Written by: Timothy Fitzgerald and Harry Williams
If you're looking to escape the house for a few days, take in beautiful scenery, catch unobstructed views of the stars and enjoy the sounds of sweet live music, a multiple-day music festival might be right up your alley.
This summer there are a number of such festivals being put on throughout the country. We've gone ahead and picked out the top most camping friendly festivals of all listed in order of event date.
1. Kerrville Folk Festival - Kerrville, TX - May 22 - June 08, 2014
Just like everything else in Texas, the Kerrville Folk Festival is BIG. The festival, which is held for 18 consecutive days on a ranch in the heart of Texas Hill Country, draws over 30,000 guests and more than 100 singer songwriters and their bands. The focus of the festivals is to promote emerging artists while giving the audience exposure to both new and recognized, seasoned talent. Workshops in songwriting, blues guitar, and harmonica are hallmarks of the festival, as are jam sessions round the campfire.
Headliners
Milk Drive * Steve Seskin * John Flynn * Terri Hendrix
Camping and RVing
All camping and RV sites are on-site. There are 82 hookup sites, some with water/electricity/sewer, and some with water and electricity only, as well as plenty of space for tent camping.
There are many other campgrounds and RV parks near Kerrville Folk Festival.
2. Sasquatch Music Festival - George, WA - May 23-25, 2014
The Sasquatch Music Festival is one of the most beautiful venues in the country. It is held annually at the Gorge Amphitheatre; an outdoor venue near the Columbia River. It is a nine-time winner of the Pollstar Magazine's award for best Outdoor Music Venue and had a critically acclaimed run in 2013. It is presented by the House of Blues and tends to have a prominence on indie rock as well as alternative rock and hip hop. The festival features five separate stages: Sasquatch!, Main Stage, Bigfoot Stage, Banana Shack, Yeti.
Outkast * Queens of the Stone Age * Kid Cudi * Portugal, The Man * Mary Lambert
Standard camping site come included with your Sasquatch ticket but upgrades are also available. A premium camping upgrade ticket costs $165 per vehicle and accommodates all types of camping (tent, RV, etc.). This includes: secure fenced of area with restricted access to premier guests only, superior views across the Gorge, private restrooms, free shower facilities & shuttle service to the Amphitheatre.
You can also reserve $245 and $330 upgrades per RV. These sites provide: Oversized spaces (30'x50'), close to the amphitheater, not in the main campground, short walk to the main gates & free showers. They do not have RV hook ups available. Pump service will be available for an additional fee.
There are many other campgrounds and RV parks near Sasquatch Music Festival.
3. Bonnaroo - Manchester, TN - June 12-15, 2014
Bonnaroo has become one of the largest festivals of the year. Top artists dot the lineup, such as Elton John and Frank Ocean. Other fun includes a comedy tent, cinema tent, and a silent disco, as well as numerous activity tents sponsored by corporations.
Elton John * Frank Ocean * Janelle Monáe * Jack White
Camping
Camping is on site and your ticket price includes access to the campgrounds. The campgrounds are very near the heart of all the activities and feature a wide array of facilities, including showers, bathrooms, food vendors, a general store, and more. There are also family camping and handicap accessible camping areas.
RVing
You can purchase an RV Pass and park on-site.
There are other campgrounds and RV parks near Bonnaroo.
4. Country Fest - Cadott, WI - June 26-29, 2014
Country Fest is a celebration of country music. The four day festival features some of the top names in country music.
Blake Shelton * Carrie Underwood * Brad Paisley * Florida Georgia Lane
Camping and RVing sites are all on-site. Handicap camping is available.
There are a number of campgrounds and RV parks near Country Fest.
5. High Sierra Music Festival - Quincy, California - July 3-6, 2014
This year the High Sierra Music Festival is celebrating its 24th anniversary. The four-day festival features an eclectic mix of some of the most famous national and international names in jazz, newgrass, bluegrass and other improvisational music forms such as jamband music. Other represented genres include funk, afrobeat, electronica, and roots rock.
Music aside, the festival has plenty of activities for patrons to participate, such as a kid zone, outdoor playshops, parades, fire performances and more.
Lauryn Hill * Lord Huron * Beats Antique * Hard Working Americans
Camping is included in the price of the multiple-day festival pass and is designated on a first come, first served basis. When on-site camping is at capacity, off-site camping is assigned, with shuttles running regularly between off site campgrounds and the festival.
On-site and off-site RV parking is available at the festival. On-site RV parking is only available with the purchase of the FestivALL RV Package. Off-site RV parking is "dry camping" only but it is an easy stroll to the showers and festival entry gates.
There are many campgrounds and RV parks near Quincy, California.
6. Gathering of the Vibes - Bridgeport, Connecticut - July 31 - August 3, 2014
Gathering of the Vibes brings together a collection of bluegrass, reggae, and jam band artists - including living members of the Grateful Dead - for a four day camping and musical festival on the Long Island Sound in Connecticut.
John Fogerty * Ziggy Marley * Widespread Panic * Rodrigo y Gabriela
Camping is in Seaside Park, which is on the water, and also happens to be where the stages are! There are various camping passes available offering different options and prices vary from $125 for a VIP Kids Weekend Pass to $485 for a VIP Weekend Camping Pass.
RVing is also in Seaside Park, RV passes are $250 and each person traveling in your vehicle, including the driver, must also purchase a Weekend Camping Pass for $235.
There are a few campgrounds and RV parks near Gathering of the Vibes.
7. Oregon Jamboree - Sweet Home, OR, August 1-3, 2014
At the Oregon Jamboree top notch country musicians play to energetic crowds in a park like setting in the foothills of the scenic Cascade Mountains.
Miranda Lambert * Tim McGraw * Jake Owen * Billy Currington
Camping and RVing sites are available in several areas surrounding the festival site. Water and toilets are provided. Showers are available at select campgrounds and shuttles run between many of the campgrounds and the main festival site.
There are many campgrounds and RV parks near Oregon Jamboree.
8. Walnut Valley Festival - Winfield, KS - September 17-21, 2014
Walnut Valley Festival is notorious for attracting top notch talent. In 1999 the International Bluegrass Music Association named the Walnut Valley Festival as its very first "Bluegrass Event of the Year" award winner. Like many other folk festivals, Walnut Valley draws a healthy dose of amateur musicians; approximately half of Walnut Valley campers bring a musical instrument to the festival. The result is some of the best "picking" in the country, with jam circles that range from Texas swing, to gypsy jazz, straight bluegrass, to old time, and everything in between.
The focus of Walnut Valley Festival is on the contests, such as the National Mandolin Championship, rather than on big names. For a small entry price anyone can enter. You need to play an instrument acoustically into a microphone for a maximum of 5 minutes and have 4 different plays. The contests are what make the Festival so unique.
Bill Barwick * Andy May * Bluestem * Roz Brown
Camping is on-site for tent camping and RVs, with 800 plug ins. Showers are available, as is firewood and an RV dump station.
There are lots of campgrounds and RV parks near Walnt Valley Festival.
9. Telluride Blues and Brews Festival - Telluride, Colorado - September 12-14, 2014
The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival takes place in Telluride Town Park, a renowned outdoor music venue with breath-taking mountain peaks for a backdrop. When B.B. King performed there in 2004, he sat on this same stage, looked out at the mountains before him, and told the crowd, "Out of the 90 different countries I've been to, I've never seen anything more beautiful than what you have here."
At night, after the music ends in the park, the festival scene moves into the various music venues located throughout the town of Telluride. Once these "juke joints" get jamming a walk down main street feels like a walk down Beale Street in Memphis.
Violent Femmes * George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic * Black Joe Lewis * Ryan McGarvey
Festival camping is located in the Telluride Town Park Campground, adjacent to the festival grounds. Campsites are first-come, first-serve. The Campground has beautiful views and is right off the main street.
RV camping is allowed at the Campground but you need to buy an RV pass in order to do so. If you don't buy an RV pass you can drop your camping gear off at the campground and park your RV in a designated parking lot off-site.
If you cannot get into Telluride Town Park Campground there are several other campgrounds and RV parks near Telluride Blues and Brews Festival.
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