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Courtesy of Monterey Jazz Festival
Ultimate Music Festivals
From High Sierra mountains to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park; from wine country splendour to dramatic deserts, California’s music festivals take place in wow-worthy places. And the music gets a thumbs-up too. Whether you’re into electronica, vintage jazz, boot-stompin’ country, indie tunes, or good ole rock ‘n’ roll, it’s here. Plus, many events jazz it up with food trucks, pop-up restaurants, and serve quality California wines and craft beers. In between sets, peruse art exhibits, or just people watch for serious festival styles—sometimes even better than what’s on stage.
Apr 12 - Apr 21
Experience the two-weekend Coachella festival in Indio, which has A-list headliners—like Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar—and a unique arts and food scene
Beyond the musical acts, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, held in April at Empire Polo Club in Indio, has morphed into...
Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
August
It makes sense that the 1960s home to flower children, historic rock concerts, and the summer of love is also home to Outside Lands, a...
jareed/Flickr
September
Enjoy three days of world-class jazz at the lauded Monterey Jazz Festival, which has been called “the grandaddy of jazz events” (...
Courtesy of Monterey Jazz Festival
July - August
With a pine-and-peak alpine setting and a relaxed and friendly ambiance, this appealing event in Bear Valley, roughly halfway between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, includes performances by outstanding...
Courtesy of Bear Valley Music Festival
October
Pack a blanket, some snacks, and your dancing shoes for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, a massive, free, three-...
David McSpadde/Flickr
May
Saddle up for Stagecoach, the country cousin held in the same venue—the Indio Polo Grounds south of Palm Springs—as the...
Courtesy of Stagecoach
September
“Mountains. Magic. Music.” The tagline of the Strawberry Music Festival, a lively, four-day May event, says it all. Held at the...
Courtesy of Strawberry Music Festival
May
Rock rolls into the wine country with BottleRock Napa Valley, a three-day event that features 2019 headliners Imagine Dragons,...
Jessica S./Flickr
Experience a show at this storied festival celebrating “America’s classical music”
The city of San Francisco looms large in jazz history. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, the Fillmore district was known as “the Harlem of the West,”...
_jar/Flickr
July
Yoga meets music and alpine wow at Wanderlust Squaw Valley, an om-filled, 4-day July event in...
Christen Vidanoviv/ Wanderlust Festival
Spotlight: Yosemite National Park
Granite monoliths, waterfalls, alpine meadows—it’s no secret that Yosemite delivery some seriously big wow moments. But what is a secret is the bounty of awesome things...
California: Outdoor
Maybe it’s the sun-streaked hair, the frequent smiles, the eyes always gazing west, looking to the horizon to see when the next set might roll in. It’s the unmistakable...
Spotlight: Silicon Valley
You can almost feel the smarts when you visit this elegant, red-tile-and-sandstone campus. Stanford is the academic home of 22 living Nobel laureates, 5 Pulitzer Prize...