10 California Music Festivals Not To Be Missed

We are well on our way into the season of music festivals! It’s difficult to beat the combination of being with your friends and enjoying your favorite music. Some festivals aim to show appreciation for a specific genre for days at a time, while others pair music with wine, beer, and art for a truly well-rounded experience. As Californians, we are lucky to live in a state that hosts some of the best music festivals in the world! ABCey wouldn’t want you missing out on the fun, so check out this list of upcoming festivals in 2013 and be sure to mark your calendars!

1. Coachella 2013 | Indio |  April 12-14/April 19-21 | Nicknamed the “Official Ambassador of Music Festivals”, Coachella is the ultimate kickoff to summer festival season. Multiple genres such as rock, indie, hip hop, and electronic music. 

2. Desert Daze 2013 | Mecca | April 20 | Camping, art, and music! Encouraging of camping and carpooling, this festival is full of good vibes. Organized by a group of close friends and a growing collective of musicians and artists from LA and beyond.

3. Stagecoach 2013 | Indio | April 26-28 | California’s outdoor country music festival, seen as the “cousin” of Coachella. Various artists attend, both popular and relatively unknown, ranging from folk, mainstream country, bluegrass, roots rock, and alternative country.

 4. BottleRock 2013| Napa | May 9-11 | Over 60 great bands on 3 Napa expo stages. Top wineries, the best of Napa food, microbrews, and today’s top comics.  If those don’t appeal to you, the lineup certainly will. You can find something for everyone at this festival!

5. California Roots Music and Arts Festival | Monterey | May 24-26 |  A three-day celebration held over Memorial Day weekend at the beautiful Monterey County Fairgrounds. You can expect the best in Reggae/Rock from around the world, delicious food and unique craft vendors, as well as a dynamic live art experience. 

6. Sierra Nevada World Music Festival | Boonville | June 21-23 | A festival dedicated to uniting the world in celebration of the universal spirit of music. It offers food, crafts and art from places such as Indonesia, West Africa, Jamaica, Ethiopia and India. SNWMF is known for the positive, conscious, environmentally aware community it attracts.

 7. High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy | July 4-7 | Celebrating its 20th festival this year, High Sierra has found itself to be a 10,000 person event with more than 50 performers on four day-time stages and in four late-night venues. The Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy provide on-site infrastructure with opportunities to swim, bike, fish, golf and hike.

 8. Outside Lands 2013 | SF | August 9-11 | A harmonious marriage of music, food, wine, beer and art, Outside Lands is a highly anticipated festival representing San Francisco’s vibrant cultural community. This green-conscious event directly benefits the San Franscisco Recreation & Park Department with a special annual donation.

9. Rock The Bells | San Bernadino, Aug 18-19 | Mountain View, August 25-26 | Featuring a line-up of high-profile world class hip-hop artists, this festival began in Southern California in 2004 and now makes its way to three different locations. Rock The Bells is the best collection of hip-hop artist performances that you’ll find.

10. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival | SF | October 4-6 | A free and entirely noncommercial three-day festival, HSB is great for your family to enjoy. Originally only featuring bluegrass musicians, the musical scope has expanded and now attracts numbers almost as high as the entire population of San Francisco.

Tell us which music festivals you plan on attending in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!