Going to a euphony fete seems like the greatest weekend of your life … in possibility . Until you realize it very often intend not showering , scarce slumber , and fighting 200,000 people who ALSO have n’t shower for the right hand to see the Flaming Lips from less than a mile off . All for the low , low price of double your car defrayal , with some sweaty $ 9 beers thrown in . That ’s not to say big music festivals ca n’t be a good clock time , it ’s just to say the size of it and expense can bankrupt the experience for you .

But there are festivals out there that are still a salutary meter , wo n’t break your bank , and wo n’t have you pressed up against more stranger than a rush - hour 6 train . Here are 10 festivals most hoi polloi around the country are n’t hip to , and that you should definitely go to before they get ruined .

Rochester International Jazz Festival

Rochester , New YorkJune 24th - July 2ndWestern New York has never been thought of as much of a jazz - fest hotbed , the agency one might think of New Orleans , or Moscow , Idaho ( gravely ) . But this fete in Rochester draws 1,500 artists playing 325 shows at 19 locale around town , with about 200,000 attendees . This yr it ’s headlined by Chick Corea , Gregg Allman , and Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers . No word on what happened to The Range .

Forecastle Festival

Louisville , KentuckyJuly 15th-17thSituated on Louisville ’s sprawl Waterfront Park along the Ohio River , this festival started out as a microscopic collection of local creative person and has turn to one of the largest festivals in the Southeast . Tens of K of mass pack the green to listen to acts like Jack White , Outkast , and My Morning Jacket , thebest band to ever arrive out of Kentucky . But the medicine is really half the attraction here ; the other fully grown draw is the Bourbon Lodge , where over 20 local distilleries dole out samples all weekend long .

Big Dub Festival

Artemas , PennsylvaniaJuly 26th-31stIf you desire to go to aburner festival that ’s smaller , tawdry , and well than Burning Man , we already assure you about 10 . But here ’s another one that ’s just as trippy and exciting as that one in the desert : the Big Dub Festival on the Four Quarters Farm near the Pennsylvania / Maryland border . The festival is a lot more than just 40 of the region ’s best EDM artist , it ’s also four daytime of music workshop and seminars , yoga , and ethereal graphics . Plus a sprawling campground that keeps the party going well after the act are end .

Festival of the Bluegrass

Lexington , KYJune 8th-11th , 2017The down grass in the Bluegrass State is in Lexington , so it only reasons that the largest family - owned bluegrass festival in America would be here . The festival ’s hold at a horse park campground , where you could not only listen to some of the best Bluegrass Country bands in the mankind , but also learn to play the banjo , watch hot beast shows , and visit a sawhorse museum .

Crown Summer Series

Kalispell , MTJuly 9th , August 27thMontana in the summertime is sight promised land , and there ’s no better office to take in its natural beauty than … well , probably Glacier National Park . But mightily outdoors that parking lot you ’ll rule Montana Raceway Park , situate in a valley between the Whitefish and Swan Mountains . In July and August , one - day festivals take over the track with dissimilar lineups both times . The July company is headlined by Amtrac and The Pharcyde and has a nightlong afterparty at the adjacent camping ground . August headliners include Ghostland Observatory and MSTRKRFT .

Electric Forest

Rothbury , MIJune 23rd-26thThis lieu is so wooded it makes TomorrowWorld await like a parking slew . The trees here are all draped in brilliant lights and dayglow paint , turn the full woods into a Ne psychedelic dream tracked by some of the biggest figure in electronic euphony . This twelvemonth ’s magnanimous headliner let in Adventure Club , Bassnectar , and Flosstradamus , and if you ’re into immersive festival experience , this one will put you in another world for an entire weekend .

Sloss Music & Arts Festival

Birmingham , ALJuly 16th-17thSXSW is nerveless , but can you ascertain how to pour molten branding iron at ANY point during that fete ? No , no you’re able to not . But at the Sloss Festival , held in an old iron factory in one ofAmerica ’s most misunderstood cities , you may . you could also catch over 30 lively act over two days like The Struts , Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals , and the Flaming Lips . Then follow it up with Sloss Tech , a normal for the latest and greatest in creative thinking and emerging technology . Just like SXSW , with fewer the great unwashed and more smelting .

Rockin' the River

Ft . Worth , TXWeekly , throughout summerMusic festival are big . swim down a river ?   One of the best things you could do in summer . But … TOGETHER ? ? ? Well , that ’s just the greatest societal advent sincebacon - wrapped pizza . The Panther Island Pavilion – Texas ' only waterfront stage – sits on the shores of the Trinity River , where the great unwashed spend the afternoon floating , fuddle beer , and listening to the headlining band . Once they ’re done , the " after company " band plays right up until the closing fireworks show , and the whole thing is COMPLETELY FREE . It ’s Texas , so the medicine skews land , and if you ’re into that it ’s one of the good summertime experience in America .

Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival

Trumansburg , NYJuly 21st-24thMaybe the changing leaves in the fall andwine countryaren’t enough to tempt you to themost underrated position in New York . So let ’s try this : a four - day , four - stage medicine festival with over 80 bands , all to raise money for Greek valerian . What started as a one - time benefit concert has grown into an annual event that draws multitude from all over the Northeast and Midwest . And while the fete plume itself on bringing unknown bands into the spotlight ( hence the " grassroots " byname ) this year it ’s also drawing names like Indigo Girls , Ricky Skaggs , and Silversun Pickups .

Hinterland Music Festival

St. Charles , IAAugust 5th-6thNot to go all hipster here and say we found out about something before it was cool , but when you’re able to go to a two - day fete for $ 95 , it officially has n’t blown up . Yet . So if you ’re in the Midwest , definitely go and enchant some big - name acts on the cheap in the Iowa wilderness outside Des Moines . Then kvetch later on about how great it used to be . Hinterland has a folk / rock and roll / country vibe to it , aggregate legendary names like Willie Nelson with well - known modern bit like Cold War Kids and throwing in some local act like Field Division .

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Rockin on the River Ft Worth

Aspen Productions

Rochester International Jazz Festival

Rochester International Jazz Festival

Forecastle Festival

Forecastle Festival

Big Dub Festival

Big Dub Festival

Bluegrass Festival

Bluegrass Festival

Crown Summer Series

Crown Summer Series

Electric Forest

Electric Forest

Sloss Music and Arts Festival

Ginard Archibald

Rockin on the River Ft. Worth

Aspen Productions

Grassroots Festival

Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival

Hinerland Music Festival

Hinterland Iowa