Top 15 Music Festivals of 2014 – Part 1

As the New Year finally settles into a rhythm, it’s time to bring a little groove to it; and what better way to do that than to be a part of your favorite music festival. Every year brings enough events for music aficionados to satisfy their palates with awesome fun and 2014 is no different. I have compiled a list of top 15 music festivals scheduled for the year. The list covers all kinds of music festivals – rock, electronic, country and even jazz. Some are underway and some are still to happen but whatever, each one promises to give you the time of your life. So take a look and see which music festival tempts you the most.

Electrobeach Music Festival 2013

1. Coachella:

One of the biggest music festivals of the year, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual two-weekend, three-day music and arts festival, staged at the Coachella Valley. The festival is hosted by the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

The 2014 festival’s lineup was announced in early January and features more than one hundred and fifty artists performing live over two weekends. The biggest news at this year’s festival is the reuniting of the dynamic hip-hop duo OutKast who will headline the event on Friday. As the event kicks into top gear, the British rock band Muse will headline the Saturday shows. Indie rock band Arcade Fire will close out the festival on Sunday as the headlining act.

Other major acts performing on the show include Grammy Award winner Lorde, Queens of the Stoneage, Motorhead and Lana Del Rey among many others, making this one of the biggest music festival of the year.

2. Vans Warped Tour:

The Vans Warped Tour is a touring extreme sports/musical festival. First held in 1995, the tour has been a prominent annual fixture in the music concert calendar year. It is usually held in fields or parking lots, where stages are erected for the performers to perform on. Although the tour began as a means to showcase the punk rock genre, over recent years the lineups have featured a wide variety of genres. More than a hundred bands and artists perform throughout the tour.

3. WMZQFest:

WMZQ Fest is an annual music festival hosted by the country music station WMZQ-FM. This year’s event is scheduled to be held on the 17th of May at the Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia. The twenty five thousand seat venue is expected to be jam packed when country superstars Dierks Bentley, Chase Rice and Chris Young (among other performers) take the stage.

4. Bayou Country Superfest:

Scheduled to be held in May, the Bayou Country Superfest is one of the biggest country festivals of the year and will feature some of country music’s biggest stars. Headlining the festival is none other than the country legend George Strait, who recently claimed he was going to retire from touring. So this could be a golden opportunity for fans to catch the King of Country in action once again.

Along with Strait, fans can catch the Grammy Award winning singer Reba McIntyre live in concert, as the Hall of Famer belts out some of her most famous tunes. The best thing about the Superfest is the fact that along with the legends it also features some of the current superstars of the industry. One such name is Chris Young who has slowly established himself as one of the brightest stars on the country music scene and fans will be thrilled to see him perform live.

5. 2014 CMA Music Festival

The CMA Music Festival is a four day country music extravaganza organized by the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee. The festival started off in 1972 as Fan Fair but evolved into one of country music’s greatest festivals. The event features hundreds of artists and celebrities who interact with fans and perform in many concerts held over four days. Over the years, interest in the festival has increased with hundreds and thousands of people attending. This is a great chance for the fans to catch some of the biggest names in the industry live and people to talk to their idols and get autographs.

6. Summerfest:

Certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as “The World’s Largest Music Festival”, Summerfest is an annual music festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The thirty hectare park along the lakefront is a scenic venue and boasts eleven performance stages; all of which are equipped with state of the art sound and light designs.

Around seven hundred bands perform at the festival which runs for eleven days, starting in late June and going on through early July. On average, the festival attracts around 900,000 people which is one of the biggest gatherings of music fans in the world.

As always, this year’s “Big Gig” will also feature some of the industry’s biggest names. Bruno Mars will headline the festival as part of his Moonshine Jungle Tour, which he is undertaking in support of his recently released album. Accompanying him on stage will be none other than the voice behind Avicii’s MEGA hit, “Wake Me Up”, Aloe Blacc. Along with Mars, other big acts like the Dave Matthews Band and Lady Gaga will also grace the stage, ensuring that this year’s festival is one for the ages.

7. 2014 Essence Music Festival:

The Essence Music Festival is the largest music event in the country which primarily celebrates African American artists, music and culture. Held under the sponsorship of ESSENCE magazine, the festival is staged in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s “party with a purpose” will be the twentieth anniversary of the festival and will feature the legendary artist Prince as the headlining act. Alongside him, fans will be able to enjoy Lionel Richie, Mary J. Bilge and Charlie Wilson live in concert. It is a package no music fan would want to miss out on.

Already feeling the heat? Stay tuned for updates on more amazing music festivals coming your way!

Image courtesy: By ville de Barcarès (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Categories: Music

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