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A diverse crowd of music fans wait for a band to begin playing on the main stage at last year's Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival at Clinton Lake Park. Courtesy of www.wakarusa.com
Warm weather is here again and so is festival season. With spring in full bloom and summer right behind, do you know where to catch some good tunes? According to jambase.com, this outdoor concert season boasts more than 50 music festivals taking place in all corners of the United States from May through August. While it might be hard to decide which ones to attend, here are some best bets for your money, travel considerations and listening pleasure this summer:
Bannaroo Music and Arts Festival, in Manchester, Tenn., June 18-20
real- ity. An aerial shot of the Soo Pass Ranch, site of the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minn. Courtesy of www.10klf.com
A major festival that is now in its third year, Bonnaroo caters to just about any and every music fan under the sun. This festival plays out like a "who's who" in music, attracting major headliners like The Flaming Lips and The Dead in previous years on down to the up-and-coming bands of tomorrow that might not have national recognition yet. Bonnaroo — a creole slang term for "good stuff"—was born in 2002 after two music publicity and management firms, New Orleans-based Superfly Entertainment and Knoxville, Tennessee-based AC Entertainment saw
potential to bring together a huge diversity of music fans and unite them with their favorite bands. These two companies combined their efforts to make this three-day music and arts extravaganza a
every year. Farman is quick to point out that this location is a central point for most of the United States.
"Our site is a day's drive from 75 percent of the population," he says.
says Rick Farman, senior publicist at SuperflyEntertainment.
"We started seeing regional festivals but we didn't see a national one," Farman says. "Based on this, in 2001 we met and saw a niche for a great American rock festival."
When you think of a "great American rock festival" taking place somewhere, you might not think of a place like Tennessee, which plays host to Bonnaroo
10,000 Lakes Festival, in Detroit Lakes, Minn., July 22-24
Appropriately named for the state's claim to fame, the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes offers three days of live music from such nationally-recognized bands as Widespread Panic and Rusted Root at a moderate ticket price.
Now in its third year, the 10,000 Lakes Festival takes place on a ranch that has played host to a country music festival
since 1983. Organizers of this festival called "We Fest" — wanted to diversify the use of the land and had ambitions to begin a new festival that would incorporate a broader range of bands says Dave Weissman, publicist for the 10,000 Lakes Festival. In 2003, the organizers saw their vision come to fruition in the first annual 10,000 Lakes Festival, which attracted close to 20,000 music fans.
Along with the band lineup, the land is greatly diverse, too. Weissman says that the festival is in an "unmatched natural setting."
"Most of the camping spots are wooded, you have your own tree and you can have fires," Weissman says.
Weissman also says that the festival's campgrounds, which he calls "pristine and some of the best among festivals" are located no more than a 10 minute walk from the stage.
"You wake to the music," he says.
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, outside Lawrence, Kan. June 16-19
The Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, located at Clinton Lake Park just outside (yours truly) Lawrence, might be a no-brainer among locals who have plans
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