COMPILED BY SHARON CUMMINGS
»MAY 24–29
Lightning in a Bottle
Bradley, CA
LightningInABottle.org
Featuring:
Bassnectar // Troyboi // Big Wild // Bob Moses // Nicola Cruz // Bonobo // Paper Diamond // Richie Hawtin // Bomba Estero // Orgone // ill.Gates // eDit // Kaytranada // Climbing Poetree
Vibe & Venue:
The San Antonio recreational lake is 50% full after many dusty years. By teaming with content partners such as Bioneers, Planet Experts, and Indigenous Environmental Network, LIB is leading the way in directing sustainable earth literacy to the festival space. Plenty of interactive elements such as Amori’s Casino and Burlesque, The Lost Hotel Theater, the Black Rock Observatory, and the 360-degree Digital Art Projection Technology Dome.
»MAY 26–28
BottleRock Napa Valley
Napa, CA
BottleRockNapaValley.com
Featuring:
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers // The Roots // Foo Fighters // Macklemore & Ryan Lewis // Ani DiFranco // Maroon 5 // Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals // Live // House of Pain
Vibe & Venue:
This Napa bonanza aligns celebrity chefs such as Martha Stewart, José Andrés, and Masaharu Morimoto with worldclass pop stars. A slew of downtown aftershow parties define BottleRock as a premiere destination that sells out quickly with only aftermarket tickets available.
»JUNE 8–11
SoulPlay Festival
Pinecrest, CA
SoulPlayFestival.com
Featuring:
Sasha Rose // Ryan Herr // Jennifer Johns // Mikey Pauker // Nona Fender & the Benders // Trevor Green // Geometrae // Caveman // El Dub // Wren LaFeet // Raina Satori
Vibe & Venue:
An adults-only event encouraging embodiment through the direct experience of intimacy in movement and play. The Stanislaus National Forest provides a perfect alcohol- and drug-free mountain lake backdrop for nourishing healthy human contact.
»JUNE 9–11
Enchanted Forest Gathering
Mendocino, CA
EnchantedForestMendo.com
Featuring:
Tipper // The Polish Ambassador // Tokimonsta // Pimps of Joytime // Noisia // Dimond Saints // Mike Love // The Floozies // Kalya Scintilla
Vibe & Venue:
“Sacred, Sexy, Silly, and Saucy” is the mantra as the lush Black Oak Ranch provides the setting for 100 regional and international musical acts on four artfully constructed stages. Sub hubs include a foam party sponsored by Dr. Bronner’s, the Nectar Temple for healing tune-ups, the women-only Red Tent and Emerald Forest, and an on-site solar-powered medical cannabis dispensary.
»JUNE 16–18
Sierra Nevada World Music Festival
Boonville, CA
SNWMF.com
Featuring:
Barrington Levy // Anthony B // Lee “Scratch” Perry // Gentleman // Chronixx // Tarrus Riley // Capleton // Macka B // Mellow Mood // Third World
Vibe & Venue:
A summer solstice weekend favorite located in the scenic countryside of wine- and beer-famous Boonville in Anderson Valley. Roots music and reggae rhythms permeate the family-friendly grassy meadow focused around a single main stage followed by lively indoor dance hall action after dark.
»JUNE 16–18
Monterey International Pop Festival
Monterey, CA
MontereyPopFestival50.com
Featuring:
Phil Lesh & the Terrapin Family Band // Jackie Greene // Norah Jones // Jim James // Regina Spektor // Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires // Dr. Dog // Jack Johnson // Nicki Bluhm & the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Vibe & Venue:
The 50-year commemoration of one of the defining events that shaped the Summer of Love. This all takes place in precisely the same place on precisely the same dates! A hippie counterculture landmark event.
»JUNE 23–25
Kate Wolf Music Festival
Laytonville, CA
KateWolfMusicFestival.com
Featuring:
Brandi Carlisle // John Prine // Lukas Nelson & the Promise of the Real // Dar Williams // Bruce Cockburn // Rising Appalachia // Poor Man’s Whiskey // Carrie Rodriguez
Vibe & Venue:
Gather with the folk music family that fills Black Oak Ranch every summer in laid-back Laytonville to celebrate Kate Wolf’s in memoriam musical legacy. Family vibes abound!
»JUNE 29–JULY 2
High Sierra Music Festival
Quincy, CA
HighSierraMusic.com
Featuring:
Gov’t Mule // Trey Anastasio Band // Mike Gordon // Ween // Galactic // STS9 // The Greyboy Allstars // The Travelin’ McCoureys // Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons // White Denim // Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel
Vibe & Venue:
Long live the annual jambandfan reunion as thousands of live-music lovers band together in the scenic hills for the 27th year running. Rubbing elbows with headliners is not uncommon, as improvised guest sit-ins occur serendipitously.
»JULY 7–9
Oregon Country Fair
Veneta, OR
OregonCountryFair.org
Featuring:
Lineup TBD
Vibe & Venue:
The oldest running festival in our lineup began in 1969, and given its Ken Kesey–Springfield Creamery heritage, famously hosted The Grateful Dead in 972. Decades later, OCF masterfully presents a kaleidoscope of vibrant expression and colorful creativity for all ages and every orientation on 20 official stages and with an artisan market that is second to none.
»JULY 13–16
Redwood Ramble
Navarro, CA
RedwoodRamble.com
Featuring:
Grateful Bluegrass Boys // Fruition // Hot Buttered Rum // Monophonics // Achilles Wheel // Band of Heathens // T Sisters
Vibe & Venue:
Nestled safely among the tall redwood trees of Camp Navarro, bluegrass and new-grass bands assemble to pay homage to the craft. A string-pickers paradise blended with family fun, summer camp–style activities. Limited tickets.
»JULY 13–16
California WorldFest
Grass Valley, CA
WorldFest.net
Featuring:
Michael Franti & Spearhead // Seun Kuti // Etana // Katdelic // DakhaBrakha // Peter Yarrow // Alash // Supaman // Betsayda Machado // Femina // Pamyua // RankyTanky // Simrit // Federspiel // Niki J Crawford // La Misa Negra // Martha Redbones Roots Project // Leyla McCalla
Vibe & Venue:
The Nevada County Fairgrounds provides abundant shade and green grassy meadows during this famously family-friendly weekend event where world music takes center stage in a community well-known for musical magnetism. Diversely curated acts include a truly international lineup of up-and-coming musicians, making the experience of discovery a key component of the vibe. World-Fest’s women producers try to feature female artists—a considerable detail, as the music industry tends to be male-dominated.
»JULY 20–23
Wanderlust Festival
North Lake Tahoe, CA
Wanderlust.com
Featuring:
Rod Stryker // Seane Corn // Gurmukh // Kathryn Budig // Maty Ezraty // Janet Stone // Lettuce // Little Dragon // Quixotic // DJ Drez // Dustbowl Revival // Bibi McGill // DJ Seriousblack // Sol Rising // Lemanjo // Zack Darling // Khruangbin // IN-Q // Elijah Ray
Vibe & Venue:
Wanderlust festivals and events have grown to international proportions, proving that the yoga + music + nature formula works. We NorCal folks can luxuriate at the premiere Squaw Valley location where expansive mountaintop meditations, first-rate musical lineups, and big-name teachers make for a primo holistic experience. You don’t need a ticket to skip through the marketplace into a village of hundreds of free samples by yoga-friendly wellness lifestyle brands. At 8,000 feet, you might be sharing the pool with skiers, as the mountain may still be open on this exceptional snow year.
»JULY 27–30
Guitarfish Music Festival
Tahoe National Forest, CA
GuitarfishFestival.com
Featuring:
Vieux Farka Toure // Greener Grounds // See-I // Liberation Movement // Ronkat’s Katdelic // The Main Squeeze // House of Hamsa // Sirens of Soul // Joy & Madness // Desert Rhythm Project
Vibe & Venue:
Four stages swell for four days of endless energy at the 300-acre Cisco Grove Campground as organizers keep the community container grounded by cultivating interactive art and educational spaces. As the setting suggests, watershed preservation and conservation give this fest its eco premise.
»AUGUST 3–6
Reggae on the River
Garberville, CA
ReggaeOnTheRiver.com
Featuring:
Sly & Robbie // Marcia Griffiths // Dezarie // Slightly Stoopid // J Boog // Junior Kelly // Ken Boothe // Cherine Anderson // Assassin // Walshy Fire // Kabaka Pyramid // Tatanka // Lutan Fyah & the Riddim Rebels // Nattali Rize // Prestige // Marla Brown // Sensimilla Dub
Vibe & Venue:
Now in its 33rd smash year, Humboldt County’s homegrown festival is comfortably situated on the Eel River, bridging the rhythms of the main stage with a beachlike setting on the riverbanks. Enjoy the irie vibes of high summer at this stellar setting accompanied by the all-too-familiar Humboldt
scent of . . . an essential part of the local economy and a primary component of the rastaman vibration. The lineup features regional musical performances alongside reggae music legends.
»AUGUST 11–13
Outside Lands
San Francisco, CA
SFOutsideLands.com
Featuring:
The Who // Metallica // A Tribe Called Quest // Gorillaz // Lorde // Little Dragon // Queens of the Stone Age // The Avett Brothers // Solange // Future Islands // Belle & Sebastian // Fleet Foxes // Rebelution // Bomba Estéro // Young the Giant
Vibe & Venue:
In its 10th year, SF’s biggest backyard party in Golden Gate Park continues to show tangible improvements. Top headliners mixed with gourmet goodies sourced from local foodie hotspots, trend-setting artisan cocktails, craft brews, and extensive VIP viewing create the vibe. Smartphone apps, bike valet, and pedi-cabs help keep OL Green.
»AUGUST 11–14
Beloved Festival
Tidewater, OR
BelovedFestival.com
Featuring:
Lineup TBD
Vibe & Venue:
Beloved Festival imagines an all-inclusive container of heart-centered conscious culture from the moment you are greeted at the whimsical forested entrance into what feels like a fairy tale. A “no booze or shoes on the dance floor” rule creates an exemplary flow around the main stage, and the producer goes to determined lengths to program an eclectic lineup, which is often kept secret. Attendees are encouraged to come more for the vibe than the acts. Caring for your neighbors, constant cooperation, active engagement, authentic smiles, and embodied eye contact—just some of the reasons you’ll see the beloved in everyone you meet at Beloved.
»AUGUST 17–23
Oregon Eclipse Gathering
Ochoco National Forest, OR
OregonEclipse2017.com
Featuring:
Lineup TBD
Vibe & Venue:
A 55,000-acre private ranch in eastern Oregon sets the stage for a weeklong worldwide gathering with expert production by transformational event virtuosos in order to bear witness to the rare eclipse. A gathering for the ages, if you can obtain a ticket.
»SEPTEMBER 7–11
Bhakti Fest
Joshua Tree, CA
BhaktiFest.com
Featuring:
Deepak Chopra // Krishna Das // Trevor Hall // Jai Uttal // MC Yogi // Rahdanath Swami // Fanna Fi Allah // Shiva Rea // Yogrishi Vishvketu // Mark Whitwell // Saul David Raye // Sienna Sherman
Vibe & Venue:
The end-of-summer destination to activate yourself into higher levels of awakening and join the migration of fellow seekers in the sacred Joshua Tree desert. With the mantra “be in the bhava” (i.e., the mood of feeling embraced by devotion), this festival nurtures loving-kindness for humanity as a refuge from its disarray, with offerings of prayer in a multitude of forms, including kirtan, dance, and breath work.