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Summer is here, which means music festival season is in full swing. From coast to coast, every month is packed with non-stop opportunities to sing along with your favorite artists, make new friends, and get a strong sunburn if you forget a certain essential festival staple.
Beyond stacked lineups, many summer fests promise an unforgettable experience that’s built on a whole lot more than just music. Attendees can look forward to a carousel of fun including art installations, delicious eats, community workshops, family activities, and in some cases, actual carousels.
Another perk to summer music festivals? The fact that so many of these iconic fests focus on bringing folks together to enjoy our favorite activity: sleeping under the stars.
Although many music festivals offer camping options nearby, there are a few that make camping the foundation of the entire festival experience. Check out our list of 5 of the best music festivals where you can camp this summer, and then get packing (don’t forget the sunscreen)!
What: Firefly Music Festival
Where: Dover, DE
When: June 21-23
Although Firefly Music Festival features musical giants like Death Cab for Cutie, Passion Pit, Tyler the Creator, Courtney Barnett, Vampire Weekend and a whole lot more, this festival is focused on bringing music-lovers together for an immersive camping experience.
Named “The Great Atlantic Campout”, attendees can choose to spread out along several massive lots for tent camping, RV camping, and different levels of “glamping” (not gonna lie, if we had $1500 lying around, we’d be lounging beer-in-hand in one of the super glamping setups).
Scattered throughout the north & south lots you’ll find “Camping Hubs” where you can keep the party going long after you’ve seen your favorite artists onstage. Catch live music performances by Firefly artists, late night silent discos, farmers’ markets, daily yoga, shopping, and essentials like cell phone charging stations, ice, and water refills.
When you pull up to Firefly Music Festival with a Roofnest rooftop tent, you can grab an affordable car-camping spot in the north or south lot and enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the entire camping arena without having to pay for a tent setup or pitch a single tent pole.
Find weekend and single-day general admission, VIP and super/super-duper VIP tickets here »
What: Electric Forest Festival
Where: Rothbury, MI
When: June 27-30
Image courtesy of electricforestfestival.com
For those looking to plug in to a more psychedelic experience, the Electric Forest Festival is a fest for the senses. This four days of music, art, and community workshops sure to get the synapses firing.
Although this fest has a stacked lineup of dance- and beat-based artists (Odesza, Kygo, Bassnectar and Zeds Dead are the four headliners this year), it’s also packed with artistic and spiritual creative workshops, numerous art installations, feminist-focused activities and meetups and more. And about 45 minutes away lies Ludington State Park Beach where you can get a breather from all the action with a relaxing day of paddle boarding, winding forest hikes, and gorgeous sand dunes.
Just like Firefly, this fest is all about building community through camping. When you purchase your festival ticket, you can choose to bundle it with general admission camping, exclusive “VIP” camp spots, RV spots, tiny homes, cabins and more. A shuttle will take you back and forth from your campsite to the venue, so you can party all night long without volunteering your best friend to be the DD (as always).
And if you don’t have a tent, you can rent a basic or more glamorous tent where you can rest those dancing feet at the end of the day. Of course, rolling up with a Roofnest means you don’t have to pay extra for a special camp spot to get a comfy night’s sleep, so you can enjoy that extra space next to your car to its fullest (which we’re guessing probably means a hacky-sack circle or hula-hoop party).
What: High Sierra Music Festival
Where: Quincy, CA
When: July 4-7
Hope you’re hungry for some noodles this Fourth of July weekend, because the High Sierra Music Festival is overflowing with jam bands who are notorious for their long breakdowns and epic noodling skills (noodling = sick guitar playing, but you probably already knew that).
Dispatch, Umphrey’s Mcgee, Greensky Bluegrass, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Galactic and more are just a handful of the artists lighting up the rolling green foothills and pine trees that surround the town of Quincy, California.
This isn’t your typical music fest that’s only catered to 20-somethings. Families take center-stage with a family area that features family camp spots, nanny squads, kid-friendly workshops, a parade, and even a family stage that’s sure to get your kiddo’s feet moving.
There are a variety of camping options available for campers of every style. General tent camping is included in the cost of a festival pass, and you can purchase passes for on- and off-site RV parking, car camping, or a spot in the family camp.
Park your car in the Camp Panorama lot and witness the other car-campers’ looks of envy as you pop open your Roofnest rooftop tent and enjoy all the extra legroom — without any extra cost or effort.
What: Pitchfork Music Fest & Lollapalooza
When: July 19-24, August 1-4
Where: Chicago, IL
These two superstar summer music festivals take place practically back-to-back in the windy city. At the end of July, you can watch acts like HAIM, Pusha-T, Mavis Staples, Belle & Sebastian, Kurt Vile, and Parquet Courts blow the non-existent roof off Union Park at Pitchfork. Two weeks later you can rock out in Grant Park to Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, The Strokes, Tame Impala, and more at Lollapalooza.
Camping close to a big city like Chicago can be tricky. About an hour away from Union Park, you can find urban camp spots like Camp Bullfrog Lake, Camp Sullivan, or Dunewood, the latter of which allows you to choose between beachy and woodsy sites close to Lake Michigan.
Indiana Dunes National Park is also about an hour away from the city, where you can walk Lake Michigan beaches, dunes, and boardwalk trails, and enjoy clean bathrooms and a more laid-back atmosphere.
With your Roofnest in tow, all you need is a safe overnight parking spot in the city to get a comfortable, good night’s sleep, so you can be well rested for another day of non-stop bangers from the world’s most popular artists.
What: Arise Music Festival
Where: Loveland, CO
When: August 2-4
If all the elements that make up the zeitgeist of Colorado’s Front Range could be rolled into one summer celebration, Arise Music Festival would fit the bill beautifully. Along with the stacked lineup of dancey-jam bands like Tipper, Beats Antique, Railroad Earth, Leftover Salmon and more, this artsy, hippie fest is a true testament to the Colorado lifestyle.
Get ready for scenic yoga sanctuaries and workshops, farm-to-table fresh organic foods, health and wellness workshops, and endless camping options.
Walk-in camping spots are free with a festival ticket, with options to upgrade to a VIP camping experience (including access to hospitality lounges, washrooms, swimming pools and hot tubs, etc). There’s also a full suite of glamping packages, a family camp area, RV spots, and tent rentals.
Car camping spots allow you to pull right into the festival grounds and set up camp next to your car right at the festival site. And with a Roofnest rooftop tent, you’ll get a panoramic view of the entire festival grounds and the awe-inspiring Rocky Mountains in the background.
For a more remote camping experience, you can pick a wooded spot at Moraine Park, just past the Beaver Meadows entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. These spots are serviced by a festival shuttle, and are close to endless trails for hikers of every experience level.
With all the camping you’re in for this summer, you’ll need to plan covering some basic necessities while you’re away from the comforts of home. That includes making delicious, nutritious meals to keep you fueled and ready to rock all summer long.
You can only eat hot dogs and s’mores so many meals in a row (if you’re over the age of ten, that is). That’s why we’ve put together a list of our favorite quick and creative campfire meals to spice up your next camping trip »
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