Music-festival lovers, rejoice! Coachella is finally around the corner and that means all the hottest festivals are soon following its lead this April. Read ahead for a comprehensive list of festivals you shouldn’t dare miss this month.
April is beginning with practically every music venue around town on a full-calendar music craze. Here comes your typically epic spring to summer festival season, when there’s pretty much a wall-to-wall mess (in a good way) of noteworthy celebrations to attend. No matter what your music tastes are — country, edm, trap, jazz — there’s bound to be something good for you out there. We’ve compiled some of the most notable music festivals coming around this April. Get your calendars ready because you’ll surely have to mark a weekend or two.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Festival lineup: Childish Gambino, Janelle Monáe, The 1975, DJ Snake, Diplo, BLACKPINK, Kid Cudi, Billie Eilish, Tame Impala, Ariana Grande, Khalid, Zedd , CHVRCHES
Officially opening up the music festival season in the USA, Coachella is California’s glam, glitzy and palm-tree-peppered music fest. The Indio desert becomes a glamorous hive of the hottest artists attended by approximately a hundred thousand attendees every year. I mean, who wouldn’t want to? With such an amazing lineup of performers, stunning art installations that varies each year, and just the overall eclectic vibe of the two-weekend event, Coachella is definitely at the top of every festival-goer’s bucket list.
When & where: April 12-14 and April 19-21, Empire Polo Field – Indio, CA
Get your tickets HERE.
Something in the Water Festival
Festival lineup: Migos, Pusha T, SZA, Travis Scott, Usher, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dog, Missy Elliot, Diddy, Janelle Monáe
Joining the slew of live events to look forward to this month of April is Something in the Water, Pharrell William’s debut music festival. Taking place at the multitalent’s hometown, the Virginia Beach fest will feature performances by Travis Scott, Maggie Rogers, Rosalía and more! Expect a variety of acts on the three-day fest, including concert on the beach and other performances at the Oceanfront stages and the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
When & where: April 26-28, 5th Street Beach Stage – Virginia Beach, VA
Get your tickets HERE.
Stagecoach Festival
Festival lineup: Luke Bryan, Cole Swindelle, Kane Brown, Sam Hunt, Luke Combs, Cam, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jason Aldean, Old Dominion, Lauren Alaina
Whoever said country music festival is already past its peak is terribly mistaken! Stagecoach, Coachella’s sister fest, is returning for the 12th time in Indio and it’s definitely better than ever. Setting an attendance record of 75,000 in 2018, the number is anticipated to increase a few more thousands this year. So get your cowboy boots and hats ready and expect a solid lineup of performances from headliners Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. Alongside these hitmakers is a variety of less traditional country festival acts like Tom Jones and Bret Michaels. You will get your dose of indie acts from artists Becca Mancari, Dawn Landes and Ruby Boots, among others.
When & where: April 26-28, Empire Polo Field – Indio, CA
Get your tickets HERE.
Tortuga Music Festival
Festival lineup: Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Thomas Rhett, Flo Rida, Maren Morris, Kenny Chesney, Sheryl Crow
Love a good party and the beach? Why not have both at Tortuga Music Festival in the white sands of Fort Lauderdale Beach this weekend. While the music festival strive to diversify its lineup, last year was a different story when the beach fest received some backlash for only having two female artists out of nearly 30 acts. For 2019 though, Tortuga offers one of its biggest lineups ever with 46 performers, 21 of them solo women artists or female-fronted bands. Get ready to sing and dance with Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Flo Rida and Joan Jett, but don’t forget to check out the incredible up-and-comers too.
When & where: April 12-14, Fort Lauderdale Beach Park – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Get your tickets HERE.
Country Thunder Arizona
Festival lineup: Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley, Tim McGraw, Brett Eldredge, Trace Adkins, Clay Walker
Country Thunder Arizona, the reigning ACM Festival of the Year, is bringing the hottest country superstars to their massive stage this weekend! The lineup is stacked with Chris Stapleton, Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, and Brett Eldredge topping the bill. Adding to the excitement is an EDM throwdown at Electric Thunder, featuring David Fanning, Lucy Voll and DJ Hish for the late-night party crowd.
Now you might think that it’s going to be a weekend of full-on raving and drinking, but there’s more to it than that. The organizers made sure festival-goers can have their daytime recovery with Country Flow Yoga followed by line dancing instruction. Dancing With The Thunder swing dancing is also available every day, as well as an exciting dance competition commencing on Saturday.
When & where: April 11-14, Country Thunder USA – AZ – Florence, AZ
Get your tickets HERE.
Fortress Festival
Festival lineup: CHVRCHES, Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe, Leon Bridges, Khruangbin, Tank and the Bangas
Fortress Festival is returning to the internationally-renowned Cultural District of Fort Worth, Texas on the last weekend of April. Going on its third year now, the music festival will bring on stage Leon Bridges and Chvrches. You can also expect electrifying performances from Khruangbin, Tinashe, Rae Sremmurd and many more.
Presented in partnership with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the festival also provides attendees access to world-class art within Fort Worth’s iconic Cultural District. It’s not just a two-day music fest, but a celebration of art and culture as well.
When & where: April 27-28, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth – Fort Worth, TX
Get your tickets HERE.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Festival lineup: The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Katy Perry, Santana, Van Morrison, Earth, Wind & Fire, Jimmy Buffet & The Coral Reefer Band
Also known as “Jazz Fest,” the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is a celebration of music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana. Few festivals mean more to their community than this. Dating back to 1970, the music festival started as a small gathering in Congo Square to celebrate the music of the south. Today, the celebration now ranks as one of the best attended, most musically comprehensive and most respected festivals in the world. The fun isn’t limited to the confines of the festival either. The whole city comes to life with shows, live music and local bars holding regular ‘Jazz Fest’ evenings too.
When & where: 25-28 April & 2-5 May 2019; New Orleans Fairgrounds – New Orleans, LA
Get your tickets HERE.