Top Six Summer Music Festivals

The summer music fest season is closely approaching and with ticket prices running around $100.00 to $200.00 you'll want to be sure that you choose carefully.

When I think of summer I think of warm evenings stretched out in the grass listening to great music and being surrounded by hundreds of people that feel the same way. I love music festival season, I attended Lollapalooza in 1994 and I've been hooked ever since.

These days is seems like there are so many festivals to choose from that I can't keep track of which one is going to suit me the best. Traveling music festivals are harder and harder to come by, so I have to save my money and plan a trip to see some of my favorite artists.

There are six big music fests that are on my list of "must see". The season starts in May and runs all the way to September, so it's not too difficult to find a festival that will fit into a person's budget and schedule.

Sasquatch. This festival takes place May 26-27 at the Gorge in George, Washington. Some of the headliners include Spoon, Beastie Boys, Interpol, and Bjork. If you're someone who's into camping and loves good music, this festival would be perfect. The Gorge is beautiful and my best advice is to take advantage of the camping grounds at some of the nearby parks for a couple days. The tickets for this festival will run you about $120.00 and you can find more information at http://www.sasquatchfestival.com/.

Bonnaroo. If you have a little more time on your hands you can head to Manchester, Tennessee for this four-day festival. It runs June 14-17 and has moved away from its jam band roots this year. Some of the headliners for this festival include The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, the Flaming Lips, Tool, and The Police. There are campgrounds for the show or you can choose to stay in a local hotel. Tickets for Bonnaroo start at about $185.00 and go up to around $215.00. This festival offers VIP tickets for those who can afford them. The VIP tickets start at $1125.75 per pair. For more Bonnaroo information you can go to http://www.bonnaroo.com.

All Good. For those that miss the hippie vibe that they're used to at Bonnaroo, there's the All Good festival at Marvin's Mountaintop in Masontown, West Virginia. This show runs July 13-15 and will feature jam band favorites such as Bob Weir and Ratdog, Spearhead, Les Claypool, and Keller Williams. Tickets for this show start at $119.00. This festival offers campers different options as far as their choice of campgrounds. They have traditional campgrounds for concertgoers as well as family campgrounds for those traveling with children and newly added is the VIP campgrounds, for hippies that like to camp in style. You can find more information on the All Good Festival at http://www.allgoodfestival.com.

Lollapalooza. No longer the traveling festival of the nineties, Lollapalooza has made Grant Park, Chicago its new home. This festival runs August 3-5 and will cost you about $195.00 a ticket. Headlining the festival will be Pearl Jam (their only U.S. appearance), Modest Mouse, Amy Winehouse, Daft Punk and Muse. Due to its metropolitan location there probably won't be a need to park your RV at a campsite, Chicago offers a wide array of hotel accommodations. More information on Lollapalooza can be found at www.lollapalooza.com.

Virgin America. The Virgin America festival is located at Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore and runs August 4-5. Tickets for this shoe run about $175.00. Some headliners for this festival include the newly reformed Smashing Pumpkins for their first U.S. appearance, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Fratellis, and the Police. There won't be any camping on this racetrack, so you'll have to find hotel accommodations nearby. More information about the Virgin America festival can be found at www.virginfestival.com.

Bumbershoot. The last big festival of summer happens at Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington September 1-3. Tickets for this festival start at $75.00 if you purchase your tickets before August, after that the price goes up to $95.00. This three-day festival is defiantly the most affordable and still boasts a killer lineup. Some headliners for this show include Panic! At the Disco, The Shins, Wu-Tang Clan, and Kill Hannah. This festival is going into its 37^th year as Seattle's music and arts festival and offers those attending plenty of regional flavor to go with the superstar lineup. More information about Bumbershoot can be found at www.bumbershoot.org.

In addition to these six festivals there are tons of smaller music fests that offer great music at a great price. The best thing to do is to research which one will best suit your taste and get out and enjoy some summer music.