For those who love to have fun and enjoy music, it is worth at least once in your life to experiment and take part in one of the biggest music festivals in the world. Most people know only the most popular ones such as Lollapalooza Festival, Bonnaroo, Coachella Festival, or Primavera Sound, but there are many more.
We’ve put together for you a list of 61 festivals so you can choose. This includes the biggest EDM festival, rock, electronic, and jazz festivals.
If you think we missed one, please let us know in the comments.
Lollapalooza Festival
Although not very successful at first, Lollapalooza has become such a big festival that it needs no introduction. The festival takes place in Chicago and each year enjoys an attendance of over 400,000 visitors from around the globe. Soul, alternative rock, heavy metal, pop, and hip hop are some of the genres of this festival. The official website
Tomorrowland Festival
Tomorrowland is a massively impressive music festival held in Boom, Flanders, Belgium. Its first debut was in 2005 and now is one of the most popular festivals in Europa and in the world. The festival includes electronic, pop, hip hop, and dance music, but also a vibrant atmosphere and an international crowd. Tomorrowland reached a record attendance of 400,000 visitors in 2019. The official website
Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) Festival
Found in 1991, the Electric Daisy Carnival had been held in many different locations such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Dallas, New York, New Delhi, and São Paulo. What makes this festival so special is the multitude of bright lights and vibrant lasers that complement the music. EDM, dubstep, house techno, and trance are the main genres played during this music festival. The official website
Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) Festival
If you want to enjoy 5 days of electronic music, Amsterdam Dance Event is the festival you can’t miss. Founded in 1996 by the Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, the ADE music festival is held in Amsterdam in mid-October each year. If you want to attend, get ready to get your tickets in advance because every year 400,000 people attend the event. The official website
Primavera Sound Festival
Primavera Sound is held every year in Barcelona, Spain, and is recognized as one of the largest and most-attended music festivals in Europe and the biggest in the Mediterranean.
The first edition of the festival took place in 2001 with an attendance of 8,000 people, but the festival has expanded over the years reaching an attendance of 220,000 in 2019.
During the Primavera Sound festival, you can enjoy music genres such as pop, indie, rock, and the most underground tendencies of electronic music. The official website
Coachella Music & Arts Festival
The Coachella Music and Art Festival had its first edition in 1999, and it is one of the most largest and famous music festivals in the world. The music festival is held in Coachella Valley, Colorado Desert in the month of April, and includes various genres of music such as rock, pop, indie, and hip hop, as well as visual arts. Furthermore, Coachella is also one of the world’s most profitable music festivals, having a record attendance of 250,000 people in 2017. The official website
Untold Festival
Every year, for four days, the largest electronic music festival in Romania takes place in the city of Cluj-Napoca. Untold Festival is held in September and offers a vast range of genres such as trance, techno, house, electro house, progressive house, pop, indie pop, hip hop, drum and bass, dubstep, reggae, jazz, and R&B. Even if the festival is relatively new, it reached its peak attendance in the fifth year of existence, having a record of 370,000 of visitors. The official website
Summerfest Festival
Milwaukee, Wisconsin is home to all the music lovers who want to attend the event that received the certification of being the world’s largest music festival from Guinness World Records in 1999. The Summerfest has a rich history of more than 50 years, being founded in 1968, and about 800,000 participants annually. Visitors can enjoy theater, fireworks, dance, restaurants, and other family activities, in addition to music. The official website
Donauinselfest Festival
In the beautiful capital of Austria, Vienna, the Donauinselfest takes place every year. The Donauinselfest was founded in 1983 and is recognized as the largest open-air music festival in the world with over 3 million visitors over 3 days. The festival offers great music and lots of food stands. The official website
Best Kept Secret Festival
Best Kept Secret festival manages to reconcile the tastes of a diverse audience, including several different musical genres such as indie, rock, electronics, pop, and folk. It is a 3-day festival that is held every year in the village of Hilvarenbeek in the south of the Netherlands. The official website
Distortion Festival
The Copenhagen Distortion Festival turns the city of Copenhagen into a musical haven that operates every year and hosts over 300,000 people to enjoy hip-hop, trap, world, house, experimental, and techno music. The official website
Dimensions Festival
Held in Croatia, Dimensions Festival is the place where you can enjoy a swimming session in the Adriatic Sea and the world’s best electronic music at the same time. The official website
Outlook Origins Festival
The Outlook Valley Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Croatia. The event features artists from the drum and bass, garage, house, and ragga genres such as Skream, Digital Mystikz, David Rodigan, and Jamie xx. This festival enjoys many visitors from the United Kingdom. The official website
Awakenings Festival
Awakenings is a music festival focused on techno music, being the world’s largest outdoor techno festival. The event originated in 1997 as a conglomeration of several techno parties organized by Monumental Productions BV agency. The festival has about 80,000 visitors annually during the two days of the party. The official website
Rock Werchter Festival
Rock Werchter is a Belgian music festival founded by Herman Schueremans in 1976. The festival has evolved from year to year, reaching a maximum capacity of 149,500 visitors during the 4 days of entertainment. It is held in the Werchter Festivalpark, Werchter, in the last week of June or the first week of July and includes alternative rock, rock, indie rock, pop, hip hop, heavy metal, electronic music, and dance music. The official website
Way Out West Festival
Another festival in Europe is Way Out West, which takes place in a park in Gothenburg, Switzerland. The main genres of music that this festival emphasizes are rock, electronic, and hip hop. The festival is also the first in the world to receive a KRAV certificate due to its focus on being environmentally friendly. The official website
Dekmantel Festival
Dekmantel is an electronic music festival in the Netherlands. The festival takes place at the beginning of August for three days in the famous Amsterdamse Bos, an extraordinary park inside the city. Events like after-parties, concerts, radio appearances, and interviews are also part of the big event. The official website
Let It Roll Festival
The annual Let It Roll music festival is held in Prague, Czech Republic for 3 days in early August. Let It Roll is actually the world’s largest drum and bass festival, boasting an attendance of 30,000 visitors in 2018. The official website
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight is a music festival that takes place annually, at the end of June, in Newport, England. This festival was active from its first edition in 1968, until 1970, when it registered over 600,000 visitors, and took a break until 2002, when it was revived. This rock and pop music festival brings together on-stage names such as David Guetta, Duran Duran, The Script, and many others. The official website
Pitchfork Music Festival
A must-see on the list of music lovers, the Pitchfork Music Festival has earned a well-deserved reputation on the international music chart. It takes place in several locations such as the Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France, Union Park, Chicago, and Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany, and for three days offers the following genres: alternative rock, hip hop, electronic, and dance music. The official website
Boomtown Festival
Boomtown is a music and theater festival, held on the Matterley Estate in South Downs National Park, near Winchester, Hampshire. It is famous for being divided into several districts that offer visitors the opportunity to admire different designs, themes, and venues. With a capacity of 76,999, this festival is also known for its charitable activities, such as the one in 2019, when over 71,000 trees were planted during the music festival. The official website
EXIT Festival
The EXIT festival takes place every year at the Petrovaradin Fortress in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, and boasts two awards for the Best Major Festival awarded by European Festivals Awards, for 2013 and 2017. This festival was launched in 2000 as a simple movement of students fighting for democracy in Serbia, but slowly, the festival grew to 180,000 visitors in 2021. During the festival, which takes place in July for 4 days, you can enjoy rock, techno, electronic dance, metal, hip hop, reggae, punk, drum, and bass music. The official website
Ultra Music Festival (UMF) Festival
Ultra Music Festival is the event of the year for all electronic music lovers. Held in March in Miami, Florida, United States, the festival lasts only 2 days, but there were years when it lasted for three days, managing to run out of tickets in less than 5 minutes. The event is so popular that in 2013 had a record attendance of 155,000 visitors. The official website
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
If we have already seen interesting festivals for rock, electronic, and hip-hop lovers, we should also talk about the “heaven” of Jazz listeners. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival or Jazz Fest is an annual event held in New Orleans, Louisiana, which celebrates Jazz music and culture. The event attracted 425,000 visitors over seven days in 2017, contributing greatly to the city’s economy. The official website
DGTL Amsterdam Festival
The DGTL Amsterdam Festival is held every year in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and it is the first circularly-organized sustainable music festival. The festival organizes editions in cities like Bengaluru, Santiago, São Paulo, Barcelona, and Madrid as well. The official website
Green Man Festival
Already in its 17th year, the Green Man Festival has become one of the most popular options for those in Great Britain to party. The festival includes folk music, indie, dance, Americana, world music, and electronica, but also arts festival and science. The event takes place in mid of August in Brecon Beacons, Wales. The official website
Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival is an event that takes place every year in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. The music festival includes four stages and lots of activities such as theatre, literature, art, comedy, cabaret, dance, poetry, and politics. The official website
Lovebox Festival
In June, the entire Gunnersbury Park in London is transformed, for 3 days, into the most important festival of electronic music, dance, hip hop, and R&B. Founded by DJs Groove Armada in 2002, the event is called the Lovebox Festival and has a maximum capacity of 50,000 visitors. The official website
Outside Lands Festival
San Francisco, California is the city that hosts the largest independently-owned music festival in the US and also the world’s highest-grossing festivals. The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is one of the favorite destinations for people all over the world. Here you can find electronic music and visual artists. The official website
Essence Festival
The Essence Festival has entered the top of the world’s largest African-American culture and music festivals. It is held in July in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has about 500,000 participants annually. Here you can enjoy R&B, soul, funk, gospel, blues, hip-hop, Jazz, and many other genres. The official website
Bonnaroo Festival
On the second Thursday in June, about 90,000 music lovers from America and around the world stop at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee for four days of concerts and parties. The main musical styles included in this festival are indie rock, classic rock, world music, hip hop, jazz, Americana, bluegrass, country music, folk, gospel, reggae, pop, and electronic. The official website
Rainbow Serpent Festival
Rainbow Serpent is one of Australia’s most popular music and art festivals. Held near Lexton, Victoria, it has existed since 1997. It currently runs for four days, hosting around 12,000 participants each year. Art installations, healing arts, various workshops, and multi-cultural foods can be found around the stages. The official website
Shambhala Festival
If you want to party for 4 days and 3 nights, then you have to get a ticket to the Shambhala music festival, which is one of the longest-running electronic music events. The Shambhala event takes place in British Columbia, Canada, and includes electronic music. The official website
Envision Festival
Held in La Uvita de Osa, Costa Rica, the Envision Festival is not just about music, but also about the 8 pillars that this event focuses on, which are: permaculture, spirituality, movement, art, music, community, health, and radical acceptance. So, you can improve your well-being by attending yoga classes and enjoying organic food during the day, and partying all night with great music. The official website
Time Warp Festival
Held in Mannheim, Germany, the Time Warp music festival was founded in 1994 and it has been active ever since. It is a perfect place for all tech music lovers. The official website
Sziget Festival
Even though it is a festival with over 28 years of activity, the Sziget Festival became prominent only after the first 8 years. It is held in the beautiful city of Budapest, Hungary, every year in August, and hit its record attendance in 2019 when 565,000 visitors attended the festival. Rock, alternative rock, heavy metal, world electronic, pop, reggae, and hip hop are just some of the music genres that are being played each year in more than 1,000 performances that take place. The official website
Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
The Osheaga Festival offers you the opportunity to enjoy indie music played on six different stages. Names such as Coldplay, The Killers, Eminem, and The roots played at this annual festival held in Montreal, Quebec. The official website
Reading & Leeds Festival
The world’s oldest popular music festival, which is still active, could not be missing from our list. The Reading festival takes place simultaneously with the Leeds Festival in England each summer. The main genres of these two festivals, which had an attendance of 105,000 people in 2019, are rock, metal, hip-hop, dance, and pop. The official website
Austin City Limits Music Festival
Organized by the same company as the Lollapalooza Festival, the Austin City Limits Music Festival is attended by 450,000 visitors each year. It is held in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends and has eight different stages where you can enjoy rock, folk, hip hop, and indie music. In addition to the music, the festival has lots of food and drinks places and organizes other activities for its visitors, kids, and families. The official website
Estereo Picnic Festival
Estéreo Picnic Festival was founded in 2010 but did not have an easy start. Financial problems led to a change in the show’s strategy and vision in 2013. This change was one that brought Estereo to hold the position of Colombia’s biggest alternative music festival and one of the most important music festivals in South America. Well-known music names such as The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Snoop Dogg performed on stage at this festival. The official website
Afro Nation Festival
This legendary Portuguese music event is Europe’s biggest urban music beach festival. Founded in 2013, the Afro Nation music festival’s main vision was to gather the best African artists in different genres like hip hop, RnB, Dancehall, and Afro House. It lasts for three days in July and is held on Praia da Rocha beach, Portimão, Portugal. The official website
Bilbao BBK Live Festival
Held every year in Bilbao, Spain, the Bilbao BBK Live festival was created in 2006 by the Basque Government. During this festival, you can enjoy rock, pop, alternative rock, indie, and hard rock music. It always takes place in early July and is recognized to have an audience of more than 100,000 people each year. The official website
Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival is the place where all Jazz lovers can meet. The music festival is held since 1967 on the first fortnight of July in Montreux on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The festival also includes rock and pop music and attracts more than 200,000 people annually. The official website
Hellfest Open Air Festival
Every year hard rock, heavy metal, and extreme metal are celebrated through the Hellfest French music festival. Its first edition was in 2006 and since then, more than 55,000 people attend annually. The Hellfest festival takes place in mid-June in Clisson in Loire-Atlantique, France. The official website
Rolling Loud Portugal Festival
The Rolling Loud Portugal is one of the largest hip-hop music festivals in Europe. The annual festival is held at the beginning of July for 2 days on the Algarve beach in Portimão, Portugal. The official website
The Governors Ball Music Festival
Launched in 2011, the Governors Balls Music Festival is the perfect place to enjoy an extreme variety of musical genres such as rock, electronica, hip hop, folk, indie, pop, and Americana. The music festival takes place in Randalls Island, New York, and offers much more than music. It also hosts lots of restaurants and food trucks where you can enjoy a meal, as well as lots of other games and activities for having fun with friends. This festival has an annual number of visitors of 150,000. The official website
Les Eurockéennes Festival
For fans of rock music interested in a real 4-day party in a nature reserve in France, this festival is a dream. The Eurockéennes de Belfort is the largest rock music festival in France having a record attendance of 135,000 people in 2018. The official website
South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival
With an existence of over 35 years, the South by Southwest Festival is famous for its diversity. During this festival that takes place in the middle of March in Austin, Texas, United States you can enjoy music, conferences, film, but also the interactive media, and shows. The official website
Sónar Festival
The Sónar festival takes place in Barcelona, Spain, and is actually divided into two parts called Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night. The Sónar by Day includes various exhibitions while the Sónar by Night covers all performances by artists like Björk, Thom Yorke, Jean-Michel Jarre, Duran Duran, Gorillaz, New Order, Skrillex, Diplo, M.I.A., Arca, Rosalía, Chic, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Sónar has a regular attendance of 80,000 visitors and is held each year in mid-June. The official website
Splendour in the Grass Festival
Another musical extravaganza on our list is the Splendour in the Grass. This music festival is a platform to promote local artists and includes hip hop, indie rock, and electronic music. It is always held in late July but the location can vary. Until now, the Splendour took place in three different locations like Byron Bay, Woodford, and Yelgun. Known as one of the largest music festivals in Australia, it managed to gather a record attendance of 42,500 people in 2019. The official website
Mad Cool Festival
The Mad Cool festival is a spectacular pop, rock, and indie music festival held annually in mid-July in Madrid, Spain. This three-days festival reached its record attendance of 240,000 people in 2018. The official website
Snowbombing Festival
If you want to ski but participate at the same time at an electronic music festival, then the Snowbombing is the perfect event. At the Snowbombing music and ski resort festival, you can enjoy electronic dance music while relaxing in one of the fifth pools and saunas. It takes place annually in April at the Austrian ski resort of Mayrhofen. The official website
Rampage Festival
The Rampage Festival is hosted in Antwerp, Belgium, and is one of the largest drum & bass and dubstep music festivals in the world. It covers a period of 2 days and has a total capacity of 15,000 people. The official website
Creamfields Festival
This music festival has been held in the UK since 1998. Its first location was in Winchester, Hampshire, but it was changed in 1999 to Liverpool, Merseyside, and since 2006 it has been held in Daresbury, Cheshire on August Bank Holiday weekend for four days. With a maximum capacity of 280,000, people come to the Creamfields festival from all over the world and enjoy electronic music. The official website
Roskilde Festival
The Roskilde Festival began as a small show created by two students with the main aim of supporting Danish music and culture, but later became the first music-oriented festival for hippies in the country, and then the largest festival in the Nordic countries. The festival offers rock, pop, electronic, reggae, and hip hop music, and it is held in Roskilde, Denmark for four whole days. The official website
Fuji Rock Festival
Having its first edition ever in 1997, the Fuji Rock Festival is a three days rock festival and the largest outdoor music event in Japan. The event is held on the last weekend of July in the Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The official website
Hot 97 Summer Jam Festival
The Summer Jam is also a music festival that should not be missed, especially if you are a hip-hop fan. This music festival takes place annually in East Rutherford, New Jersey in June. The official website
Rock in Rio Festival
Although this music festival is held in 4 countries, you should know that no one has reached the level of Brazilians. In fact, it is one of the largest music festivals in the world, with 1.5 million people attending the first edition. The other locations are Lisbon, Portugal with an attendance of 350,000 people, Madrid, Spain, and Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Rock, pop, and indie are the main genres included in this music festival. The official website
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival is one of the largest music festivals in England, taking place in Pilton, Somerset, England, the pop and rock being the predominant genres throughout the festival, however, the festival also hosts other arts such as festival hosts dance, comedy, theatre, circus, and cabaret. The 5-days festival is strongly supported by the community due to the fact that it raises millions of pounds for charity organizations. The official website
Rock en Seine Festival
With a steady daily audience of 40,000 since 2013, the Rock en Seine is a rock music festival that takes place annually, at the end of August at the gates of Paris, France. The official website
Rock am Ring & Rock im Park Festival
As the name suggests, this is not only one music festival but two music festivals into one. Rock am Ring and Rock im Park are rock festivals that are held usually on the first weekend of June in two different locations: Rock am Ring is held in Nürburgring, Germany while Rock im Park takes place in Zeppelinfeld, Nuremberg, Germany. Its attendance record was reached in 2016 when 92,500 tickets were sold in advance. The official website
