festivals allows festival goers to enjoy some of Seattle’s best venues in a short period of time. Decibel also features music panels, lectures, and workshops, and allows up and coming music professionals to network with one another.
Life Is Beautiful Festival
Headliners: Stevie Wonder, Imagine Dragons, Kendrick Lamar
F4l Picks: Major Lazer, Kygo, Atmosphere, Clean Bandit, GRiZ, Rebultion, Madeon, Porter Robinson, What So Not, Chance The Rapper, Thievery Corporation
Why This Fest: Held in downtown Las Vegas, the festival is spread out over eleven city blocks. Life Is Beautiful puts a special emphasis on learning, art and food. The festival includes a “Culinary Village” filled with some of the country’s best chefs. The festival is also filled with street artists who put together murals, specifically geared towards the festival. This festival will surely give attendees a Vegas experience unlike any other.
